Surviving Hurricane Irene...

cookie.monsterTue 30/08/11 15:41

Okay, so that maybe sounds potentially dramatic for an opening title, but whatever ;)

I've just returned from the US today, after having had to extend my stay by two nights, and am feeling damn lucky, it has to be said.

Not lucky to be alive - I was never in any physical danger. Just damn lucky to not be stuck over there for another 5 or 6 nights.

Originally I was due to fly back from Newark Airport in New Jersey on Saturday night. Irene had other ideas.

The airports were closed down on Saturday afternoon and we had no idea when they would re-open. The airline (Continental) was uncontactable in the US - every phone call was answered with a recorded message telling me that the line was experiencing high call volume and to check the website before disconecting me. There was no information on the website...

Now, I wasn't expecting Continental to wave a magic wand and make the clouds go away, just to know what the hell I should do...

However, Super Dad came to the rescue and, phoning the UK number for Continental, managed to get the flight switched to Monday night, the first flight out, and here I am. Incidentally, the switch also involved a free upgrade to Business Class. Nice.

So... to the storm...

Saturday night was uneventful. We were stuck in the hotel from noon due to the closing down of all businesses and transport. The hotel shut down the lifts and air-conditioning at 10pm as a precaution and opened their grand ballroom as an emergency shelter if we so desired... I did not desire.

I went to bed.

When I woke up at 9am, there was wind and rain.... but it was all gone by noon on Sunday. I went for a walk... took some photos of some smal puddles... and then went back.

Sunday evening had some power cuts - no lights in the public areas of the hotel, so again just decided to stay-put, and then came home.

Watching the news while in the hotel room, there are some horrible disaster areas. The last report I saw - at the airport - said that 25 people had been confirmed dead because of the hurricane.

Where I was, we were very lucky.

Woo!

#99910Tue 30/08/11 17:30

There was a story on The Guardian website where an ex-New Yorker living in London now said that he'd been keeping an eye on what was going on over there and was a bit embarassed about it all.

Apparently the top speed of the wind in New York was around 45mph - as he pointed out, that sort of wind is what you go out for a pleasant stroll in on Boxing Day to get over the Xmas over-indulgence.

cookie.monsterTue 30/08/11 17:35

quoting > "was a bit embarassed about it all"

Don't get me wrong, if you look at some areas of New Jersey and the Carolinas there's some devastating destruction of property and it's going to take years for some families and communities to get back on their feet.

But New York City... nah, nothing really happened.

maguaTue 30/08/11 18:08

sounds like you were very...

lucky...