Hurricane Irene....

[Bryancd]

I miss Montreal.

Me too....I had a bachelor party there...  :ohbaby

[QuadShot]

All of the power lines here in Phoenix are underground so when we do have our big storms the power system isn't effected. We do loose power on occasion due to transformers popping from excessive use during the really HOT days, although this year we haven't had any outages.

Or some bonehead in a stolen truck plows through the transformer in the wash next to your house! :)

[billybob476]

I miss Montreal.

Me too....I had a bachelor party there...  :ohbaby

I'll be there next weekend for a wedding and later on again in September for....a bachelor party :)

The ice storm was tough but we made the best of it. I was in the Air Cadets at the time (kind of like the Civil Air Patrol). We got into our fatigues and went around door to door with the police making sure people were ok. I also worked at McDonald's in a mall which was designated as a public shelter. All the stores/restaurants were closed except us and we had lines out the door. We couldn't use water because filtration had broken down so we were handing out cans of pop that we were ferrying over from CostCo.

We also ended up heeling out a friend of mine as her house burned down, the insulation around their fireplace was defective. Since it was the only way to heat the house, they had a fire going for a few days straight and the insulation around the fireplace actually caught on fire.

I also remember driving with my father to go and buy batteries and the car spun out on our way there since the roads were all covered in a sheet of very slick ice. The city couldn't do anything except spread salt on the roads but the freexing rain was steadily coming down make the effort pretty futile. Luckily we recovered and didn't hit anything (wasn't much traffic due to the conditions).

[MARKO]

Monday Aug 29th finally back home...... no damage to my home here on Oak Island we are blessed we have power and the storm did not effect the island at all! Having said that my wife and i have been on the run for the last few days and have seen wide spread flooding damage of most of the mid Atlantic and north east.  We drove from the Pocono mountains west on RT 80 to 81 south through western pa and there was wind damage and no power,also into Maryland and VA no power which meant no GAS or lodging or food water and $$$ from ATM Machines. We meaning my wife and i and a few hundred people slept in hotel lobby's off of RT 95 last night on our way home,no power or creature comforts, god bless the red cross they were all over helping people who were put out by the storm. I consider my self blessed  after what i saw, i am also glad  that my Hurricane Irene tour 2011 of the east coast has finally come to a close and i am home...... Life is good.

Marko

[billybob476]

Glad you made it home safe and all is well.

[ChrisMC]

I'm glad this storm didn't cause as much devastation as they thought it might. We lost our house to Hurricane Charley in '04, we were hunkered in the bathroom while it happened. It changed course at the last moment and came right into our harbor, we had no time to leave. I wouldn't wish that terror on anyone, that's for sure.

It really was nice at the time to see everyone coming together and helping each other out. Seems like at the worst of times people can be at their best.

[Geekyfanboy]

Glad everyone and their property seems to be okay.

[Feathers]

Nice to know everyone's still with us!

[spaltor]

Still without power.  It's mostly just a nuisance.  But I commute into NYC every day, and the trains aren't right.  So 10x the normal capacity of people are all trying to squeeze onto the buses.  And it's almost dark by the time I get home again.  I'm supposed to fly on Thursday - may be packing by candlelight!

[Feathers]

This is a scale of event we just don't see over here. Without electricity? Unimaginable...

(OK, only half joking. I think component failure or civil unrest are probably the only things that could have any impact like that over here. The concept of really severe weather like that seems completely foreign to me. And for the other Brits, yes I do remember 1986 but the concept still seems alien.)

[spaltor]

Really, I'm just happy that my hot water heater runs on natural gas.  I may have to stumble around with candles and flashlights, but at least I can still take a hot shower every morning!  And that makes a ton of difference.

[Feathers]

Really, I'm just happy that my hot water heater runs on natural gas.  I may have to stumble around with candles and flashlights, but at least I can still take a hot shower every morning!  And that makes a ton of difference.

I guess it doesn't have electronic ignition or need any form of pumping then. Good purchasing choice on someone's part!

[Poodyglitz]

Really, I'm just happy that my hot water heater runs on natural gas.  I may have to stumble around with candles and flashlights, but at least I can still take a hot shower every morning!  And that makes a ton of difference.

I can take hot showers, but they're laced with sewage. :)

[Feathers]

Really, I'm just happy that my hot water heater runs on natural gas.  I may have to stumble around with candles and flashlights, but at least I can still take a hot shower every morning!  And that makes a ton of difference.

I can take hot showers, but they're laced with sewage. :)

I really have nothing coherent to say to that... Eww?

[Rico]

Really, I'm just happy that my hot water heater runs on natural gas.  I may have to stumble around with candles and flashlights, but at least I can still take a hot shower every morning!  And that makes a ton of difference.

I guess it doesn't have electronic ignition or need any form of pumping then. Good purchasing choice on someone's part!

Most hot water heaters run on gas only in US homes.  No need for electricity, unless you happen to use well water and need a pump.  But again, many people use city supplied water.  And when widespread power outages happen, getting the city water supply up and running is a top priority.