Storm effects?

[Joseph Scott 0]

Has anyone been damaged from the storm? Is there anything we can help with?

[ArtR 0]

Joe

Thanks for the thoughts.

We here in Vermont are struggling to get past this storm. You may have seen some footage and photos on the tube, and YouTube (just search IRENE VERMONT FLOOD) but I will put a link here to some pictures that say it all. Just a few days after the storm, contractors and construction equipment are slowly making progress removing debris, and starting the long task of restoring road infrastructure....some of the bridges may be slow in coming but we are a resourceful lot and while FEMA and the FEDS may help, we will work on it now and hope some financial help comes later. We have great appreciation to all the town highway departments, volunteer fire and rescue squads, power companies and the VERMONT NATIONAL GUARD. The Guard has been busy with trucks, all wheel drive vehicles and helicopters drawing water and supplies to some of the more remote stranded places as well as rescuing many people with health issues. As of yesterday, all 13 communities that were cut off originally now have at least rudimentary access roads for crews to get in.

A friend recently flew over Lake Champlain and said it was the strangest sight he had ever seen, with all the "round bales" of hay floating in the lake. Also he noted all the "stained water" where the silt laden streams and rivers are pouring into the lake. The lake had sustained record breaking flooding in the spring, after heavy spring rains, and rose to a record 103.2 feet level. It has been much of the summer receding, and got down to about 95 feet, just to be shoved back up over 2 feet by this storm.

Our local farmers have been hit by a triple whammy this year: extremely heavy winter snow falls which caused spring flooding, the heavy spring rains which caused flooding and delayed spring plowing and planting, and now this storm which has literally wiped some crop fields out.

But there is humor in it as well. One farmer found some "beach chairs" in the debris which washed onto his property along with a lot of sand and silt. He set the chairs out in the sand and declared with a big smile it was to be his new beach.

[ArtR 0]

Another link that might put the damage into perspective...a co-operative map by the State AOT using GoogleMaps to show the extent of some of the road damage.....

[ArtR 0]

the official Vermont 511 map

showing just the STATE and FEDERAL roads that are closed.

I should note that local roads that are maintained by local communites/towns/cities are not listed on most maps

[Ed Johnson 0]

Here in Groton CT, we just got power back today (Fri 9/02/11) in our section. We had damage, but nothing compared to some sections of VT.

Time to get back to a normal routine.....I hope.....

[ArtR 0]

More photos of the storm damage

I guess I cannot emphasize more the need for stand-by power. When I moved here in 1978, this area was prone to numerous unexplained power outages. At that time I purchased a small 4KW portable generator. That came in handy many times over the years. During the 1998 Ice Storm, we were without power for 76 hours. A few years later we had a similar outage during Hurricane Floyd. I dragged it in a trailer behind my garden tractor from house to house so people could hook up their refrigerators for an hour at a time. It made the rounds to 5 houses here for the 3 days consuming everyones spare gasoline. It was then that I decided to do something more. I had purchased a Kubota Diesel tractor, and as it had PTO power, I purchased a 10KW generator that I connect with a double throw switch on the house. In such events, I just hook up and power away. During this storm, while the state had over 27000 power outages, my neighborhood had only 27 houses without power, and only a few of us had stand-by power sources. While it was of short duration (22.5 hrs) some were beginning to wonder about food spoilage. Those who were 72 hours and more without power I can sympathize with. Today, one power company is still listing over 825 people waiting on reconnection.

With stand-by power, I had lights, heat if I needed it, my freezer and refrigerator were cold, and as my phone was not affected, I had DSL service and my computer worked. I was in contact with anyone else on the Internet by email and IM.

Many neighbors had forgotten that phones that require power adapters do not work when the power is out. Also, cell phones only last as long as their batteries. It was surprising the number of people who did not have a car charger for their cell phones!

Also the number of people who have medical issues and did not have power was amazing. Considering the cost of standby power, it is cheap insurance. Sure, it is more expensive to power with stand-by, but it sure beats the alternative.

There is a lot to be said for having spare water, batteries, flashlights, a good supply of food, and a bit of resourcefulness.

ArtR

[Ed Johnson 0]

I agree with Art 100%.....I used a 6200 watt generator for everything he described above....although our phone and cell service was sporadic. However, we ran for 5 days without utility power, used 30 gallons of gasoline, ran air conditioners, watched VCR Tapes and DVD disks of movies we hadn't seen for a long time and survived very comfortably at night.

Being in the local fire department, we had a large number of calls, rescuing people in multi-million dollar homes who didn't have sump pumps and generators even though they live on the shore. Go figure! I also used my portable 3000 watt generator to help keep neighbors' refrigerators cold and at least one oxygen system going.

Best of all, at least in my neighborhood, we didn't hear any "criminal" gunfire. If Walt went to the range at all, I just didn't hear him.

But, there was damage, and at least one well known local business will be going under as a result. Such is life.

[ArtR 0]

Ed, it is good to hear that I am not the only one out there who thinks having standby power is a good idea. We live in an electronic dependent age, and having listened to some on the TV complaining that the power companies were not doing enough to get power restored just made me angry. These same people will spend oodles on fancy and multiple cars, every toy and gadget such as Ski-doos, and Sea-doos, 4 wheelers, and huge SUV's but they do not have the foresight to spend a few dollars to have stand-by power. My whole system (less the tractor) was under $2,000. As I said before, cheap insurance!

I am not sure about the rest of you, but here in VT we are shuddering at the prospect of more rain over the next several days...whether this moisture is from Lee I do not know, but with that coming up this way, and the prospect of Katia, ugh....already there are flash flood warnings for the central Adirondacks, and there have been a couple of storms that have passed through a couple counties locally and luckily there was no additional damage....however, another storm is passing just to our south and it is quite a bit larger than the last few....just hope and pray that it passes quickly and does not shed much water...the problem being each storm is cumulative..and that can be a real danger now....