Irene - Mid-Atlantic Prep and Impact

[angelwing]

We made it here in PA, had a few branches down, lots of wind and rain, wow! Made to work in NJ, traffice lights out and a few new lakes and ponds but was able to get in to base.

A few miles from me a lady got swept away in her car, she didn;t make it....the flooding near me is pretty bad I heard, Norristown got the Surekill river (I can;t spell Schuykill) over its banks and I know the Delaware went out of its banks too, lots of the creeks are out also

[shaggy]

Another video. At 11 seconds in you'll hear that crack and it was a tree that fell on the neighbors sunroom completely destroying that part of their house. Does photobucket links work or does it have to be imageshack?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__1T_BT_0PM

The sad part is that those are winds sustained at maybe 35 to 40 mph, with gusts in the 55 mph range. But many probably think those are Cat 1 winds. That is what Isabel looked like when she came through, and her winds at my location at the peak were sustained at about 40 mph with gusts up to 70 mph...looks much stronger to someone who doesn't know, though.

I have a handheld anenometer that i got a 70.3mph gust with at 4:55pm saturday after the worse of the storm was over. GUC weather station recorded a 73mph gust at 830am. Winds inbetween that time were much more violent and as I drove around today I saw two large factories that had sections of their roofs peeled off. Roof damage is widespread here with alot of homes down to the plywood with no shingles left. The factory I work at doesn't have power and when we were there today cleaning up one of the utility leaders said that they were hearing that winds gusted upwards of 80-90mph in Pitt county. EVERY single person I have talked to who has lived here has said this is the worst storm and damage they have ever seen.

[UpTheCreek]

Faired okay, lots of tree damage. Posting from my droid. Still no power. Ughhhh

[brunota2003]

Another video. At 11 seconds in you'll hear that crack and it was a tree that fell on the neighbors sunroom completely destroying that part of their house. Does photobucket links work or does it have to be imageshack?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__1T_BT_0PM

The sad part is that those are winds sustained at maybe 35 to 40 mph, with gusts in the 55 mph range. But many probably think those are Cat 1 winds. That is what Isabel looked like when she came through, and her winds at my location at the peak were sustained at about 40 mph with gusts up to 70 mph...looks much stronger to someone who doesn't know, though.

I have a handheld anenometer that i got a 70.3mph gust with at 4:55pm saturday after the worse of the storm was over. GUC weather station recorded a 73mph gust at 830am. Winds inbetween that time were much more violent and as I drove around today I saw two large factories that had sections of their roofs peeled off. Roof damage is widespread here with alot of homes down to the plywood with no shingles left. The factory I work at doesn't have power and when we were there today cleaning up one of the utility leaders said that they were hearing that winds gusted upwards of 80-90mph in Pitt county. EVERY single person I have talked to who has lived here has said this is the worst storm and damage they have ever seen.

I believe it. Just goes to show the power of sustained tropical storm force winds...a "weak" system can do a lot more damage than most give it credit for.

[CrazyC83]

Another video. At 11 seconds in you'll hear that crack and it was a tree that fell on the neighbors sunroom completely destroying that part of their house. Does photobucket links work or does it have to be imageshack?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__1T_BT_0PM

Wow, and I agree, those winds probably were sustained at about 40, with the initial gust maybe to 60 at the most (it was slightly more than what I felt on Sunday at its peak). Even low-end TS winds can knock down large tree branches and some whole trees.

[72Packer]

Here is a video of damage done to northern boundary of Rodanthe, NC. You can see the new inlet cut across the island.

http://www.youtube.com/OuterBeachesRealty

[Tstormwatcher]

I finally got my power back on late last night and my cable and internet this morning. Was able to get cell phone coverage here and there for the past 4 days and finally got it fully restored today. there was an unbelievable amount of trees down considering the winds never got above hurricane strength here. My anometer only got up to 58mph. We also got almost 13 inches of rain which I think is why so many trees came down. Had to throw out alot of food since I had no generator, that may change soon, but will slowely stock back up. Lots of people are still without power and many lost there homes due to flooding and tree fall. This will be a storm that we will remember for a long time.

Does anyone have any links showing top wind gusts and rain amount for eastern NC?

[shaggy]

I finally got my power back on late last night and my cable and internet this morning. Was able to get cell phone coverage here and there for the past 4 days and finally got it fully restored today. there was an unbelievable amount of trees down considering the winds never got above hurricane strength here. My anometer only got up to 58mph. We also got almost 13 inches of rain which I think is why so many trees came down. Had to throw out alot of food since I had no generator, that may change soon, but will slowely stock back up. Lots of people are still without power and many lost there homes due to flooding and tree fall. This will be a storm that we will remember for a long time.

Does anyone have any links showing top wind gusts and rain amount for eastern NC?

Greenvilel utility company's anenometer hit 73mph at 9am. They say on their website that hundreds of trees downed powerlines as "winds exceeding 74mphs" tore over the region. No idea what our max winds were but theres enough roof damage and trees down over eastern NC no matter what the winds were.

[CrazyC83]

I finally got my power back on late last night and my cable and internet this morning. Was able to get cell phone coverage here and there for the past 4 days and finally got it fully restored today. there was an unbelievable amount of trees down considering the winds never got above hurricane strength here. My anometer only got up to 58mph. We also got almost 13 inches of rain which I think is why so many trees came down. Had to throw out alot of food since I had no generator, that may change soon, but will slowely stock back up. Lots of people are still without power and many lost there homes due to flooding and tree fall. This will be a storm that we will remember for a long time.

Does anyone have any links showing top wind gusts and rain amount for eastern NC?

Greenvilel utility company's anenometer hit 73mph at 9am. They say on their website that hundreds of trees downed powerlines as "winds exceeding 74mphs" tore over the region. No idea what our max winds were but theres enough roof damage and trees down over eastern NC no matter what the winds were.

During hurricanes wind speeds can vary over small areas though, while that station reported 73 mph many other spots could have either peaked at 55-60 mph or 80-90 mph in gusts.

[setxsunshine]

Just wanted to let everyone know that you aren't forgotten just because the storm is over. Many of us know exactly what you're going through and you are still in our thoughts and prayers. The aftermath of a hurricane lasts a while but you get through one day at a time. I hope your lives get back to normal (or as normal as it can be) soon.

[shaggy]

Yeah Crazy there were certainly areas of heavier damage as I drove over some parts of the county. In fact on Saturday there were several posters on another forum I am on that showed a 2nd wind maximum that moved up over parts of the inland areas with winds over hurricane force. Unfortunately there is no proof other than my own personal handheld anenometer that I recorded a 70mph gust on several hours after the heaviest winds. Regardless the common theme here is that there has been no other hurricane since Hazel that has done the extensive damage inland we have seen. My parents neighbors home on Hickory point was swept away and it had never even been flooded from surge before. So for it to not only be flooded but floated away is remarkable.

[CrazyC83]

Yeah Crazy there were certainly areas of heavier damage as I drove over some parts of the county. In fact on Saturday there were several posters on another forum I am on that showed a 2nd wind maximum that moved up over parts of the inland areas with winds over hurricane force. Unfortunately there is no proof other than my own personal handheld anenometer that I recorded a 70mph gust on several hours after the heaviest winds. Regardless the common theme here is that there has been no other hurricane since Hazel that has done the extensive damage inland we have seen. My parents neighbors home on Hickory point was swept away and it had never even been flooded from surge before. So for it to not only be flooded but floated away is remarkable.

I would not be surprised. Although not in the mid-Atlantic, I was also well west of the track and saw winds much higher than what normally be expected in my position...

[brunota2003]

I finally got my power back on late last night and my cable and internet this morning. Was able to get cell phone coverage here and there for the past 4 days and finally got it fully restored today. there was an unbelievable amount of trees down considering the winds never got above hurricane strength here. My anometer only got up to 58mph. We also got almost 13 inches of rain which I think is why so many trees came down. Had to throw out alot of food since I had no generator, that may change soon, but will slowely stock back up. Lots of people are still without power and many lost there homes due to flooding and tree fall. This will be a storm that we will remember for a long time.

Does anyone have any links showing top wind gusts and rain amount for eastern NC?

From NWS Raleigh:

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nwsfo/storage/cas ... 110827.gif

[shaggy]

NWS out of Newport issued this and it shows where PGV(pitt greenville airport) meausred 64mph at 830AM but the pitt county EOC reported 73mph at 7am but no reports AFTER those two time frames and those were both taken before the center made landfall.

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/mhx/Text/PNS/08 ... eIrene.txt

[CrazyC83]

NWS out of Newport issued this and it shows where PGV(pitt greenville airport) meausred 64mph at 830AM but the pitt county EOC reported 73mph at 7am but no reports AFTER those two time frames and those were both taken before the center made landfall.

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/mhx/Text/PNS/08 ... eIrene.txt

Based on that, I would GUESS based on the damage and your description the wind gusts were about 80-90 mph.

[shaggy]

NWS out of Newport issued this and it shows where PGV(pitt greenville airport) meausred 64mph at 830AM but the pitt county EOC reported 73mph at 7am but no reports AFTER those two time frames and those were both taken before the center made landfall.

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/mhx/Text/PNS/08 ... eIrene.txt

Based on that, I would GUESS based on the damage and your description the wind gusts were about 80-90 mph.

I have tons of photos but no imageshack account. Can I direct link photobucket pics or are they too big?

[shaggy]

[shaggy]

If these are too big please delete!

[CrazyC83]

Those damage pictures look like wind gusts of about 80-85 mph given the dry soil conditions pre-Irene.

[Tstormwatcher]

Thanks brunota and shaggy, thats what I was looking for.