Hurricane Irene hits us in Eastern North Carolina

We're no strangers to hurricanes.  I remember hurricane Hugo hitting NC as a child (Vinny was living in Puerto Rico at the time and experienced it as well) and then he and I went through hurricane Katrina together in 2005.  We wavered about staying for Irene but ultimately decided to stay.  It was a little scary a few times when the big wind gusts hit the windows (that cover the entire back of the house), and it sounded like they might not withstand it.  We lost power for about 14 hours, but at the end of the storm, we're all safe, the house has some minor damage (which is the landlord's responsibility), we have some yard cleanup to do, and it's a gorgeous day outside.  I thought I would share with you some of the photos and videos I took during the storm.

This was just as the storm was beginning.  In particular, pay attention to where the water is on the dock next door and those three crepe myrtles in the center of the yard (you can probably guess that they now look like matchsticks).

A few hours later, the wind started.  This is the crepe myrtle outside the kitchen:

This is the same tree after the storm:

By Saturday morning, the waves were really rolling in, but the winds were still pretty manageable:

Here is a still of what high tide looked like with the storm coming in:

By early afternoon our power was out and it really started picking up and the rain was driving hard.

Once the storm started passing us by, I figured it would get better, but it was rough even on the backside.  It seemed to go on forever.

Our crepe myrtle in the front (which was probably the prettiest one we had) was cracked into pieces.

One of our bedroom windows is messed up and would lock at the top but not the bottom.  It was making an awful racket and driving us crazy.  Made it very hard to take a nap.  So naturally I want to share it, in all its annoying radiance, with you.  Also in this video, check out the crepe myrtle outside our bedroom.  It used to look just like one in the second video above that is outside the kitchen.  Eek.  It looks like fall has come early.

And pretty much every room had some sort of water damage on the ceiling or wall that looked like this:

Our landlord came by to assess the damage, so we'll see what he does for repairs.

We had an awesome dinner since we were trying to use up stuff in the freezer that would go bad if we didn't get power back quickly.  So we had grilled halibut and swordfish, beans and turnip greens, and cantaloupe.  Yum. Our stovetop is gas, so we still had access to that, we just had to light it with a lighter since the igniter is electric.

Once it got dark we pulled out the emergency flashlights and candles.  Bella went to bed relatively easy and Vinny and I sat up and I painted pieces for a project I have going on (I know the anticipation is killing you), and we listened to an MP3 book through Vinny's phone.  It was nice and cool outside so we opened the door and some windows to let the cool air in.  Power came back on about 3am on Sunday morning and we closed them then.

Today (Sunday) the river is like glass and the sun is shining.  We've put our patio furniture back out, cleaned up all the dishes we dirtied, took showers, and now we're starting yard cleanup.  Josie decided to help too:

Now I just have to wait and hear how our house in Rhode Island fared!  Wherever you are, I hope you and your loved ones weathered the storm without too much trouble!  

EDIT: just went outside to start picking up sticks that fell from the trees and realized we have 2 trees that got pushed up by their roots, a lot of the retaining wall boards by the water got pulled off by the waves, and the boat ramp is cracked and separated.  Bummer.