Come On, Irene

Hurricane Irene is 'a coming! 

For those of you who don't know, I live right on the water. It's an inlet to the Chesapeake Bay. I live about 300 feet from the water. The state I live in has already issued a pdf file showing where the worst flooding will occur.

We won't be hit until late tonight, approximately 2 a.m. I grew up south of here, again, right on the water. When Isabel came through in 2003, we had water waist-deep in our living room. We didn't even live in a flood zone! Trees were down all over the place, making the roads impassable.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. The flooding I can deal with. When we moved into this house, I bought the most flood insurance I could, just because of my past experience. For some unknown reason, we weren't required to buy flood insurance because we aren't considered to be in a flood zone. My next door neighbor is, however. Weird.

I'm worried about a tree on my property. The thick branches dangle right over my roof, where my son's room is. Tonight all the kids will be camped out downstairs, just in case.

I have my two camera batteries charged and ready to go to take photos of the damage for insurance and to share with you guys. I can't help but document any kind of unusual event.

Our energy company called a few days ago to let us know that they had called in about 500 out of state workers to help. They also warned that we would likely lose power for about 72 hours.  I bought every flashlight I could find at Home Depot, which wasn't much. I hit the store much too late and all that was left were children's Disney flashlights. I bought the eight remaining ones and a ton of batteries.

Since the hurricane is coming, I will probably be up tonight, waiting and watching. So long as I have power, I'll keep updating here.

Edit 8:53 a.m.
It's ominously silent outside. We usually have TONS of birds singing in our backyard because I have a lot of bird feeders, but I can't hear a single bird. I looked into our trees and I saw none, either. The birds must know something's up.

12:15
The wind is picking up and it's raining. I think the outer rings of Irene are starting to hit us. The news keeps going back and forth as to whether or not we'll be hit by Irene directly or tropical storm conditions from Irene's rings. Sigh. I wish they would make up their minds.

2:35
The wind is steadily growing stronger. The gusts are a little scary. I think a branch might have broken in my neighbor's hard because I heard a loud crack. The governor of Maryland was on the news saying that the worst part of the storm would hit us around midnight. I'll probably stay up, just in case.

3:50
We heard a huge boom. My neighbor poked his head out the window and said "There goes the transformer," I have no idea what that means unless Bumblebee is having transmission issues down the street. We lost power twice and I'm sure we'll lose it again.

5:50
The wind is getting stronger and it is pouring rain outside. I can't believe the trees can bend so much without breaking!

12:15
I've lost cell phone service. The cedar tree in my back yard is swaying back and forth so violently I can't imagine how it's still upright. We still have power (obviously,) but I'm not sure how long that is going to last. I stepped outside and the wind gusts were so strong they actually scared me.

7:35
We still have power and my cell phone is now working. The wind gusts are about the same as last night. The cedar is still miraculously standing. Broken branches and leaves litter the road and my back yard. We're still under a Tropical Storm and Flood Watch. Those won't end for a while, so we'll see how things go.