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Hurricane Irene Damage

As many of  you know, Hurricane Irene swept up the east coast on Saturday afternoon and evening, bringing lots of wind and rain along with it. Sadly, our neighborhood didn’t fare very well with high wind gusts slamming a bunch of giant trees down on power lines, roads, and even homes.

Irene Tree On Powerlines

Irene Tree On House

Irene Tree Uprooted

Irene Tree Leaning

Irene Tree On Powerlines2

Thankfully, our house was spared. But many of our neighbors and friends weren’t so lucky. It broke our hearts to look out from our patio to see that a tree in our neighbor’s yard had fallen onto their home (it easily could have hit ours if it fell in the other direction).

Irene View From Patio

Irene Backyard Neighbor Cru

Thankfully although they were both home with their two dogs at the time, no one was hurt. But parts of their house are flooded and shattered, and we’re so sad for them – and anyone else whose family or house has been affected.

When it came to what we did during the storm, we just hunkered down at home between 6pm to midnight when the winds were at their worst. And after hearing/seeing a few large trees come down on our block we decided to sleep in interior rooms, just to have a bit more protection in the event that something fell on our house (since our basement is below grade, we worried it could flood – which is why we opted for interior rooms over lower level spaces). Clara slept in the hallway in a pack and play (since it was insulated by rooms on all sides)…

Hallway Pack

… and John and I dragged the not-as-heavy-as-ours mattress from the guest room into the kitchen (which is also in the middle of our house).

Kitchen Bed

Thankfully our basement didn’t flood and although we have a bunch of branches and debris to clean up on our yard (along with a few larger tree limbs in the back) we feel incredibly fortunate.

Irene Big Branch In Our Yar

Irene Front Yard Debris

We’re still without power along with what we hear are around 800,000 other Richmonders (ours went out around 5pm on Saturday, so we’re on our third day without it). We’re hoping to have it restored soon, but realistically know that it could be a few more days or even one to two weeks (a statement that they just released alludes to the latter of those timelines). A number of trees on the power lines in our neighborhood means that it might be a while for us, so our blogging schedule may be a bit irregular until our area is back up and running. We also might not be able to keep up with comments, facebook, and twitter as much as we’d like (since you know we’re usually so chatty), but we do have plans to stop in with the afternoon giveaway as usual, and hope that everyone else who is dealing with any sort of storm repercussions is doing ok.

Oh and we felt compelled to check on our first house and were so relieved to see that it appeared to make it through. Although there was a huge tree on the house across the street. Scary stuff.

Between this and the earthquake on Tuesday, we’re ready to be done with natural disasters for a while – especially since it’s rare for either of them to affect Richmond so much (the last major storm in our area was Isabel in 2003, and most Richmonders were without power for about a week). Let’s hope we’re back up and running sooner than that. Luckily a few of our relatives do have power and enough food/water to go around. In fact here’s Clara on Sunday morning after the storm passed and we headed over to Grammy’s house, where there’s power, glorious power (which seems to be a rarity in our city). We joked that all of the chaos drove her into the arms of her cousin John…

Irene Clara Hugging John

… where they watched a video together and had a grand old time.

Irene Clara John Watching T

Thanks so much to everyone on twitter, facebook, and here in the comments who checked in on us this weekend. You have no idea how much we appreciate the love and send it right back atcha. And for anyone else who was affected, we’d love to hear from you about how you’re doing.

Comments

  1. Roberta says

    SO glad to hear that you are all safe and sound. We had a lot of trees come down here in Raleigh again. I think they were all “loose” from all the rain and the tornadoes back in April that swept through here. We had a lot of rain and we are just thankful that things were not as bad as they predicted. Like you…we’ve had enough of the natural stuff for a while. Praying that your power is restored asap. Fondly, Roberta

    Reply

  2. Erica says

    I live in Richmond too, and the winds was very scary I was in Hampton for Isabel and was without power for 2 weeks. My power went out at 3:00 on Sat here and came back on at 8:49 this morning after I took a cold shower and was leaving for work, so im glad everybody is ok and it could have been worse..

    Reply

  3. KellyA says

    I definitely checked in here over the weekend to find out if your home had been swept away! So glad you were spared.

    Isobel hit when I was in college in Virginia and I remember it well. My car had a broken window so just plastic covering where the glass used to be and my roommate opened the window (above my bed) to watch the storm and didn’t close it. Ahhhh, wet bedding!

    Hope everyone gets their power back soon!

    Reply

  4. Christina says

    I hope your power is restored soon. There are tons of crews working on it, even from out-of-state, I am sure. When we had Ivan, there were even crews here from Canada to help. Both of my parents worked at the power company here, and any time there was a hurricane in another state, they went to help. Those folks literally work around the clock – it’s just amazing.
    Best of luck to you.

    Reply

  5. Pamela says

    So glad to hear you’re all okay. Sad about the neighbor’s damage. So annoyed to hear all these “nothing happened here/wish it was more exciting” from many East Coasters in the blogging community. Why would you wish for a natural disaster? Stupid …

    Reply

  6. Krystle @ ColorTransformedFamily says

    I’m glad to hear y’all are ok. I can imagine it gave you quite the fright to hear all the trees coming down around you. Our neighborhood was affected by the tornados in Alabama back in April. Even though we were without power for a week we really enjoyed not having distractions (iPhone, computer, tv) and just spent time reading and resting. It will be interesting to hear how about y’all routine without power and full time access to the blog. Hope you get it back soon.

    Reply

  8. Jennifer K says

    So glad you guys are all ok. I feel terrible for those that have sustained damage to their houses. Mother Nature sure can be mean sometimes!!

    Reply

  13. Lara says

    SO relieved to hear you all are ok.

    Also–PLEASE feel free to take whatever time that you need to deal with of all the extra STUFF that goes along with these things–don’t worry about the blog–we’ll still be here:)

    Reply

  14. Dana says

    Wow, it’s amazing that with such devastation in your neighborhood, you all (and the house) made it though alright. I’m so glad for you, you are very lucky. For my family and house, up here in New Jersey, we were not so lucky.

    We lost electricity, and without power to keep our 2 sump pumps working, we now have an indoor swimming pool in the basement. Did you know that Rubbermaid bins float? Well they do, we had 30 of them floating around the basement. Unfortunately, if the contents of the bin are not heavy enough, or the weight is not even, well those bins will tip over….and fill up with water….and then once filled with water they don’t float anymore….and they will fall back to the ground with your belongings still inside.

    We’ve been told that our water heater, boiler and second fridge (filled with food) will need to be replaced. I’m not sure about our son’s baby & toddler things that I was holding onto for # 2 (crib, clothes, toys). My husband pulled out of the water what we could from his workshop, the tools should be okay, but we’re pretty sure the power tools are done. We bought crown molding on sale (cause we’re on a tight budget) for the entire house (our first home that we bought this past March) well it’s all wet and warped now.

    I could go on, but I know there are others worse off than us who would say that we are lucky.

    The Governor advised us not to go into work today if we didn’t have to (Too many roads are flooded). But I had to come in just to get out of that house and get things off my mind. There’s really nothing I can do until the power comes on.

    Alright, my big ole pity party ends now! My fingers are crossed that both of us have power by the end of the day and we can begin to clean up and move on.

    Reply

  15. Katie says

    I’m so glad to hear you guys made it through okay! We’re in Alabama, and were without power for 5 days when all the tornadoes came through in April.

    Sounds like you guys can shower at family’s house, but here’s a tip for a hot shower when your power is out: Hook up every hose you’ve got, fill it up in the morning and lay it out on a hot patio or driveway. A few hours later, you can snake it into the bathroom (or at least a hidden spot in the yard!) and avoid ice-cold showers. Wish we’d figured THAT one out a few days earlier…. Just be sure you have a nozzle you can turn on and off to save the precious warm water while you soap up!

    Good luck, yall!

    Reply

  17. Amy @ A Little Nosh says

    OMG, that pic of Clara clinging to him is just beyond adorable. Glad you guys are safe and sound. We lucked out up here in Northern Virginia, and our power was only out for 6 hours. Hope yours comes back on soon!

    Reply

  18. Rachel Tatem says

    Wow! I’m not that far from you but I guess it is a blessing that our house is in one of those neighborhoods where they cleared it, so no trees down or real damage to our house. I’m glad everyone is safe. I hope the clean up looks like more than it is!

    Reply

  21. Kelley says

    So glad you made it through unscathed. Your neighbors, though, ouch. Glad they are OK, though. Hurricanes are freaks of nature and do whatever they want. We made it through here in Raleigh, NC, but our OBX is a mess.

    Reply

  23. Alison S says

    omg- She is absolutely the most precious child I have ever seen! You guys have obviously done a great job raising her!

    Reply

  24. Susan says

    We’re in North Jersey and while our house is totally fine with power and everything, there are/were cars underwater a few blocks away. My husband did make it to work, I gather, which is a relief since we were temporarily cut off from the “outside world” with the flooding. We didn’t even consider neighborhood topography when we bought our house last spring but it looks like we chose well!

    Reply

  25. Cara D says

    I’m so glad you are all safe. How scary, those trees are huge! I’ll keep Richmond in my prayers. Glad your house made it through unscathed.

    Reply

  29. Jan C. says

    Ohio had a visit from Hurricane Ike a few years ago, and we were without power for almost 9 days. Our neighborhood looked much like yours! Hope you get your power back soon. Until then, I recommend “clean out the fridge” cookouts iwth your neighbors. We were almost sorry when our power finally came back on, we were having so much fun getting to know the neighbors better!

    Reply

  30. Shelby P. says

    My grandmother had the same sofa fabric that Clara and her cousin are sitting on. The loveseat was my dorm sofa for years. Does the ottoman have a pull out table? That was an awesome feature.

    Reply

  31. Colleen C. says

    So glad to hear that y’all are ok! I am sorry that you all are without power. I live in Richmond and am without power as well. Hopefully the power will be restored soon and the clean up will be quick for you and your neighbors. Stay safe!

    Reply

  33. ashley says

    Yikes!! I’m so glad that you are all ok! How scary! Well I guess you will have some great timber for the winter!!

    Reply

  35. Sydney says

    So glad you guys were ok! I have several friends in the Richmond area we’ve definitely been think about all you guys out there!

    Reply

  36. Anna says

    Wow! I’m sorry to hear your neighborhood didn’t fair well, but I’m glad you did. We’re further North so we didn’t get hit as hard. The worst thing that happened to us was our power went out twice on Saturday and is still out.

    Sherry and John, I know it’s big money, but might I suggest a generator? You don’t need one for the entire house (although I hear they are sa-weet!). We have one and have been able to 1. cycle the frig and freezer, 2. watch tv, 3. use our microwave and/or a couple of appliances – mainly I was able to have coffee in the am, 4. (since we’re on a well) have water, and 5. and this one is HUGE – run our sump pump!

    I almost croaked when my husband bought it, but I’m so glad he did. It’s saved our tushes several times now.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks for the suggestion Anna! John’s sister has one and was able to save everything in her fridge, so we’re definitely considering one if we can save our pennies for it.

      xo,
      s

  39. Kristen B says

    I was praying for you guys (and all the others on the east coast) as I was hearing updates on Irene. Glad to hear your neighbors were all safe despite all the damage. Hope you get your power up and running soon!

    On a positive note – those pictures of Clara and her cousin are SO adorable!!

    Reply

  40. Jane says

    Looks like your neighborhood got hit pretty hard. It must have been pretty scary. On a lighter note, those pictures of Clara with her cousin are incredibly adorable. She is such a little love and her cousin is pretty handsome too!

    Reply

  41. laxsupermom says

    Glad to hear you’re all alright. We only got the very edge of the storm this weekend. It whipped up the waves on the lake something fierce, but only took down one tree on the street. I posted some pics here. When we got home from the cottage, our house seemed to make it through fine. Our yard is a mess, but we never lost power. We have neighbors who lost power, though. Hope things are back to normal down there soon.

    Reply

  42. Sharee A. says

    So relieved to hear ya’ll are OK, despite the loss of power! I’m sure your positive attitute helped. My oldest daughter & I follow YHL from Chicago, where it was sunny & in the 80’s all weekend. Looking forward to hearing your advice on preparedness for earthquakes and (now) hurricanes. Man, you guys just couldn’t couldn’t catch a break last week.

    Reply

  43. Katie Shively says

    So glad to hear you guys are okay. Was thinking of you. We are in Fredericksburg. Somehow we didn’t lose power. Its crazy how much harder Richmond was hit than us even though we are only 45 minutes away. I hope power is restored soon, hugs!
    ~ Katie

    Reply

  44. Emily says

    Glad you’re well!!

    We were without power for over 2 weeks after Ike in Houston so be prepared for the long haul and hope for the short!

    If you haven’t already you might want to consider using paper plates, plastic forks and paper cups. Since your laundry is sure to pile up quickly and doing every dish by hand is not fun using paper is just one less thing to worry about when trying to stay cool and recover. Its not the most environmentally friendly but it makes it a lot easier.

    Enjoy the family time!

    Reply

  45. Kelly says

    Yay! Glad you guys are ok. That was a mighty storm. I think the East Coast needs a break in general. Bad winter, hot summer, earthquake, hurricane…oy!!

    Reply

  46. Beth W. says

    We’re about 150 miles northwest of you in the top of Virginia (Frederick Co.) and we didn’t get much of the storm at all- just some wind and rain. I heard that there are some people without power nearby, but ours didn’t even flicker. I feel so blessed. We’re still waiting to hear from our family that lives in Lewes, DE and Ocean City, MD about how their houses fared (they all were evacuated inland). I’m so glad you guys are all right. It doesn’t seem fair- an earthquake and a hurricane in a week’s time!

    A couple of days ago, I saw a link on Pinterest about creating 72-hour bags for disasters like this. I never really thought about how important it is, but this week has really driven that home! I imagine having a child (it’s just my husband, dog, and cat, and I) makes all of these events that much scarier. I’m a teacher, so I’m really glad we didn’t have students when the earthquake and hurricane hit (our first day with the kids back is today).

    Reply

  47. Lisa in Seattle says

    We are so relieved to hear that your family and your house survived the storm, and our hearts go out to your neighbors and all the commenters here who either suffered damage or are facing several days of cleanup and no electricity. I literally cannot imagine what it must be like to sit through a hurricane. Here’s hoping the rest of hurricane season is kinder to the East Coast.

    Clara is such a trouper. But I’m guessing this has been Burger’s worst week ever. Take care and be well.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      You know what’s funny? Burger seemed ok in the hurricane. Not in the earthquake though. Poor guy was spooked! But for the hurricane he just cuddled us instead of running around and diving into his crate.

      xo,
      s

  48. Sherry from BC says

    So glad to hear you are ok. I was watching CNN off and on all weekend and thinking of you guys. Hope your power comes back soon. Take care of yourselves and hope your neighbours get their house set to rights quickly. Maybe you can do a follow up on their place if they don’t mind. Must be a lot of work that has to be done when that type of damage occurs.

    Reply

  49. Violet says

    Glad to hear you all are alright. Originally being from Guam, I am well accustomed to having those type of storms around. (We call them typhoons – just another name for a hurricane) The last one I remember was a supertyphoon and we were out of power for a couple of months! It was hard but it made our family spend more time together. We played bingo and card games in the candlelight at night to keep busy. Be safe and keep your spirits up! :)

    Reply

  50. ashlee says

    thank heavens you are okay. holy smokes. SCARY STUFF. you must have been freaking out every time you’d see the damage to someone else’s house, thinking any minute now it could happen to you. so, so, so glad you guys were spared.

    in more light hearted news, guess what i found today.

    rustoleum ORB. yes, i did a happy dance and might have even yelled sherry, thank you! in the aisle of home depot.

    Reply

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