I started writing this before so much as a raindrop fell, but the anticipated tropical storm known as Henri was eating up the news cycle this weekend as Long Island and Connecticut braced for what we were told was a “high risk” (see above) to lives and property.
People took this seriously. My school, which was scheduled to start today, cancelled classes, and the administration encouraged students to head off-campus, if they could. From social media chatter, gas lines were long and grocery stores were packed. I called my local health department. In case of evacuation (we didn’t need it; I was just preparing), was there a place to send people with COVID (which at this point officially includes my husband; I still don’t have my test results back). Yes, as a matter of fact, there was. We would have been sent to a hotel.
(My vaccinated husband, who is recovering from the worst of being a break-through case, wanted me to ask if there would be a pool. I declined.)
The hours before a storm like the one we were promised feel like standing in line for a carnival ride. It’s exciting. It’s scary. Let’s do this. The reality was the storm turned east and we got heavy rain (how does one’s front door leak, I wonder?) and some wind but — glory of glories — we retained power (so far; don’t tell the gods).
I’m interested in your storm story, whether you rode it out in New England or Wichita. What did you do during Henri’s visit?
We opened the windows on the protected side of the house and sat watching, as the trees tossed. It was awesome in the true sense of the word. My dog sat beside me and I watched her nose twitch and turn as she took in the scents on the wind. I wondered if she was smelling the coast of Africa and the salt of the Atlantic.
At one point the storm was supposed to make landfall on New Haven, and I'm just north of there, so I planned to stay put and make sure my phone and Kindle were charged and my little emergency light had batteries. I did make one quick trip to the supermarket. It wasn't Christmas-Eve-crowded, but it was busy. In hindsight maybe that wasn't a great idea. I live next to a lake and was somewhat worried about the storm surge on top of the full moon high tide, but everything looks fine here from my 4th-floor window, and traffic on Whitney Ave seems to be normal for a Monday morning. I need to check on my fledgling Ospreys. More rain today will put a damper on their fishing activities.
The forecast moved the landfall from New Haven to Madison to Old Saybrook, drawing ever closer here, but then it was more toward Rhode Island and I was relieved and then felt guilty about being relieved. Someone was going to hit hard by this.
Saturday we picked all our tomatoes (red and green) and took down the vines so they wouldn’t sail. Moved the many potted plants on the porch and outdoors into the living room and garage which created indoor jungles. Gassed up the generator and waited. Paced around for a few hours during the peak. Spent a fair amount of time on our covered porch watching things blow around. It was a little anticlimactic but the preparation was worth it. I still get excited for snowstorms but hurricanes/tropical storms, not so much. I made that turn with Sandy. Nine days without power, hence the generator.
In the 1938 New England hurricane my grandparents farm house in Canterbury burned down and the original owner of our house drowned when her beach house was washed away off of Napatree Point into Little Narragansett Bay in Watch Hill. Way before my time but maybe that haunts me.
I prepared for the worst, 21 days w/out power. Luckily that didn't happen. We can't have generators in our complex so the best I can do for storm prep is lights that don't need electricity, chargers for my iPhone, an emergency radio & a Kindle that I added Amanda Kloot's just released book to. That doesn't even count my fully charged iPhone, iPad & laptop all loaded up w/ movies, etc. so I'd have something to do besides cleaning & reading if we lost power. I was chiding myself for being over prepared but then remembered I lived through the Flood of '55. We were in Mass. visiting my Grandmother & came home to find we couldn't get into town, our house had 10 feet of water in it and 12 houses across the street from us had washed away. I was only 7 but I think that kind of experience stays with you so I think today I'll order one of the fans my sister found on Amazon to add to my stash and not feel a bit guilty.
We opened the windows on the protected side of the house and sat watching, as the trees tossed. It was awesome in the true sense of the word. My dog sat beside me and I watched her nose twitch and turn as she took in the scents on the wind. I wondered if she was smelling the coast of Africa and the salt of the Atlantic.
That’s downright lyrical.
It was such a lovely day for a morning nap that I felt compelled to take an afternoon nap, too!
Naps rule.
So glad you were spared an awful experience. I live in Florida. Nuff said.
Where you have your own disasters to deal with. Stay strong!
At one point the storm was supposed to make landfall on New Haven, and I'm just north of there, so I planned to stay put and make sure my phone and Kindle were charged and my little emergency light had batteries. I did make one quick trip to the supermarket. It wasn't Christmas-Eve-crowded, but it was busy. In hindsight maybe that wasn't a great idea. I live next to a lake and was somewhat worried about the storm surge on top of the full moon high tide, but everything looks fine here from my 4th-floor window, and traffic on Whitney Ave seems to be normal for a Monday morning. I need to check on my fledgling Ospreys. More rain today will put a damper on their fishing activities.
The forecast moved the landfall from New Haven to Madison to Old Saybrook, drawing ever closer here, but then it was more toward Rhode Island and I was relieved and then felt guilty about being relieved. Someone was going to hit hard by this.
But please let us know about the ospreys.
I felt guilty for being disappointed about it not being worse here. I was hoping for another Hurricane day to get Canvas set up.
(Same. Guilt. Need for one more day. All of it.)
I’m struggling with being in person and taking the baby to a sitter (after Labor Day) with the Delta variant running rampant.
Saturday we picked all our tomatoes (red and green) and took down the vines so they wouldn’t sail. Moved the many potted plants on the porch and outdoors into the living room and garage which created indoor jungles. Gassed up the generator and waited. Paced around for a few hours during the peak. Spent a fair amount of time on our covered porch watching things blow around. It was a little anticlimactic but the preparation was worth it. I still get excited for snowstorms but hurricanes/tropical storms, not so much. I made that turn with Sandy. Nine days without power, hence the generator.
In the 1938 New England hurricane my grandparents farm house in Canterbury burned down and the original owner of our house drowned when her beach house was washed away off of Napatree Point into Little Narragansett Bay in Watch Hill. Way before my time but maybe that haunts me.
I prepared for the worst, 21 days w/out power. Luckily that didn't happen. We can't have generators in our complex so the best I can do for storm prep is lights that don't need electricity, chargers for my iPhone, an emergency radio & a Kindle that I added Amanda Kloot's just released book to. That doesn't even count my fully charged iPhone, iPad & laptop all loaded up w/ movies, etc. so I'd have something to do besides cleaning & reading if we lost power. I was chiding myself for being over prepared but then remembered I lived through the Flood of '55. We were in Mass. visiting my Grandmother & came home to find we couldn't get into town, our house had 10 feet of water in it and 12 houses across the street from us had washed away. I was only 7 but I think that kind of experience stays with you so I think today I'll order one of the fans my sister found on Amazon to add to my stash and not feel a bit guilty.
Whoa. I had no idea you all got so much rain. I saw a video of a young man skim boarding but didn’t see where it was taken. Stay dry.