FRANKENSTORM - another "Perfect Storm" (a/k/a "Hybrid Nor'easter"):
Tomorrow, 10-29, will be the 21st anniversary of the sinking of the Andrea Gail (note the movie "The Perfect Storm" with George Clooney). How strange that this almost identical storm system is to hit the east coast on the same day. The last I saw this type of weather-wrath was in Maine in 2007, also on or around 10-29, as I watched the bay churn just off the boat house in Belfast. There were seven of us there, knowing we should be on much higher ground, but we were mesmerized by the power of the sea. There had been 25 boats in the water that night. The next morning, only 10 remained to be seen. I guess the others were on the bottom of the bay as I am sure no one came to take them out at the height of the storm, in the dark.
I have long loved the sea, even her power, and so love to sit on a quiet beach and watch the waves as they gently flow to and ebb from shore. One of my earliest memories is of being on my father's shoulders as he took me "out past the waves". At four or so, I thought he was kidding, that the waves did not end but went on forever and ever. He was right, and after a brief walk (on his part) through the waves we were in calm seas. It was amazing to me that I could be behind the waves, watching them roll towards shore.
Nothing so gentle is planned for this area tomorrow. I am about 20 miles due north of Philadelphia, only a little over an hour from the Jersey shore I so love, which will undoubtedly be changed greatly after Sandy is done with the coast. Atlantic City and surrounding towns, as well as the casinos were subject to mandatory evacuation by 4 PM today. Tolls out of shore towns have been suspended and roads in and closed to all but emergency personnel. Philadelphia has issued a pending state of emergency with evacuation of low-lying areas.
I will sit in a third floor aerie (apartment) and watch the show, probably without power, reading with the help of my "hug" light which goes around my neck, but mostly, I pray for everyone in the path of this terror, the effects of which it is said will be felt into Ohio and far north. I have personally experienced only one hurricane before - Hazel in the 1950s - and she did terrible damage to areas not nearly as built up as now. My Mother told stories of being evacuated from Ocean City, NJ in a boat because the bay came in to meet the ocean.
As beautful as a calm sea is, If you are in an area to be affected, I pray you and yours are safe and dry elsewhere, and that your homes are spared damage. Perhaps we can all spare a few prayers for the souls who went down in the Andrea Gail 21 years ago too.
I have long loved the sea, even her power, and so love to sit on a quiet beach and watch the waves as they gently flow to and ebb from shore. One of my earliest memories is of being on my father's shoulders as he took me "out past the waves". At four or so, I thought he was kidding, that the waves did not end but went on forever and ever. He was right, and after a brief walk (on his part) through the waves we were in calm seas. It was amazing to me that I could be behind the waves, watching them roll towards shore.
Nothing so gentle is planned for this area tomorrow. I am about 20 miles due north of Philadelphia, only a little over an hour from the Jersey shore I so love, which will undoubtedly be changed greatly after Sandy is done with the coast. Atlantic City and surrounding towns, as well as the casinos were subject to mandatory evacuation by 4 PM today. Tolls out of shore towns have been suspended and roads in and closed to all but emergency personnel. Philadelphia has issued a pending state of emergency with evacuation of low-lying areas.
I will sit in a third floor aerie (apartment) and watch the show, probably without power, reading with the help of my "hug" light which goes around my neck, but mostly, I pray for everyone in the path of this terror, the effects of which it is said will be felt into Ohio and far north. I have personally experienced only one hurricane before - Hazel in the 1950s - and she did terrible damage to areas not nearly as built up as now. My Mother told stories of being evacuated from Ocean City, NJ in a boat because the bay came in to meet the ocean.
As beautful as a calm sea is, If you are in an area to be affected, I pray you and yours are safe and dry elsewhere, and that your homes are spared damage. Perhaps we can all spare a few prayers for the souls who went down in the Andrea Gail 21 years ago too.
2 comments:
What I am seeing on the internet is utter destruction, but from the water. The houses seem to have kept their roofs. The beach is gone, but it will be back.
Well, we survived without even losing power, which astounds me. I fear that my beloved Jersey shore may never be the same. One town had a canal cut right through the middle of it, dividing the town in two, by the force of the water. I fear for my school friend who recently retired to an all-year home in Margate. No one has heard from her since the storm hit and now there is news of another coastal storm coming Wednesday. I ran into an AC Moore employee when I went to Wal-mart for milk and she told me they just got power back while two stores in the shopping center are still out -a Kohl's and a party store. I just drove past McDonald's, about 2blocks away, and they have no power.
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