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Mitt on Marriage
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The One Constant
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Trudeaus and Terrorism
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I Was Almost There
April 16, 2013 | 171 comments
A Further Perspective
Courting Irene
For many East Coasters, Irene was just another one-night stand.
All things considered, Hurricane Irene could have been far worse. Yet as we bade Irene goodnight, she did not go gentle. She took the lives of 24 people and cost at least a billion dollars worth of damage to property. These totals are bound to rise given the flooding that is expected.
I must admit that I was quite anxious in the days before Irene landed, even though I’ve had plenty of experience with harsh winter weather. In fact, it amazes me how people here in Boston freak out every time a snowstorm is about to hit. It’s not to say that New England winters aren’t without its challenges. But when you grow up in Northwestern Ontario, where the snow doesn’t leave the ground until May, it’s nearly impossible to be intimidated by winter weather. Yet, like most New Englanders, I had never experienced a hurricane and was thus on unfamiliar terrain. Naturally, I prepared as best as I could: stocking up on food and beverages, flashlights, candles and matches and moving valuables away from windows. A deck of cards was also purchased in case amenities like the Internet and television were unavailable.
My greatest concern was with the wind rather than the rain. After all, it was projected that Boston was going to receive no more than five inches of rain. Back in March 2010, more than ten inches of rain fell in Boston over a 72-hour period. It caused some minor leakage in my apartment but nothing more. But the wind was a whole other matter.
My roommate Christopher and I live on a hill near Franklin Park in Jamaica Plain. While that setting guards against flooding it can be a disadvantage when it comes to wind. Complicating matters was the fact there are several large trees on our street, including one on the grounds of our building — which was leaning rather precariously with low-hanging power lines. I called our landlord’s emergency maintenance line. They took my information but I received no reply. Given the circumstances, there probably wasn’t much they could do. At this point, whatever happened was beyond my control. Still, I did not take much comfort in the news that an 11-year old boy in Virginia had been killed by a tree which fell into his home.
But by the time Irene hit land it had been downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm. So I still haven’t experienced a hurricane — thankfully. While the rain was heavy in the morning and winds were fierce in the afternoon and late into the evening, we did not lose power. The new deck of cards was not deployed. Most of the day was spent alternating between watching baseball games and the weather report on WBZ-TV.
Much of WBZ’s reporting focused on Cape Cod which was exposed not only to rain and wind but to flooding, high tides and storm surges. What struck me most though was the number of people who had gathered to take a closer look at the ocean despite the best efforts of the local authorities to dissuade such activity. It’s too bad that we have Deval Patrick instead of Chris Christie as our governor. It’s also too bad that Christie isn’t planning to challenge President Obama. Christie’s exhortation to “get the hell off the beach” was the most sensible advice I heard all weekend. Who inspires greater confidence? Someone who claims he can calm the oceans or someone who tells us to get out of its way? Alas, Christie’s authority does not reach beyond the Jersey shore — at least for now.
Getting back to the Cape… The night before my mother told me that my cousin had rented a house (where, precisely, she didn’t know) and that he and his family were about to embark there for a late summer respite. I told my mother that he might not have a house in which to vacation.
Speaking of family, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention calling my grandmother to wish her a happy 92nd birthday. She asked me if I was affected by the storm. Not only did I assure my grandmother all was well but I even told her that I would rather deal with Irene than have to put up with what the good people of Texas have to endure this summer. For the better part of the last two and a half months, Lone Star State residents have faced temperatures north of 100 degrees. Conversely, we have had exactly one 100-degree day this summer in Boston and it was one too many for me. I know there’s plenty of air conditioning in Texas but you can’t stay indoors forever. Under those conditions, I’ll take Boston over Austin every time.
Indeed, by around 6 p.m. on Sunday, the winds had calmed sufficiently that Christopher and I went outside on the sidewalk in front of our building to play a round of hit the penny. (O.K, we used a quarter.) The wind was doing funny things with the rubber ball which came very close to making its permanent residence at the bottom of a nearby storm drain. Yet it was good to get outside in the cool air after having our windows closed since late the previous night. I also think it was our way of celebrating our good fortune. Aside from the occasional gust and a few fallen branches in our neighborhood nothing was amiss.
At least where it concerns the Metro Boston area, it appears our forbearance will be rewarded with a week’s worth of sunny and comfortably warm weather leading into Labor Day weekend. I’ll enjoy this weather with the knowledge that nature might not be smiling upon us next time around.
About the Author
Aaron Goldstein writes from Boston, Massachusetts.
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 8.30.11 @ 7:14AM
Aaron: That's too bad what happened to your beloved Fenway Park!! Completely flattened to the ground, and then washed away in the surging floods, huh? What a shocking way for that iconic eyesore, umm, I mean ballpark to come to an end!!;^)
I escaped from New York and the damage left behind from Irene on Sunday afternoon myself, but just barely escaped. I had to drive south about 70 miles to get to Interstate 84 so I could head West to Pennsylvania to avoid most of the damage, but that sounds easier than it turned out to be. I believe I drove up and down every single damn road, East and West of the Hudson River, before I found my way through the maze of closed, flooded, or blocked roads. It took me 7 hours, to make it the 70 miles to 84, turning my normal trip back home to FT Bragg from 11 hours to 18 hours. Whew!!
What was New York State thinking when it closed the Thruway? That's the only road around, that is raised off the ground, that's build with no big trees near the road, or power lines close by, that can get thousands of people out of the area, and they closed it, for no apparent reason?
Maybe they closed it to keep People from escaping New York, to avoid paying the ridiculous New York State Taxes? Is that what you were thinking Cuomo? Well there's no wall big enough to trap me in New York State again!! I visit, and then I'm gone!! Open the damn Thruway next time!! The Toll Collectors don't need another day off!!
What they need to do is, to put down the donuts, and get on the Treadmill, that's what they really need to do!! They're fat, rude, overpaid, underworked, and the one thing they're supposed to do (keep the New York State Thruway open), they didn't do. Was Governor Cuomo worried that the poor Toll Collectors were going to get wet? Disgraceful, that's what it is!!
C Smith| 8.30.11 @ 9:27AM
Hear insurance company stocks were up yesterday, proving that the "Media and State" instigated Irene hype was subterfuge:
"And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD" (Jeremiah 9:3).
lily | 8.30.11 @ 9:55PM
Right now, there is a lot of flooding esp near rivers. But most people living near it or the ocean should expect that. Isn't the purchase of flood insurance required?
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Santino| 8.30.11 @ 10:58AM
Areas of the Thruway were under 6 feet of water. When that water drained it left behind 3 - 4 feet of mud and rock slides. Traveling on a just reopened section this morning I noted we from the ‘other New York’ were lucky it wasn’t completely washed out as the damage in some areas suggest. The thruway doesn't close 'just because'.
One area were the State failed was communicating the status of major roadways in upstate NY. A lot of people needed to be water rescued from their cars in the same areas all day Sunday because the State did not block the roads or make clear roads were impassable. Nothing like coming around a turn or on an exit ramp and finding yourself in 6 feet of water.
Parky Bill | 8.30.11 @ 7:14AM
Q: What do atmospheric conditions and the news media have in common?
A: They're both going to squeeze as much out of former Hurricane Irene as possible!
http://bit.ly/mXL4Sa
POST American| 8.30.11 @ 7:23AM
---Tavistock DIS-info OP --ALERT!---
Everyone noticing, as yet more horrorfic
details of the media buried Fukishima world
nuclear disaster and DEPOP OP are buried
----the routine 'Irene' is given the coverage of
the 2005 SE Asian tsunami.
You remember, the one on Dec 26th
--------Mao's Tse Tung's Birthday?
Meanwhile, the awakened wil be seeking out
those nifty capstone pocket collators for their
beloved----and themselves.
----------------THIS IS NOT A JOKE------------------
Brian Mc| 8.30.11 @ 7:33AM
No, by definition, what you post is no joke and I'm getting really tired of circumventing your crap.
Dan Mathewson| 9.1.11 @ 4:54PM
Hear Hear!
Gary| 8.30.11 @ 10:32AM
You in the NE have no real concept what hurricanes are really like. Having been a resident of south Louisiana for all my life until moving to Arkansas after I retired I can tell you that the relatively rare hurricanes in the NE are sadly almost routine for the residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Texas, etc. Once a storm gets in the Gulf of Mexico it WILL hit somewhere, there will be no skirting of the coast and going out to sea. Betsy, Camille, Katrina, Rita, Frederick, Audrey, to name a few were all vast and deadly hurricanes killing many and devastating property and livelihoods. We must have had to evacuate ten times in my lifetime, so you in the NE thank the Gods that the east coast compared to the Gulf states get off easy. Any hurricane is one too many but imagine in most years having to prepare or endure for multiple ones. I feel for the victims in the NE but at least it's not an annual peril.
PJ| 8.30.11 @ 10:58AM
I & a few others predicted that this storm would fizzle out when it arrived in NY. Why? Because we know that hurricanes gain strength only when they are over warm bodies of water like the Atlantic by the lower SE states & the Caribbean.
Many people were comparing this hurricane to the 1 in 1938. How wrong they were! The 1938 occurred at the end of September when the southern NE states are surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean at its warmest. I believe it was a Cat 3.
Right now, there is a lot of flooding esp near rivers. But most people living near it or the ocean should expect that. Isn't the purchase of flood insurance required?
IMO the March 2010 was worse than Irene. The tremendous amt of huge & healthy trees that fell during & after the storm created a lot of damage that minuscules Irene's destruction in the NE.
POST American| 8.30.11 @ 11:22PM
---------------------FINAL WORD-----------------------
And now 'Irene' is gone --BUT the CHEM-trails
and Fukishima fallout are worse than ever.
STOP letting David Rockefeller set your agenda
---because, truth be known, that agenda doesn't
include ---YOU, and NEVER did.