On Aug 29, 3:20*pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
"Winston" wrote in message

...

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/28/irene.new.jersey/

Street surfing in 'Jersey!
How did it go, Ed?

--Winston

I got some practice on my backstroke in the basement. g This is the first
I've been online, and I'm still on borrowed power.

So...how it went. The wind blew, and stuff flew, and the rain came down. And
down. And down. And down...

My sump pump was handling it well, and I was cleaning up the slurps with my
shop vac until 1:00 AM. Then I laid down for a rest; set the alarm for 3:00
AM.

About 2:00 AM, according to the clocks, a branch from my neighbor's tree
fell across my power, cable, and telephone feeds (the lines are across the
street). All three came down. I woke up around 7:00 AM to find 7 inches of
water in the basement, which wiped out my compressor, several boxes of
tools, my water heater, and God knows what else. I spent hours getting the
water heater pilot tube off (without breaking it), blew out the water, and
eventually got it back together and re-lit. It was making gurgling sounds..
and spitting at me.

I borrowed power from a neighbor, for the sump pump, one light and the
refrigerator. I got the last of the water out this morning. Still no power.