Showing posts with label hurricane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hurricane. Show all posts

Monday, August 29, 2011

Tropical Storm Irene


The sunflowers took the brunt of the storm.

Milford made it! The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm before it hit Connecticut. It was noisy during the night with some strong winds and rain, but we didn't get hit nearly as hard as predicted. Unfortunately, the power went out at around 7 AM, and we're still without. My cell has been eating up its battery because it's searching so hard for a signal. I actually enjoyed the unplugging yesterday, even though I'm in the middle of redesigning my website and have tons of pictures to process. I'm back at work today, there's plenty of electricity in Shelton, so I'm sharing some of the pictures I took.




 Addy was thrilled to see the spider plant back in our room. I was not as excited because I had to constantly stop her from eating it.


Flags down at Walnut Beach with a down tree in the foreground.

Flooding down by the beach, but it drained relatively quickly. We didn't get nearly as much rain as the forecasters said.


The new condos right on the water suffered the most damage in my immediate neighborhood. These waves might not seem all that impressive, but for Milford and Long Island Sound, they're significant. The waves only come to your ankles on a normal day.


 It seemed like everyone in town came down to the beach with their cameras.


Driftwood


 More storm watchers


 Somewhere, a kid is crying over his lost sandcastle...


Even after the storm had gone, the winds were pretty significant down at the beach.


 Tree down


I was really surprised by the amount of stupid people that tried to drive down and through the massive pools of water. I had to take a picture of this one because it caused traffic to back up all the way up the street.


This is in front of the senior citizens center. There shouldn't be a lake here.


I was wondering about the birds and the squirrels during the storm. In case you're still keeping score, Sidewalk: 1, Buildings: 4, Birds: 1. I'm bad luck for birds; it's a long story...


On my way home, I noticed this awesome woody!


Addy got to lounge around while I helped clean up the yard. Although no massive limbs came down, there were plenty of sticks to pick up. No time like the present; the Napolitanos MUST have a perfect yard at all times.


By far, the best purchase I made was my book light and new books. I'm not sure how long it will be until we regain power, but I've got plenty to read.


Just so you don't think I'm a complete jerk,  I can easily include myself in those "stupid people" I mentioned earlier. I thought I could walk through one of those puddles unscathed because I didn't feel like walking around it. So for anyone that saw me fall as the ground dropped off under my feet, you're welcome! I'll be here all week! I was all grace as my left hand immediately shot to my camera and held it above water. Ah, the instincts of a photographer. Also, I cannot thank Crumpler enough. 


Their Tuft camera pouch says it's water resistant, and I'm here to tell you, they are 100% accurate on that. While I had my camera strapped around my neck, I put my cell phone in this pouch and clipped it onto my belt loop. It took a nice swim when I fell and my cell phone remained dry.

My soundtrack for exploring the damage was the first season of Lost. There is nothing better than trudging around on the beach to the walking theme from Lost, except for coming across that pigeon when the death theme was playing. I can't make this stuff up, y'all.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Hurricane Shmurricane

Egghead & Shively
This is a reference I think only 2 people reading my blog will get, but with all the talk of hurricanes and evacuations, it immediately popped into my head. I did some searching on the internets, and there really isn't anything out there. I've got an inside connection, so I have an actual DVD of Egghead & Shively, a puppet show from 1992 that aired on UCTV at UConn. One of Egghead's catch phrases was, "Oh! The wind and the rain!!!" I wish I could find something on youtube for you to watch, loyal readers, alas, you'll have to take my word for it, it was awesome!

So, it seems that the East Coast will deal with an earthquake and a hurricane all in the same week. I still don't believe the whole earthquake thing actually happened; I'm convinced it was all an elaborate facebook hoax! I'm really not concerned with Hurricane Irene's impending doom either. Maybe it's because I've seen so many hurricanes miss over my extensive 30 years. Every time, people make a big deal out of it and snatch up every single bottle of water, loaf of bread, gallon of milk, battery and flash light they can find. I'm not kidding, take a look at our front office from earlier today:


I love the fact that one of my coworkers actually stole the shopping cart instead of putting the water in their car. Is anyone else sick of everyone acting like is the end of the world? If this hurricane actually does hit, I'm pretty sure we'll all survive. Why can't we act like civilized human beings? It's pure chaos in stores today, and I can only imagine what tomorrow will bring. 

My hurricane prep? I went to Barnes and Nobles to pick up a couple new books and an LED book light that runs on AAA batteries. I stayed off the Post Road and traffic wasn't that bad, except when I tried to find a gas station that didn't have a line wrapped around the block. I ended up paying for more expensive gas, but trust me, it was worth it not having to deal with the crazies. My external hard drives and camera equipment have been packed up into water tight containers. That's about it. If I have to move to higher ground, I'm ready to go, but I highly doubt the Long Island Sound is going to get enough steam behind it to travel all the way up the hill that I live on. Hey, Mother Nature, if you want to prove me wrong, go for it. I've got my point and shoot camera ready for whatever you can throw at me!

I did notice this bumper sticker on my travels today and it cheered me up for about 5 seconds until the white SUV cut me off in the center of town in Milford. Thanks for that, jerk face, and I hope whatever store you were in a rush to get to was all sold out of whatever item you needed.

Sorry, my sarcasm is in full swing today. Everyone be safe and get through the storm.