Irene has Arrived

I write this entry just arriving upstairs from shelter in our basement due to a tornado warning.  This is the first time in my 60 years living in the Philadelphia area that I have ever even thought of taking shelter from a tornado.  Don't get me wrong this area has seen some tornados. A tornado hit in Limerick, PA July 24, 1994 not far from my present suburban home.  That destructive tornado took the lives of a young family and destroyed many a home on that street.  There was another that reportedly lifted a telephone booth (remember them?) along with someone talking on the telephone and set down both the booth and the person across the street.  This happened within the limits of center city, amongst those narrow streets and tall buildings.  Tornadoes rarely happen here.


From my bedroom, I continue to hear tornado warnings on TV.  The Governor of Delaware suggests that all Delaware residents sleep in their basements tonight.  Unthinkable for this area.  Toto, are we in Kansas?  If we are to sleep in the basement tonight, I will need to straighten up down there.  Could be that by the time I am finished, it may be morning.  Looks like a big job ahead of me.  I might not be getting any sleep at all tonight.  I hope the electricity isn't interrupted by a fallen tree.  If the electricity is interrupted the basement may flood because the sump pump won't have power.  It won't be a bad idea if we make ourselves comfortable in some large RubberMaid totes tonight.

Local TV coverage of hurricane Irene