hurricane irene.

It's hard to believe that three days ago, Nick and I spent almost twelve hours trying to decide whether or not to flee the city before Hurricane Irene came knocking on our door. We ended up deciding to stay but not without being fully prepared. We stocked up on non-perishables, gallons of water, flashlights, batteries, candles and toilet paper. Our friend Eric came over with even more food, some beers, and Scattergories. The three of us were fully prepared to not leave the apartment for a good 24 hours.

We watched a chick-flick (much to their chagrin of course), played Scrabble, played Scattergories, and drank beers and ate the unhealthiest foods in between. We fell asleep around 2 a.m. and wondered if we would have electricity when we woke.



In hindsight, our questions and curiosity seem silly now.

We looked out the window at 7 a.m. and while the winds were blowing like mad, nothing seemed to be shaking or rattling any harder than a regular winter's storm. We finally awoke for good around 10 a.m., looked out the window again, and thought to ourselves, ".....Is that it?"

We took a bike ride later in the day to check out the neighborhood. We found some fallen branches, lots of debris, and one flooded street down by Astoria Park on the East River.


After spending hours talking about how generally underwhelming Irene turned out to be, we learned later that New England wasn't so lucky. Our friend Mary's town of Ludlow, Vermont is completely flooded and old, famous wooden bridges have washed away. Our friends who were at a bachelor party in the Catskills this weekend are stranded there without power until further notice. Helicopters are apparently being used to evacuate people in that area.

The craziest part is that for all the hype that the media stirred over the coming wrath of Irene, it now seems pleased that the storm is over and we can move on with our lives. The tragic results of Irene throughout New England are not over though, and the media is barely shedding any light on it. My thoughts and prayers are with those who are stranded, without power, have lost their homes and possessions, their towns, and more.

Here are some links that show the destruction in Vermont. I truly hope they can recover.


30 photos of Irene's destruction throughout Vermont 


A video of a covered bridge literally washing away


A blog entry regarding the destruction of one of UVM's favorite post-slopes spot, The Alchemist, in Waterbury, VT