Hurricane Irene Hits Richmond: Damage Ensues

When you thought of Hurricane Irene's path of destruction, you probably weren't thinking of Richmond, VA.  Don't worry, its not your fault.  The weather channel was pretty focused on NYC's epic and unprecedented evacuations, and we did not appear to be in the hurricane's path.  Even our local meteorologists were saying "it won't be that bad" and, perhaps, if you were in other parts of Richmond, it wasn't.

But it was bad here.

This morning I woke up to the hum of generators and the gnarl of chainsaws.  While the sky is blue and the breeze is gentle, my neighborhood looks like a demilitarized zone.

I live in a neighborhood called Stratford Hills.  The trees are at least 150 years old, and we have no shortage of them.  In the fall, we are regularly blanketed with orange and gold, and we have to break out our leaf blower six times before Christmas and the January leaf collection.  Some of our trees are taller than four story buildings.  Many of them lose large limbs in an average summer storm.  If you have read my blog before, you know my car has already recieved its fair share of damage from even the most minor squalls.

This, my friends, was no squall.

Last night, we experienced sustained 40mph winds and gusts were recorded up to 71mph at Richmond International Airport.  Our trees blew and swayed like they were made of rubber.  The gusts were so loud, if you were standing outside (not reccomended, but we have a dog that had to pee) it was nearly impossible to hear the person standing next to you.

We lost power at noon yesterday. 

Today there are almost half a million people in the Richmond Metropolitan Area without electricity.  Dominion Power has asked us to be patient, and stated we will likely be without power for one to two weeks.

Throughout the night, the snap, pop and thump of trees falling regularly interrupted the repeated knocking of smaller branches, acorns and other debris smacking the roof and deck.  My neighbor and friend was terrified to hear a shrill scream around mid-day -- it was the sound of a neighbor's daughter -- a tree had crashed through her room.

Not long after, the same friend had a tree fall on her house.  Two hours later a second one fell:

The trees ripped the deck right off their house.  They still haven't determined if there is any structural damage to their home -- they won't know until the tree can be removed, probably by crane.  And god only knows when that will happen.

We are okay.  Thanks to Mike, who is a whiz with extension cord mapping, we have wifi, cable TV, a fan, and cold food.  However, soon we will not have any more hot water, and we won't have AC until the power comes back on.  Our house, despite being surrounded by enormous oaks and pines, was not hit.  However, our neighbors to both our right and left have giant trees in their backyards that narrowly missed their homes.

This morning, Mike ventured out to see what was happening on Forrest Hill Ave. -- the main road by our house.  It normally takes about one minute to get out of our neighborhood.  It took him over 15 today.  There are trees down on nearly every road - rendering them impassable.  Chippenham Parkway - the highway that backs up to the far end of our neighborhood -- is closed.  Every store on Forrest Hill Ave. was closed, except Martin's -- they are operating on generator power, but its now a cash-only establishment.

I took Hops (dog) for a walk this morning.  When I got to the bottom of the street, I saw this:

This tree was blown over at the roots. 

So then I turned around and walked to the top of my street.  I saw this:

I looked left:

I looked right:

I turned the corner:

And now I understand why you can't get out of the neighborhood.  I also feel it is a miracle we came out unscathed.

Walking around the neighborhood, I started to tear up.  One neighbor's tree uprooted and split their house right down the middle.  Another's did the same and crushed a brick carport.  Homes have sustained thousands of dollars of damage, and folks who have lived through Isabelle in 2003, said that similar damage to their home took six months and over $50,000 to rebuild.

I estimate approximately ONE out of every THREE homes has either a tree or an enormous limb on their property.  About half of those have damage to their homes as a result. 

Let me explain how this begins to affect us over the next few days: In order to clean up, many need to use chainsaws to move limbs and trees. These require gas, which is also needed to operate generators.  Right now, there are no open gas stations in the area, so neighbors are pulling together, sharing gas and moving food into one another's refridgerator's in order to find a way to make roads passable, and driveways and windows clear.

Which is why we feel humbled by the small amount of mess we'll deal with over the next few days:

Some houses are unlivable right now.  It is unclear when they will be able to return home.

Those of us without power may need to leave too.  There's only so many cold meals and cold showers one can take before starting to go a little nuts.

My heart goes out to everyone who experienced some loss last night.  Its a scary and sad process to wake up this morning and try to figure out how to best deal with an overwhelming amount of damage. 

Some folks on facebook were calling this storm "lame" or "boring."  I'm so glad that was your experience.  But say a little prayer for those who were not bored, but scared and saddened, because this Hurricane was not as bad as it could have been. 

And had it been worse, these photos might have been yours.

Stay safe this week and check on your neighbors.  Help each other and make sure your friends and family are okay. 

We'll be here.  Cleaning up.