At 6 AM I woke to the sound of a roaring incoming train. Wind. My small dog jumped onto the bed and tunneled under the covers like a nervous child. Suddenly rain hit my house like a fire hose and the 120′ tall pine seen through the sky light in my bedroom leaned at an alarming angle. My neighbor turned on an outside light reflecting through the dark on my bedroom wall. Ok, power still on. It was like being inside a Cuisinart for 20 minutes, then unnervingly still as if someone had thrown the “off” switch. Brightness began in the east.
Since that time about every 75-90 minutes we get hammered with rain and gusts of wind. As long as the river has a bit of time to drain between these bouts it will probably stay where it is. By mid morning it seems as if we have dodged a bullet here in the Mad River Valley. Statewide we are told that all the roads are open. While I am sure there is damage in small parts that we have not heard about yet, over all we have lucked out.
In my small part of the world all seems well for the moment. As is typical for those of us who understand the horror of the effects of a flood a notice went out from our still active Mad-River-Valley-Hurricane-Irene facebook page posted this:
As the New York Region begins to clean up, they are collecting information from willing volunteers. This is the message from NYC Service on how to help: “There will be various ways to volunteer to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy – Want to Volunteer? Please email nycservice@cityhall.nyc.gov with your name, email address and borough. There will be ways to volunteer today and over the next week as opportunities arise.
Will post again when I venture out. Praying for safety for those on lower ground.
The Pampered Traveler 