Sandy in Rhode Island Update 0830 Hrs 10_29_2012

[JohnyMac]

Well now?It?s just past high tide here and this picture was taken from our living room looking west.



Wind out of the east at a steady 25 Knts. The water is about 1 foot from coming over our dock and then another 18 inches before it comes up to the bottom of our floor to ceiling windows.

Yesterday I put up a tarp against the window then screwed sheets of 4x8' plywood turned on its side.

The cats are going CRAZY and they were too agitated to even eat breakfast! One of the cats Emma, keeps running up to me and growling and then runs away. 

Oh well the next high tide will be at 8:30PM tonight and is about 1 foot higher than this morning?s. Hopefully with the wind out of the east it should blow some of the surge away from the house. We will see?.

Good luck to friends and family south along the Maryland, New Jersey and New York coasts.

More updates later. 

[thatGuy]

Have you started carrying stuff up to the attic?

[mountainredneck2051]

good luck brother

[EJR914]

Best of luck, to NY and DC, hope it gives them Hell.

[crudos]

Take care JM! Hope everything inside stays dry and the cats calm down a bit.

[JohnyMac]

Thanks guys!

My wife just told me to go buy some wine. I explained to her we have wine (I am the only one who drinks adult beverages in this household) however I got the 'stare' so I went. I also picked up some heavy cream for the baked apples I am going to make tonight.

I didn't drive directly to or back from the liquor store; I drove around a little bit. Here is a short report:

> There was very few people out on the road
> There was a steady breeze of about 25 knots with gusts to maybe 35 knots. That is a guest O' mate and only based on my
    F150 getting blown around a bit during the gusts.
> I ran into two guys just outside our library which is the highest part of our town; with brown Kevlar helmets and vests on? Yes
   they did have ammo pouches on their vests and had side arms but no long guns were visible. Mmmmmm??? I have never seen
   that before.


At the home front:

> Low tide now but expected to be about 2' over high tide I reported on this AM. Tide + surge will be at about 2030 hrs
> At 1800 hrs yesterday the barometer reading was 1012 mb now at this writing it is 993 mb. To give you and idea the great
    hurricane the barometer bottomed out at 940 mb
> At 1800 hrs last evening the fire department came by and told Karen and I that there was a mandatory evacuation and their 
   was a shelter set up at the high school. My wife asked if we could bring our cats and he said, "no." So I guess we are hanging
   :-)) 
> Told my wife that the 'drop dead time' for us leaving and going to my Mom's on Cape Cod is 1600 hrs as MA. is supposed to
    close the bridges to the Cape at 1800 hrs due to wind.
> We have had two power outs since this AM however the juice came back on within a few minutes.

So there you go... 
   

[EJR914]

Do ya'll have one of those STATE Emergency provisions, JM?

[v0dka]

well nothing really is happening here execpt rain and some winds.
I have to go into a small city tonight hopefully nothing will happen.

[Colombo]

If your on the water keep an eye on the tidal movements as they can be an indicator of a stacking effect due to both the onshore wind at the coast and low pressure.

If the water doesn't drop significantly at low tide I'd expect the next high tide to be even higher.

[thatGuy]

It's an hour and a half to high tide and JMac has 3" of water in his house. I just got the message that he and his family are safe and riding it out.

My thoughts and prayers are with him tonight.

[crudos]

Any update on JM? Looks like a big old mess out there.

[JohnyMac]

Thank you gents for your kind comments and best wishes and to you TG for posting my text.

We just sat down to our first cup of coffee of the day. Its the best cup O' joe I have had in awhile No electricity so this update will be short.

The Sakonnet has receded and along with it, the 6" (the final tally) of water sitting in the house. My wife is fine but with a bit of an attitude. 

I suggested to my wife that I should take her to the BOL today but she has turned down that suggestion as she has a Dr.'s appointment tomorrow which she has been waiting a month for and than another one on Thursday; plus the election on the 6th.

My mom on Cape Cod called and offered for us to stay there but my wife mouthed to me while on the phone with Mom, "No way!"  I ain't pushing that one. 

Last, we feel so lucky that we only had a few inches of water in our house compared to what happened to others along the coast. No bitchen from me...Heck we needed a new carpet and furniture anyhow.  [URL=http://www.smileyvault.co

Have a good day...

 

 

[hjmoosejaw]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune JM. Sounds like it's starting to get better. Hang in there buddy!

[crudos]

Thank you gents for your kind comments and best wishes and to you TG for posting my text.

We just sat down to our first cup of coffee of the day. Its the best cup O' joe I have had in awhile No electricity so this update will be short.

The Sakonnet has receded and along with it, the 6" (the final tally) of water sitting in the house. My wife is fine but with a bit of an attitude. 

I suggested to my wife that I should take her to the BOL today but she has turned down that suggestion as she has a Dr.'s appointment tomorrow which she has been waiting a month for and than another one on Thursday; plus the election on the 6th.

My mom on Cape Cod called and offered for us to stay there but my wife mouthed to me while on the phone with Mom, "No way!"  I ain't pushing that one. 

Last, we feel so lucky that we only had a few inches of water in our house compared to what happened to others along the coast. No bitchen from me...Heck we needed a new carpet and furniture anyhow.

Have a good day...

Thanks for the update JM. Finally going to get rid of the orange shag carpet from the 70's then? hehe 
Stay safe.

[thatGuy]

Thanks for the update John, I was a little worried never having been in a 'perfect storm.'
 
Sounds like you'll be just fine though.

[JohnyMac]

LOL Crudos 
Well the kitchen is water free and clean. Used a heavy dose of bleach gto keep mold to a minimum.

Someone down the street is in Denmark so my next door neighbor used his generator with his permission via text. Just supplying juice to our frides and freezers as we have no electricity yet.

I have been supplying gas from my preps and I will probably drain the tank on the gen when we are done. While filling it it has been raining like all get out so I am sure there has been some H20 to go into the gen while filling.

Called National Flood Ins (FEMA) today as we have a hefty ins policy with them. They told me to NOT CLEAN up till an adjuster contracts me - 24 to 48 hours; so we didn't go to the BOL today as explained earlier.

Biggest issues:

> My wife's attitude. She is really bummed and lethargic. I sent her out for pizza around 1700 hrs and she came back with a
    little better attitude. Over dinner I had a discussion of "Embracing the Suck." Just before I signed on she asked me what I
    would like her to do tomorrow. She is coming along  http://www.arrse.co.uk/at
> I don't know why however I had several heads of family's throw me their house keys and asked that I keep an eye on their
   house. So I have been making rounds till now. My wife asked me to stay home for awhile. I just set my alarm to make the
   rounds at 0300 hrs. I guess I will put gas in the gen and then just check the local houses. My wife is afraid I will be shot by
   someone.  [img]http://www.arrse.co.uk/at
> The flip-pen crank radio is a pain in the neck! Thirty cranks = 30 minutes. Man O' man all of my rechargeable batteries and
   Grundig radio is at the BOL!!!
> The Aladdin lamps are freaken awesome! We have had serious light with no issues. Yup they are pricy but damn they are
    bright! We use them at the BOL and thankfully I had not moved them all there.
> The cats are O-Kay but we at times forget the needs of our furry friends. I woke up at 0300 or so and asked myself, "What
    about Max & Emma? Did they have food...Fresh water? In all of the excitement I was worried we forgot about them. I went
    downstairs and there was dry food and water. I changed the water and than woke my wife up asking whether she had
    changed the food and water. Well she had so no worries...Just saying.

Battery running low, got to go... [url=http://www.freesmileys.or

   

[sledge]

Take care up there JM.  I'm praying that everything stays good up there for you and your wife.  At least I know that if your house floats out to sea that you are an experienced world sailor.  Throw up some bed sheets for sails and make the best of it.  Take care.

[EJR914]

Thanks for the update, JM, its great to see a real life WROL and the mental stress it puts on people.  I think my wife will be similar.  Not mentally tough at all.

[JohnyMac]

Sledge wrote:
At least I know that if your house floats out to sea that you are an experienced world sailor.  Throw up some bed sheets for sails and make the best of it.  Take care.

You a funny man!  Yeah well you better watch out as we might sail her down to Vero Beach!

Electricity back on. All looks good but will have to switch out some outlets. They were low enough that salt water got inside.

I will have to have the gas burner company come out and check out the burner.

No land line so I am using a 'hot spot' that is part of my Verizon phone plan. Called the phone company and after a frustrating discussion with a computer, with an annoying British accent, the computer determined that my land line was not working.  They are coming out Monday to check it out.

Just waiting for the Ins Adjuster to call me back. With the devastation on Long Island, NYC and NJ I am pretty happy with the Monday date.

Last, well the house smells like old carpet and salt water. My wife wants me to 'water vac' it then cut it up and get it out of the house. Well we will see. 

Take care...

[sledge]

Sledge wrote:
At least I know that if your house floats out to sea that you are an experienced world sailor.  Throw up some bed sheets for sails and make the best of it.  Take care.

You a funny man!  Yeah well you better watch out as we might sail her down to Vero Beach!

   Bring her on down JM. 

[JohnyMac]

Just a quick update on our plight:

> Went to Town Hall yesterday to find out what we should do with the growing trash pile. The toens administrator told me to hang
    onto it as he wants to inventory ALL of the trash before it goes to the town dump. The reason is he wants to submit a bill to
    FEMA for accepting the trash. I asked him how long that will be and he told me. "Only 2-3 weeks."

    Well we can't put outside all of the bags of trash because the raccoons will get in it.
> Tried to do a load of wash yesterday. The washer was working great until smoke started to stream out of the back of it. I
    checked out our dryer and apparently salt water had come up the venting pioe into the dryer. So both my dryer & washer are
    toast.
> Our furnace guy is coming out this AM to bless or tell my my burner is toast. Either way it will cost me $99- to get that verdict.
> National Flood Insurance has not called me back yet. When i called Tuesday I was assured I would get a call from an adjuster
   within 24-48 hrs. At the time I thought, yeah right. The gentleman at NFI told me NOT TO START cleaning up. Only the adjuster
   could give me the go ahead to do so.

   So we are sitting here with 6 or seven trash bags filled with soiling food and a wet carpet which covers 75% of our first floor. My
   asthma is kicking in. So after we vote on Tuesday, I am taking Karen and the cats up to the BOL.

Soon as I am done typing I am going to go to the Department of Public Works to talk trash. 

Take care guys...All good here.  [url=http://www.freesmileys.or
   

[crudos]

Hang in there JM and wife! Vote early (if you state allows it) and get to the BOL and dry out for a bit.

[thatGuy]

I am going to second crudos' "hang in there," the folks at NFI and FEMA are up to their eyeballs in pissed off Yankies.

Just another example of too much goverment still not being enough.

[Outonowhere]

I am going to second crudos' "hang in there," the folks at NFI and FEMA are up to their eyeballs in pissed off Yankies.

Just another example of too much goverment still not being enough.

 [URL=http://www.smileyvault.co

[JohnyMac]

Friday November 2, 2012 update...

I am only giving these updates to fill you in on our journey. Hopefully you might learn some things from our successes and failures.

> Well yesterday I became the squeaky wheel. I went back to the Town Administrator and annoyed him for 10 minutes or so then
   went to the head of DPW and hassled his administrative assistant as he was home recovering from knee surgery. Called the
   Chairman of our town council and last called mu US Representative Cicilline. At about noon I got a call from our fire Chief who
   asked me to "Stand down." He told me that he and a crew of FEMA folks were going to come by later this afternoon.

    They did come, all four of them and in reality they were there not to help the neighborhood but to see if their was enough of a
    mess so the town could declare an emergency and back-bill FEMA.

> Recalled NFI and asked when an adjuster was going to call me. The polite lady told me in 7-14 days. Well I decided I
   needed to move forward with getting things right. The goberment will come when they come.

> Carpet guy is coming buy Monday to measure for new carpet and clean-up. Today, my wife is going his shop to pick out new
    carpet.

> Furnace guy came and told me that my boiler is toast and I need a new one - It will cost $3,300-. I told him to go for it as
   it is getting chilly here. Thank heavens for my Jotul wood stove. That is what we are using. Thank heavens I had fire wood left
   over from last year's winter.

> Don't know if I mentioned this in another post. I was doing a load of wash Wednesday night when smoke started pouring out
   of the washer. Also, my dryer is toast as the Sakonnet River found it's way up the vent hose. TG suggested yesterday a clothes
   line for drying. Several buckets and a toilet bowel plunger in lieu of an electric washer.  The funny thing is we are set up for
   exactly this set-up at the BOL. Not doing me any good here  [img]http://www.arrse.co.uk/at

> Taking trash to the dump today.

> Vac dried our living and dining room yesterday. Planning on cleaning out the den and vac drying it today.

> My wife visited a neurosurgeon on Wednesday concerning her back. He told her that she Lumbosac Spundyosis, arthritis
   along her spine and if that wasn't enough, a tumor on her spine. She went to her regular back doctor yesterday who told
   her the neurosurgeon and her regular back doctor are very concerned and she will have to have a back operation sooner
   then later. She is having a slew of tests between now and Monday. She also was given another appointment for another
   neurosurgeon for Nov 14th as surgeon 1 wants a second opinion from surgeon 2.

   This has nothing to do with the aftermath of Sandy I just thought I would let you know we are dealing with this too. 

Caio for now...