Hurricane Irene

[Elen]

Hello All,

I just wanted to check in to make sure everyone on the East coast is doing ok.  The damage where I live was quite extensive.  One woman lost her life.  When she went to see the river, she was swept away.  Very, very sad.  Many in my town were evacuated and many homes sustained quite a bit of damage.  Main roadways are closed and there is yet no clarity as to when they might open. I am in western New England, so I can't even imagine what those more south have been through.

Wishing everyone well and much love,
Ellen

[Wendy]

Hi Ellen,

It seems New England got the worst of the storm.  I'm here in Maryland and we are out of power due to large trees down, but not much damage compared to NY and further north.  A young girl was killed by a tree crashing into the house she lived in.  The winds were intense and I was surprised at the minimum amount of damage in relation to the wind.  

Hope you all recover quickly up there.  My friends in Vermont had lots of flooding.  

I just saw these photos--impact from hurricane. http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/frightening-hurricane-irene-destruction-photos

God Bless,
Wendy

[Elen]

Thanks for the photos, Wendy.  Surprised to hear New England got it worse than further south as it had downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reached us.  Sorry to hear about your friend.  VT got hit hard.  Lots of flooding and stranded people and towns.... Clean up efforts already underway.....

Well wishes,
Ellen

[Steve]

Hi Ellen

The news today says its the worst flooding in Vermont in 100 years.  Some friends there got clobbered.  One who lives not too far from you had his dirt road wash out. The electricity and internet are back on at his house but the road won't be repaired for quite a while.  As its Vermont, neighbors he didn't even know came to check on him and make sure he was OK and had enough food.

Where I used to live is south of the Vermont border in Massachusetts.  There, downtown Shelburne Falls was evacuated, several buildings alongside the river that have been there ever since I came to that area in 1970, were washed away, down the river.  The water was almost over the top of the Bridge of Flowers roadway. 

I saw pictures and video of downtown Brattleboro last night.  Really something.  Glad to hear you made it through OK and didn't have to leave.
Steve

[Elen]

Hi Steve,

I am so sorry to hear about your friends.  Yes, it was quite bad here.  And I am so surprised to hear that it seems to be worse than other areas given that the storm had downgraded by the time it reached us.  Many roads have washed out and entire towns are stranded.  Yes, VT is an amazing place re: neighbors looking out for each other.  The town here did an amazing job in handling the crisis as it was happening and continue to do so afterwards.

Thanks for your thoughts.  I hope your friends are able to restore their lives with relative quickness and ease.

Well wishes,
Ellen

[PatriciaW]

Tomorrow I am headed up to Windham NY to start a 6 day workshop with 'soon to be' newly minted astro-Regressionists. It appears the town was wiped out... Very sad :-(  I've been going up there for 10 years now. Fortunately the retreat center I use is on the hill directly overlooking the town and they are ok...in fact called me today to say they got power back... but gee...watch the video... about 1 minute into it, it shows what used to be the downtown area...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu9djEpUUwk

[Elen]

Wow, Pat.  So sorry to hear about Windham.  That video is amazing - sad...  I hope everyone's able to make it to the workshop.  "Astro-regressionists" sounds pretty cool!

Well wishes,
Ellen