Took a nap for a bit, then went outside to check on the waterworks. Still doing fine. Except the wind is howling now, and we’re now at the point where I wouldn’t need a forecast to know what’s coming. We’re still predicted to get tropical storm force winds, and they are starting now, but Irene is still battering Norfolk. It doesn’t get better from here, which is the scary part.
Obviously power is still on. When the blog disappears, then you’ll know that isn’t the case, as we only have an hour of battery for the blog, and we have nothing if the fiber gets taken out. I’ll keep updating this post as long as there’s power to let everyone know how the “Storm of the Century!” is proceeding. In the mean time, apparently New Yorkers have been taking all the lessons we’ve learned about safe sex, and thinking they apply to hurricanes. Sadly, I’ve seen other sources of this behavior as well. Just remember, these are the folks who think they are fit to rule the country. My other sources in NYC inform me that the yippies there are busy madly stocking up on organic perishable goods, and I wish I wasn’t kidding about that.
UPDATE: 10:45PM Saturday. Tornado warning issued. Specifically for the few towns around us. Warning typically means there’s one on the ground. Fun. Power has been hiccuping a bit.
UPDATE: Moving everything out of the basement. The water coming in is now over the backup pump’s capacity, and nearly over the primary pump’s capacity. The blog server is in the basement along with all the internet stuff. We’re essentially power loss away form having to shut down, UPS or no.
UPDATE: Sewer is now backing up into the house. Still in the sink, but rising. We’re in a lot of trouble here.
UPDATE: Sewer level going down, but there’s more to come. I have been moving everything out of the basement that I can. We were out for a bit because I was moving things around. We have not lost power, and the basement is not yet flooding. We’re in a lull right now, but I am quite scared about losing the home appliances that are down there, and I can’t easily move right now. If the basement starts flooding, I will need to switch off the breakers down there. It should not reach as high as the breaker box, but I’m not taking a lot of chances.
UPDATE: I feel like a fool for making fun of the storm of the century stuff. This is a big deal. When I have to move everything out of by basement because the neighborhood sewer system is overwhelmed by storm intrusion into the system, it’s friggin bad.
UPDATE from Bitter: I have discovered that an adage is not true – you really can have too many guns. At least it seems that way when you have to empty the gun safe very, very quickly when you think your finished basement is about to fill with sewage backup.
UPDATE from Bitter: Sebastian is busy with improvised sandbags & building walls to keep diverting water away from the house. I’m listening to the news and keeping up with the radar. We’re entering a new phase of tornado warnings, but not in our neighborhood yet (again).
A building in North Philly collapsed about an hour and a half ago with people trapped inside. We don’t have anything that severe in our area, but apparently there’s a massive branch in our neighbor’s yard that will take a chainsaw to cut up.
Also, the tv anchors we are listening to on the radio are dumb. I’m listening to them discuss how it doesn’t make any sense that Canada could be facing a tropical storm. It’s a good thing I don’t have a baseball bat to take to my phone which is currently acting as our radio. There’s no excuse for that kind of stupid banter when there are serious issues like flooding.
UPDATE 3:01AM: – Irene is soon going to pass closest to us. Knock on wood, we still have power, but the wind is getting more serious. The gusts sound like a freight train, so I can’t imagine what it’s like for the people near the Jersey shore. I have added some new features to my water works to divert more water around the house. Ultimately, I have a grading problem I need to fix. To top it off the roof is leaking, but that’s actually the least of my concern right now.
UPDATE: The Weather Channel iPad app has been indispensable in letting us know about tornado warnings. I highly recommend.
UPDATE 5:55AM: Water has been manageable since the initial rain bands almost overwhelmed my pump capacity. I literally had water coming out of my basement walls. We have a drain system, but it’s still disconcerting. I have been watching the barometer like a hawk. She’s still not passed yet, and is still coming on. But now with more wind than rain. I hope this continues. I can sustain a power outage as long as the rain isn’t more than my DC backup pump can handle. I haven’t tapped the marine battery yet, and it’s been a miracle we have not lost power. There are a quarter million people without power right now. So far, we are actually very lucky.
UPDATE 6:48AM: Pumps have been able to hold pretty well for the past several hours. The basement is still dry. The neighborhood shit seems to be flowing downhill once again, and not into my basement. Thinking about getting some sleep. I could really use some. Overall, I think we have been very lucky so far. I pray for the poor souls who are not so lucky.
UPDATE 12:15PM: Slept for a bit. The rain has pretty much moved on, but we’re still dealing with heavy wind gusts. But we were very lucky in all this. Hardly any water is coming into the basement at this point, so if the wind knocks power out, we’ll be OK, but the blog will be down for a while.
