"Hurricane" Irene, Part 4...that should be about it from here...

Okay!  It's now 10:21 am Eastern Time as I write this, back to work at WITF.  My colleagues, Tim Lambert and Megan Lello are working it on 89.5, but I have not had time to really listen in; getting ready for very abbreviated sports reports for KYW 1060 in Philly.

I needless to say didn't sleep an awful lot; found plenty of things to do around the house while keeping an eye and ear out on things.  Had a couple of minor power outages, but the electricity came right back on. 

The worst of the storm has moved northward...

http://www1.whdh.com/video/7newslive

I haven't watched Boston TV in years, even when I go up to visit.  Looks like they're doing their best.  I give kudos to the NBC 4 crews in New York for doing a very good job, without sounding like they're covering the end of the world.  A lot of local and some cable outlets could take lessons from those folks.

I finally awakened this morning to find still windy conditions and occasional bursts of rain.  The house survived the night okay, and the property looks good.  Couple of big downed limbs, but one of those was already headed for the ground anyway.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150275719565787.336997.552340786&saved#!/media/set/?set=a.10150275719565787.336997.552340786&type=1

Not a lot of exciting pictures, sorry to say.  My old friend Alexandra who lives in NYC said Irene was all hype.  She certainly still caused plenty of damage along the coast.

Another old friend Ardyth rode out the storm on Long Island, in the mandatory evac. zone:  she reports they had power nearly all night, some heavy waves washed over the boardwalk onto the beach, but flooding has closed a number of highways.  So no one's going much of anywhere.

Irene is now a tropical storm, but still can cause trouble as it blasts through New England and into Canada.  But it looks like we came out of it without too much difficulty. 

Anyway, I do not expect to blog much more about the storm, unless something really unusual happens.  I did this mostly as an exercise of my skillz; keeps you busy and going.

I well remember the days when we had to go mad trying to rig any possible way of getting information, begging, borrowing and pirating if need be.  The Internet has made it easier, though not always perfect.

Looks like we're cool...now back to your regularly scheduled blog...haha!

Irene Update, Part 2

So far, the night in the Midstate has been pretty quiet...we've had steady rainfall for more than four hours, and also a bit of wind.  Nothing too terrible.  My NOAA Weather Radio tripped only once about 35 minutes ago.

Reports have been interesting, from different places, via Twitter:

RT @usedwigs: NJ News Traffic Advisory: Please avoid Highway 9, it's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive. #hurricane

It's so wet at Fenway, fans are playing 'Marco Scutaro', not 'Polo'... "Marco" from 1st base side, "Scutaro" from 3rd... #hurricaneirene

Those are the more humorous ones.  A old boss of mine had a boat near the Rappahannock, and hopefully got that to safety. 

On Long Island, an old friend of mine, and nearly 3/4 of her condo have stayed, despite the evac. order; Ardyth's reports include:

"Just starting to get some wind, been raining on and off all day."

"Lightning and thunder just arrived." (10:02 pm, Eastern)

"...the worst of it is not due to arrive for a few more hours."

"The only thing I'm really concerned with is the storm surge @ high tide tomorrow.  There's a canal 2 blocks away."

"We can't leave the house now...I hear the wind howling now."

Those all in the space of about 10 minutes.  Ardyth is Long Island tough, so they should be alright. 

My old friend Alexandra has just chirped in from NYC:  "All good...Irene is hype...just some wind and rain here."

Well...we'll see...let's hope the track of the storm continues off the coast, as this shows:

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/feature?section=weather&id=8320373

This is pretty neat...anyway, I am appreciative to NOT be in the middle of it, not for nothing.  I've been through two hurricanes, and survived countless Nor-Easters to respect Mother Nature.

NBC 4 has done a very good job of covering the storm tonight; still doesn't look like the worst is there yet...appears to be about 2 am for the city, by a rough look at the above link's model.

Mayor Bloomberg is talking once again...will go check this out.

I think I'll get down for a bit...I likely will be awakened by anything that goes down outside my bedroom window...if the storm doesn't wake me, the cats will!

Again, be safe, my friends and all others...