Who is in the path of Irene

So far, just some wind and rain up here in Boston - though there have been a few good gusts already.

I was outside 10 minutes ago redirecting some water that was pooling against the foundation. I heard a loud crack, turned around, but couldn't see where anything went down. As I was putting away the tools, I noticed the 50' maple tree in my neighbors yard has a crack running up the trunk starting about 15' off the ground :eek::eek::eek: It is far enough away from buildings that nothing should get hit when it comes down -- though it will take out the phone and cable lines.

-Matt
 
We had 4 inches of rain between 1:30 AM and this morning when the rained stopped. I forgot to put my rain gauge out before 1:30 AM :dunno:

Power went out overnight and it's still out. Generator is running and the the internet and TV are up. I have a tree leaning on the power lines out front but there is a lot more electrical devastation around the corner from here.

I checked in with my Dad this AM. His power went out a 2AM while he was up watching TV. He fired up the generator for his sump pump and some lights and all is well .


Cheers

Jim
 
IM glad everyone is still here.

the way the weathermen and the elected officials put it, I thought this was the end of the southern part of NY. I figured by today wed be down somewhere in the ocean called atlantis II.

at 10 pm last night, I went outside and moved my bbq where no tree limbs could fall on me, and I made 2 hamburgers. (my wife wasnt hungry)
The weathermen terrorists couldnt fool me by showing me pictures of a class 5 hitting the outer banks.
I didnt want to post that last night because I figured alot of people would be ticked off I was taking this too lightly.

oh btw, since they terrorized the public beyond imagination, I heard the local police were called into supermarkets near me because the grandmas were about to cut each others throats to get the last loaf of bread.
 
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...oh btw, since they terrorized the public beyond imagination....
Oh boy, you touched a nerve. We have three TV stations in our area and they all claim to have the best, most accurate weather reporting.....so accurate they can even tell you what's happening in your back yard. They had constant coverage, with reporters everywhere, covering every tree down or road flooded, or person walking on the beach. I hate to think it, because to some extent it is a public service, but it's really all about the ratings. Not one station, nor anywhere on cox cable, could I find just a screen showing weather radar in my area. Nope, gotta have a talking head and sensationalize every minuscule event. Never gonna change. Even more annoying are the mandatory evacuations and then not letting people back in for a week. I'll take my chances. Just let me check my house. More and more people are staying in place because of this.
 
they are very smart, the weather networks and network weatherpeople.

we all know that waters up at ny are cooler and once the big storms bounce off of land they lose alot of strength.

so they dont show all the non juicy storms over the past 30 years.
They show the 1938 storm and a few others.

They are a convincing group.

And how about the schnook weatherman that gets caught on a beach on the outer banks as a class 5 hurricane hits and hes trying to stand and report while being blown away down the beach........and his co workers smile and tell him, ok bud, just be safe.

Safe? safe? hes standing on a beach unprotected by anything but his 85dollar wind breaker that some big company gave him for advertising and hes about to be hit with 140 mph winds...........his co workers hopes him and cameraman get blown down the beach and out of sight so they can get a point across.(and Im sure the garment company would love to say, see, he couldnt hold up to the storm, but our coat did!, now thats advertising!)


I keep wondering where can I sign up for a meteorologists job and guess all day long and get high 6 figure income to look at green and yellow radar screens.
Im just reluctant to really try because Im so fat they would probably figure Im a good candidate to stand out on the beach before 150 mph winds strike, Ill last a bit longer before getting blown away

thanx guys, I just had to let some of that off my chest.
 
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Allen, sorry all your preparations were for naught, but you just know if you hadn't done anything, a microburst cell would have blown your house off the map without touching the rest of the neighborhood. Murphy would have seen to it. :yes: Glad things are no worse than they are for you. :thumb:

...I hate to think it, because to some extent it is a public service, but it's really all about the ratings...

It's a recurring theme out here, too. Any time there's more than about 1/4" of rain in LA, all the major stations will go into Stormwatch 2011 mode with their Triple Doppler Cappuccino Mega Plus Radar 7500[TM] keeping us safe from the devastation. :rolleyes:
 
also the evacuations that were insisted upon, and now wont let them back for a few days allows for the crooks to have free reign on some of the house holds if they so mind to.. no one is home to stop them???
 
One big poplar came down. Looks like I'll have a lot of green poplar to fool with. And a lot of chainsaw work. Probably won't burn very well. Ben says it's poor for turning.

At least it missed the chicken coop. The run is on the left in the first image.
 

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I'd give it a try. I know poplar behaves nice under the knife. I have made many moldings from it. What's the worst case? It goes in the burn pile?

Lost power at about 10 this morning. Just got it back 7 tonight.
lots of wind gusts very little rain here today. it would get cloudy then the sun would come out then it would cloud up again.
few trees down around town but not much property damage and I didnt hear very many emergency sirens. Just once when they rousted everyone off the beach around noon.....
Hope everyone made it through ok!

Funny thing is noaa had been saying tropical storm for our area all week while the weather channel was predicting armageddon. Usually the truth is somewhere in between. twc has got to be the longest continuous running reality show out there. They are more scripted than fox and cnn. forget npr.....
 
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even though I shut off the tv today, I did catch a bit of news and there was a couple of guys impersonating police officers that tried to get some people to evacuate, but NYers seen it all, so they called the real cops and got the morons.
IM impressed though that criminals seem to adapt and figure out an angle from everything.
Help some seniors evacuate, then go rob their homes. Pretty slick.
 
Oh boy, you touched a nerve. We have three TV stations in our area and they all claim to have the best, most accurate weather reporting.....so accurate they can even tell you what's happening in your back yard. They had constant coverage, with reporters everywhere, covering every tree down or road flooded, or person walking on the beach. I hate to think it, because to some extent it is a public service, but it's really all about the ratings. Not one station, nor anywhere on cox cable, could I find just a screen showing weather radar in my area. Nope, gotta have a talking head and sensationalize every minuscule event. Never gonna change. Even more annoying are the mandatory evacuations and then not letting people back in for a week. I'll take my chances. Just let me check my house. More and more people are staying in place because of this.

Ted, I guess I'm going to come down on you a bit. :eek: Sorry.
But, the "ratings" thing you critize means people are watching those reports. They are watching because that is what the public wants to watch.
And, as a former news man and photographer, I'll add, the visual reports really tell a story in a dramatic fashion. Radar maps are not dramatic. Note the deaths were mostly by idiots who were not even impressed with the reports. Imagine what would happen if people could not see the storm visuals on TV.
There are many radar maps available on the Internet. And, most areas have a weather-only channel, or two. The ABC, CBS and Fox channels I watched frequently put up radar maps in addition to the guy standing in the wind and rain.
 
I'm a weather 'junkie', having worked in either the transportation industry or out in the field taking photos for the past several years, I've developed the habit of checking the radar and weather reports frequently. I also watch and would heed the newsies who distribute the official line... (ie evacuations, snow emergencies), as they're doing what is arguably their most important job...at that moment. Would 'you' (nobody specific in mind, just 'you' in general) rather that instead of the weather event of the moment, they focused instead on political corruption or some such?
No, the Newsies and the weather folk who report conditions are providing a vital service, and they stay on site, in danger far longer than most would, I would hazard a guess because they're trying their best to convince that last stubborn person who hasn't taken precautions that they should do whatever they can to be safe. I'm sure there are other factors as well, pay, travel, 'fame' etc... but that's their chosen profession.
 
We will have to agree to disagree on this one. There's a difference between public service and public circus. Ned, I'm not criticizing individual reporters, who are being sent into the field by their bosses and doing their best to satisfy ratings motivated news directors. 24/7 ad nauseam competition between stations, each trying to outdo the other in placing their reporters in the most spectacular situations and presentations a la National Enquirer is not the kind of journalism I want to watch. As to what we want to watch, fortunately with cable there are choices, but we don't all have cable and one of our stations received so many calls for regular programming they felt obligated to put up a screen crawl telling viewers to stop calling and watch the Little League championships on ESPN.
 
We will have to agree to disagree on this one. There's a difference between public service and public circus. Ned, I'm not criticizing individual reporters, who are being sent into the field by their bosses and doing their best to satisfy ratings motivated news directors. 24/7 ad nauseam competition between stations, each trying to outdo the other in placing their reporters in the most spectacular situations and presentations a la National Enquirer is not the kind of journalism I want to watch. As to what we want to watch, fortunately with cable there are choices, but we don't all have cable and one of our stations received so many calls for regular programming they felt obligated to put up a screen crawl telling viewers to stop calling and watch the Little League championships on ESPN.


I agree Ted.

A boston station had a news reporter standing on a very narrow jetty, looked to be about 3 feet wide and seemed to stretch about 100 feet into the atlantic. the sea was bobbing it up and down and left and right. The idiot woman was barely able to stand and she was telling people to be careful. :huh::dunno:
The media obviously has to warn their viewers about the potential for dangerous weather but they all seem to try and outdo each other with hype and sensationalism.

Blame it all on OJ. I don't remember the obsession with watching events unfold at a ridiculous level until the reporting of him driving around in his white bronco.
 
All I can say is that Irene has generate some firewood for my neighbors.

I should be able to get some CURVY MAPLE from this tree that fell over in the AFTERMATH of the storm (after the eye had passed us and the wind was coming from the north/west)

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Here is a second picture - the fallen tree is hung up in another tree next to our driveway.

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We lost internet for a while but it's back - woo hoo. Still on generator power and could be for a while.

Jim
 

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