"ATP" wrote in message
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"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
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"Winston" wrote in message
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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. Cable hooked up an hour ago, so I fired up the computer on power
borrowed from my neighbor.

Now I have to get off and re-connect it to the refrigerator. g

No other damage and everyone is well. See you soon.

Oh, if you caught "Good Morning America" this morning around 7: 15 ET,
they had a live feed of a street in NJ with an oak tree around 80 years
old down across the end of a cul-de-sac, with power lines down all over.
That was two doors down from my house. They asked to interview me. Having
been up for 1-1/2 nights with no shower, I declined. d8-)

--
Ed Huntress
Hope you get your power back on soon. My sidewalk was covered in water and
I was paddle boarding down the street. But we never lost power although
about 500,000 local utility customers did.

Thanks, it was restored around midnight last night. Most of my town lost
power; people on my street did not -- except for me. d8-). It was the drops
from the poles across the street that were wiped out, which allowed me to
borrow power from a neighbor who had been luckier.

--
Ed Huntress