Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene the Aftermath

I survived. (not that I was ever in danger, but I was scared)

Irene ended up pretty much fizzling out by the time she got up here. Her wind was pretty weak, I don't think it blew over 40 mph at all. But her rain reeked havoc on many parts of my city. The Pequabuck River runs right through most of our city. Usually, it's a peaceful little river and even a creek in other places!

We have a section of my city called Forestville. It's the lowest lying area. If the rain comes fast and strong enough the road leading the highway through the section usually gets flooded. But, not as bad as this. This was unrelentless flooding. At least four feet deep.

Don't worry I wasn't standing in the water

The highway was deserted.

The parking lot of this factory was underwater.





Memorial Boulevard is underwater. The water was flowing perfecting down the lanes.





Remeber the cute little creek I was playing in last weekend?





This is what it looked like when Irene came through. It actually flooded the entire park and onto the streets. This was several hours later when it finally receded.



Rt 6 in Bristol. Our main drag.

Thankfully, all the water pretty much receded fairly quickly. All in all Irene was a bust, but I'm very thankful. I am praying for the people in Vermont because several towns have been cut off because roads have been washed away, bridges swept away, homes swept away. I couldn't even imagine how it would have been if Irene was a Cat 2. Thankfully, she was only a Tropical Storm as soon as she made landfall.

Over 40 people have been lost. One actually right here in Bristol. Him and a friend decided to take a canoe out and paddle along the street that became flooded from the river overflowing the bank. They misjudged just how powerful the river was (which was also slowly receding at the time) and they were swept into the rapids. Their canoe hit a tree and they capsized. They were then swept down river and came to the bridge where the railroad tracks sit, and apparently both of them hit their heads. The sole survivor reported today that he went under the bridge but came back out on the other side just fine (I really don't know how, the water was so high) and his friend was no where to be seen. Unfortunately, his friend was found after midnight yesterday. RIP to him. I'm sending prayers to his family as well.

Some parts of the state are a mess and still will be for a while. But I'm very thankful and grateful that none of my friends or family were hurt, they we didn't (somehow) lose power and that waters did not enter our home.

Today's a day to stop and think about how lucky I am, it could have been ten times worse.