Re: Hurricane Irene
So the 'live' report from here on the ground in VT is not too bad.
We got a ton of rain, up to 18 inches in some places. Lots of roads gone and closed. Next town over got doused bad, but all up and running a few days later. We got lucky and sustained minimal damage.
My own property... lost the driveway, but was on the tractor at 6am Monday and put the driveway back where it belongs by 9am. Better than it's been all summer. Sorry FEMA, but get lost.
Spent the storm on duty telling people to stop driving their pickup trucks through the closed flooded roads (in reality, if I were still 19... I'd have been with them...). And had to chew out some clamhammers who were body surfing in a massively flooded river and trying to prove Darwinism doesn't exist. Really. Can't make this stuff up. They came ashore and went home.
The most interesting thing here in rural VT is that the cut-off and stranded communities... have turned into post-apocalyptic nirvanas. Town meetings to share food. Neighbors digging each other out and sharing rooms. Stores/Hotels giving away produce/food and acting as food kitchens. It's small-town America at its best. Not a single incident of looting anywhere in the state that I am aware of, and not a single person crapping on a stadium seat.
Some folks got hit hard and my heart goes out to them and I hope they get all the assistance they need. Most of us did fine. Everyone in VT, I think, acted like patriots. Though our Governor spent the storm at his weekend home in Nova Scotia (and is catching grief for that...) most people showed their best sides!
Anyway, thanks to everyone for their wishes of safety and good words. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, was terrible for some... and gave a lot of people a chance to show their good sides.
Cheers,
Sirhr