Hurricane Irene (A Sort of Survival Story)

Hurricane Irene wasn't quite as kind to a
 neighbor of ours as she was to us. 

In August of 2005 we learned to take hurricanes and hurricane warnings very seriously.


I mean, you only need to go without running water and electricity for days once in your life to learn that hurricanes can really mess up your day. (Point proven in picture to the left.)



With that being said, we were very aware of Irene creeping her way up the Atlantic coast toward NYC.

Hurricane's a comin'

We were very aware of it on Tuesday when both Alex and I worked until after 9 pm. We were very aware of it on Wednesday when we were both out of the apartment for 14+ hours. And we were very aware of it on Thursday when Channel 7 Eyewitness News started warning New Yorkers of an approaching category 3 storm on our doorstep.  We were aware of it. But we didn't have time to do anything about it.

Until my dad called.

My dad is a very level headed man. He doesn't panic, he doesn't take media hype and run with it. So, when my dad called on Thursday night and told me to get to the store right that minute and buy supplies for the weekend...I listened. Alex and I went to our local (and very expensive) grocery store and bought peanut butter, granola bars, pasta, crackers, and chips. Things that wouldn't need refrigeration but things that we would also eat under normal circumstances.

Friday morning, Alex went and bought water and candles while I was at work educating tomorrow's world leaders.

Friday afternoon we had a staff meeting with an update at the possible severity of the storm and that our building would be closed for the weekend.

Friday night our friends from Manhattan came over but left in time to make sure they wouldn't get stuck here with MTA shutting down service.

Water was everywhere. But thankfully,
only in increments of one to two inches.
At least in our neighborhood. 

Saturday morning Alex and I got up and assessed the weather. Very grey, rainy, and windy but no hurricane conditions quite yet. There were many people moving on the streets in our neighborhood (more than usual, actually, due to the total shut down of NYC subways) so we took Maggie May for a quick walk and then decided to go out to breakfast. Our logic being that we were about to be shut up in our 475 sq. ft. apartment for 24 hours so we deserved a morning out. (By the way, the resulting breakfast at aBistro on Dekalb was some of the best we've had...ever!)

After breakfast things hadn't picked up that much so we decided to make a dash down to Starbucks so I wouldn't be out of my iced coffee during the storm. There is only so much a girl can live without, after all.

Sadly, Starbucks was closed. The sign said something that made me think that Starbucks Corporation felt the immediate safety needs of its employees outweighed the caffeine needs of the addicted. I'm still not sure how I feel about that one.

While we were in the Atlantic Terminal area, though, we decided to take a peek into Target.

We expected absolute mayhem. What we found was absolute calm. At this point, it was already after 1 pm and the panicking crowds had been out earlier that morning. We browsed Target with less crowds than we had ever seen. We bought a few items, tea candles, batteries, and the such, and walked home...in the now pounding rain.

A bit of Ft. Green Park flooded with
 about 7 inches of water. Maggie really enjoyed
the impromptu swimming hole. 

The next 24 hours were uneventful...really.




Rain, wind, power (yes, we had power throughout the whole storm), snacking, wind, lots of rest, minor flooding, Mad Men, trees falling, lesson planning and, have I mentioned rain?




Mercifully, Ft. Greene Brooklyn seemed to have made it out with very minor damage and a blast of wonderfully fall feeling weather.

New York City has such a reputation for being bold, arrogant, and tough. I guess Hurricane Irene just wasn't up to the challenge.

After the storm. 

And thank goodness for that. 

When it Rains...

It's been a common piece of advice from New Yorkers we knew that on some days you win and some days the city wins. Well, today, the city got a handsome tally mark. 1-0.

To begin, one thing you must know about the city is that the elements have to be dealt with differently here, especially rain. The rain compounds every difficulty you might have, moving is a hassle, you are constantly wet, visibility is low, people are grumpy. And it's not like it just sprinkles in New York City, no...when it rains, it pours. It pours. Torrents. Gallons.

So last night, the rain began after we were snuggled in bed, somewhere close to 1am. Bonnie and I were playing host to our friend Faith who was occupying the air mattress in the living room. At about 3 am, I was woken by a sprinkling on my face. My first thought was "Wow, the air conditioner is spraying water really far" It took several good droplets before I realized that the ceiling was leaking. It wasn't a gentle drip either, there was a crack about a foot long and in several directions.

So once identified, we sprung into action! Ok, not really, I shook Bonnie awake, she didn't believe me, then she felt the water herself. So we did the sensible thing. Pad the head of the mattress with sweat shirts and get a bowl to catch the water (pretty shallow bowl too). Once the water was being received by some agent, Bonnie mumbled something about sleeping on the couch and I nestled down on the floor at the foot of the bed, putting my cell phone on the chest next to the bed. This was 3:15 am.

I heard the dripping for a while, my head swimming with questions: What are we going to do about this leak? are we going to have to move our bed? (this seems like a simple thing, but its not with our loft bed) is this going to be the only leak? how long will this last? I drifted off.

I was awoken once more by water splashing on my face. This time, it was coming from the mattress itself. I recovered my phone, getting damp, but still working, 5 am. The mattress is gushing water. The MATTRESS!!! I don't have time to question what's going on. I turn the light on, wake Bonnie up and we remove the mattress, tip it over off the bed frame and away from our clothes, and I stagger to the living room, deliriously fall asleep and hope, in vain, for the best.

9 am. We wake up, rain-a-fallin. The leak had stopped, but we still had to figure out what to do, our mattress soaking with water. Then, when going over emails, the air-conditioner sputters to a stop, the fans slow to a halt...the power went out. This could be a problem.

The entire day was like this. We realized that we were the only apartment without power. Our Super shows up, but doesn't know what to do. He says he'll check the breaker, but the leak was going to take a few days to fix. By 6pm, the power was still out. We'd placed an order with ConEd, but since the meter was reading for the rest of the building, they assumed it was a wiring issue maybe stemming from the massive water flow coming through the ceiling and walls. But if it was wiring, it would take a long time to fix and we might be without power for...well...we don't know!

So, while plugged in at Tillies, the coffee shop across the street, wondering what to do, hitting dead ends with our Super, we were reaching a state of desperation. It was a feeling of helplessness. We had no idea what to do, where to begin, how we were going to deal with the leak, with the power outage. Our hands were tied, mouths agape, staring helplessly out at the coffee shop walls.

Then the ConEd man showed up, he mulled around the basement and flipped one breaker switch and we had power again. We went from the bottom to the top in 5 minutes flat. Of course, being the man, I felt silly. THE BREAKERS! Why didn't I check that? The super said he had done it...maybe that was the reason. Feeling a little embarrassed, but overall relieved, we had a General Greene comfort food dinner and  headed back up the 67 steps to our apartment, lights shining bright.

Not that everything has to be wrapped up, but this very long day was another reminder of how quickly things change for you here, why it's always best to check and double check yourself and to never take the rain lightly. Especially when it drips on your face in your bedroom in the middle of the night. The city may have one today, but I think we got the night.