Good luck to all of you living on the East coast in the path of Irene. The main thing I am concerned about is all of the trees around the house. I have gas for the generator and enough food to last. The Delaware River might flood but I am far enough away from that to worry. If it floods it will be an inconvenience for me but heart ache for those in the flood path.

Keep us posted if you can.  Maybe you are far enough inland to escape the worst.

Stay dry Lewell, I'm right in the path, and on the ocean to boot. Been busy putting away large things that like to blow away.....Prolly be doing that tomorrow also....

The grass could use a bit of rain I guess...LOL

Make all the suggested preparations and stay safe!
We here on the Gulf Coast have weathered many hurricanes and our family has always been prepared with lots of staples and such stored back for hurricane season. The only thing I don't have, and don't intend to get is a generator. We were out of power for 14 days with Ike, but no one suffered from it. It was just a long camping trip for us. Gas never went off, so we were able to cook, unlike those who have all-electric kitchens and water heaters.

 I think I love this whole "storm" idea.  Our store hit a record high in sales ...... batteries, propane.....ect.  Of course, come Monday, anything that is "returnable" will be returned. But, I'll live in the glory for the few days that it lasts.
      After saying that, I'll probably be the person whose house blows/ floats away!!!!!......  I guess I'll deserve it!!!
Seriously,  I hope that anyone who has the unfortunate unplanned meeting with Irene will have the foresight to GET OUT OF TOWN!!!!!!   When I lived in Charleston, SC,  I could pack everything I owned in my car (really,  that's true).   Years later I bought a bed...... it was down hill from there.....  (always could fit my fiddle and guitar in my car).
      If you happen to be one of those folks that has to leave town, make sure you take all the "paper" documents that are important.... birth certificates, insurance policies, deeds to land, ect...
       I truly hope that this storm is far "over-rated."  But, if it turns out that the weather channel is God, I hope that everyone will be OK. Oh, another thing, if you have photo albums, those are good/ important things to take.
     Well, best of luck to everyone. Keep in touch,
cheers, bird

We live on top of a mountain water is not a problem up here but the trees up here have shallow root systems( bed rock close to the surface) and the wind always seems to blow harder when any storm comes from the south.  Noel, we put the generator in before we put the furniture in    lol  bob w,

Yah know ive only had the joy of being in with huricane gustav a few years back and we were only out of power for like a week and a half but luckily we had generators and chainsaws and everything else. Mainly time was spent cleaning up an clearing the streets of the neighborhood before we even bothered to do our own yard.

Anyway

My prayers are going out to those in the path of irene and hopefully all are ok

We're set for Hurricane Irene I think.  We live in the piedmont overlooking Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River. We located the house in 1978 on a hilltop overlooking the White Clay Creek's local floodplain.  In one flood some years ago, the current moved so fast across the road, it swept a neighbor in her car into the woods.  She had to be rescued by the local volunteer fire department's crew in an aluminum outboard skiff.

As a local precaution, I spent two hours this morning before the rain arrived, cleaning leaves off gutter screens , multiple roof valleys, and the uphill side of the skylights.  As far as looking out for each other during and after Hurricane Irene, we made commitments to help each other with downed trees at our weekly get together in the Man Cave yesterday.  Most of us have chain saws, and I have chain hoists, peavey hook, and lots of chain.  We're set to move anything that falls.

Finally, we have a 16KW standby generator, which handles most everything in the housed if falling trees and tree limbs knock out our power.