Chronicle of a storm -- Sandy the Super Storm

28 October 2012

601

R. Linda:

Sun 16:19:32 -- It be extremely quiet outside, so much so it is unearthly almost. No birds, no dogs barking, no cars, no noise.

For the past two days, Tonya has complained about the old house creaking and she says the spirits are walking. I believe her because when I sit in the loft I can hear sounds of persons below, but there is no one there.

Our setter, Miss Hyper Active is crying like a human being. It is the oddest sound I've ever heard. We took her to the ER Vets this morning, but they could find nothing wrong. She did that the night before the earthquake and we only realised that a few minutes ago.

My old neighbour said his usually high-strung horses are very calm. He's never seen them like that, as if they have accepted something secret. Whatever that means.

The cat won't leave my side. He's in me lap constantly and follows me wherever I go. It is all very strange, but the quiet is unnerving. 

The weather is dark and gloomy. The wind has picked up slightly, you can see it moving in what is left of the leaves in the trees. It is light misting outside and I have a bit of a headache. This could be because the barometric pressure is high.

We have an ominous feeling. Everyone in the house and me neighbours have noticed a difference. Even the wee ones are quiet and withdrawn, playing quietly with their toys. 

It is so quiet you can hear that sound within yourself, that sound of silence they call it. It's deafening. I think it is the waiting.

29 October 2012

Mon 10:01:10  

The setter won't touch her food, the Newfie took a bite and that was that. But the birds are back in droves at the bird feeder. 

It is another typical rainy day here. No wind to speak of, the rain was steady but not a lot of it. Is there a storm? It seems surreal all the gloom and doom of the last few days and here we are cosy and warm, sipping our coffee and wondering.

We hear of surges on the Massachusetts coast, Cape Cod in particular, but with a cat 1 hurricane that's not unusual. 

Work and school have been cancelled but public service was here to read the meters. I feel like I could be doing me job but the political campaigns have been suspended until after the "super storm" so not much to do but wait and see what comes later once landfall is achieved in South Jersey around 6:30 tonight.

Mon 13:02:30

The wind has been sustaining for the past two hours and we got our first gust, which wasn't much of one, maybe 10 mph. The wind is picking up as I write this and seems high up in the treetops. Occasionally it moans down the chimneys and around the windows. The rain has been steady all morning into now but is not heavy. I think because this is New England, what is going on out there right now is not anything we aren't used to. We are battered by nor'easters all the time, and we are a bit more hardy than our neighbours to the south. 

Mon 15:57:21 

We have lashing rain and high winds, and the power is out. The generator has flipped on and we will run on that. We are at sustained winds NE to ESE 25  - 40 mph with wind gusts 55+. Rainfall is still predicted to be 3" but it is really coming down at the moment. The changeover has been quick. What leaves had been on the trees are down. The birds are gone. The wind is howling. 

Is the worst yet to come? We are hoping this sudden change is it.

Mon 16:58:22

Power is restored here, but there are 83,000 without power in New Hampshire. Minor flooding in the south of the state. The wind is still up, and the rain is lighter, but we are told more is moving in. So far this "super storm" has not proved itself as such. It is much like the nor'easters we get here. Hopefully, it will stay that way. 

Mon 19:13:06

Power is out along with 100,000 others in New Hampshire. Wind and rain have significantly picked up, but still, there is nothing remarkable about this storm. I wish I could share Diane Sawyer's concern for the Statue of Liberty staying put, but I kind of think it will DIANE. So we plug on. 

More later.

Mon 20:23:04 

The Internet is down, power is still out. The rain stopped, and the wind died down. The only sound is generators humming and the mother-in-law screeching "Dancing with the Stars just went off!" Yup, the telly went dark.

Tues 00:19:21

Rain, pounding rain. Some wind. No internet, no power. Can't hear the generator for the rain and wind.

Tues 10:52:31

The sun is out, and leaves are stripped from the trees. No damage but still without power and Internet.

I have a complaint and that is the news stations. Why is it that we are told, that all of us on the eastern seaboard would be subject to the same storm calamity? I wondered that right away. I was aware that no one knew where the storm was going to come in. However, as it did make its push towards the New Jersey coast, we knew that any major destruction would be the worst there. Yet, the rest of us were told to hunker down this was a storm of the century AGAIN. I realise that with two other systems in play along with a tide-pulling full moon, the unexpected was expected. However, as it was happening, the storm we got was no different than the usual nor'easter. We always get pelting rain, high winds, and lose power along with some moderate flooding occurring. This storm came with the same ingredients but added a possibility of a true danger because of unprecedented factors. OK, I can accept that, but the over-excited media and hyped weather reporting scared the bejesus out of a lot of people. The reporting was way over the top!

Diane Sawyer stunned me when she voiced her concern for the Statue of Liberty and not the people in the path of the storm. So many lives at risk and she's worried about a landmark!

Ginger Zee the new full-of-herself weather girl for ABC News was out in calf-deep water swaying as if the water and wind were making her do that. But the water wasn't moving like she was, the wind didn't seem to be buffeting her as the water gave it away. She almost fell and it would have served her right to have made a bigger fool of her overzealous and excited self on national television. Sensationalism when things should be taken seriously matters, not ratings of who can outdo who with the worst scenario. I am so done with ABC News.

One last note, I found it ironic that the HMS Bounty went down with its Captain Christian. Made me wonder about the original Bounty and first officer Mr. Christian who was her captain for a short time. Seems strange the two ships shared the same name and so did the two captains.

Gabe
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