Hurricane Irene

That might work for the first hour
but after that

I read on the internet this morning that 18 deaths have been attributed to Irene so far. I was amazed how the majority was from trees (either from falling or people driving into them). One person had a tree fall on their camper in Pennsylvania. Those are terrible events and not sure you can really prepare for it.....but the two deaths in Florida were preventable and you would think that men at that age would know better, IMHO.

CONNECTICUT:

— In Prospect, one person was killed in a fire that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said was apparently caused by wires knocked down by the storm.

FLORIDA:

— In Volusia County, 55-year-old Frederick Fernandez died Saturday off New Smyrna Beach after he was tossed off his board by massive waves caused by Irene. The Orlando Sentinel reports the high school teacher had a large cut on his head, apparently from hitting the sea floor.

— In Flagler County, 55-year-old tourist James Palmer of New Jersey died Saturday in rough surf. Family members say they lost sight of him after he waded into the surf in North Florida. He was pulled to shore and his wife attempted CPR, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital.

MARYLAND:

— In Queen Anne's County, a woman was killed when a tree fell on a house and caused the chimney to collapse. Another person in the house was not hurt.

NEW JERSEY

— Celena Sylvestri, 20, of Quinton, called her boyfriend and then 911 early Sunday seeking help getting out of her flooded car in Pilesgrove, police said. Her body was found eight hours later in the vehicle, which was about 150 feet off the road, police said.

NEW YORK

— A man in his 50s was electrocuted in Spring Valley when he tried to help a child who had gone into a flooded street with downed wires. The child was in very serious condition at Westchester Medical Center's burn unit, said a spokesman for the Rockland County Emergency Operations Center.

NORTH CAROLINA:

— In Nash County, a man was killed after a tree limb fell on him outside his home Saturday morning as outer bands from the storm brought near hurricane-force gusts inland.

— Goldsboro police say a 15-year-old girl died Saturday afternoon after the SUV carrying her and family members collided with another SUV at an intersection where Irene had knocked out power to traffic lights.

— Authorities in Pitt County say a man was found dead in his home after Irene's winds toppled a tree onto his house.

— Another man in Pitt County drove through standing water, went off a road and died after striking a tree on Saturday.

— A mother in Sampson County died Saturday morning when a tree fell on a car carrying her and two family members.

PENNSYLVANIA

— A 58-year-old Harrisburg man was killed Sunday morning when a tree toppled onto his tent, state police said. The man was one of about 20 people at a party on private property in East Hanover Township, Dauphin County, some of whom who decided to sleep outside.

— A man in a camper was crushed by a tree in northeastern Pennsylvania's Luzerne County, state emergency management officials said. Police found his body shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday.

— A motorist was killed when he lost control of his car on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Carbon County, skidded over an embankment and hit a tree. State officials attributed the accident to the storm.

VIRGINIA:

— Newport News authorities report that 11-year-old Zahir Robinson was killed when a large tree crashed through his apartment shortly after noon.

— In Brunswick County, a tree fell across a car Saturday afternoon, killing 67-year-old James Blackwell of Brodnax. The driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

— Chesterfield County police say a man died at a Hopewell hospital Saturday after a tree fell on a house that he was in.

— A King William County man killed when a tree fell on him as he was cutting another tree on Saturday night.

[tgpmd1]

We fared pretty well out here just north of D.C. I could not sleep until after 3 a.m. due to the winds. We live on a tree filled hill and had a 120' tree hit our house during Isabel a few years back. Worried about the house and TM all night. The first thing I asked was how the TM looked in the morning. Just very wet with LOTS of leaves and sticks, but only some downed limbs in the backyard. We lucked out this time...

[B_and_D]

I really used to like having trees around the house, but after the earthquake, and after a nearby fire that really gave us a scare, we don't encourage them any more. It's too bad because they're so nice for shade and privacy.

Small trees are good. I guess you just have to keep planting them and replacing those that get too big, or too old.

We had a neighbors 45 ft cypress fall next to TM. One limb managed to knock the plastic end cap off the awning and another hit the jack post and rolled the wheel and trailer about 4 " to one side of its normal location. Got ucky.

The trees I planted makes me fear. There are many trees fell and I can't sleep at that time knowing that the trees is right beside my house.

[Mr. Adventure]

We had a 24" oak tree fall back into the woods. Aimed at the house, it could have been exciting. If it had hit the TM, the TM would be like a beer can under a garbage truck. I counted over 200 years on the rings, and from the look of them, hot and dry summers aren't anything new or unusual around here.

We had 11" of rain, and the power was out here for several days. But over at the beach where the storm was, they never really lost power and the damages were limited to a very small number of houses.

The hurricane was interesting, and certainly bigger than anything we ever felt in the five years we lived in Southern California back in the early 70's. But there was no local damage, which surprises me because no one has ever expected any earthquakes around here and there are a lot of old masonry buildings around.