I'm just outside of Philly. All day we had steady rain but no big deal. However all that changed about an hour ago. The rain is very heavy and the wind is now very strong...I can hear it and feel it against my house. I haven't lost my electricity yet but the lights flickered a couple times so it will probably go out soon. I will probably have a mess of water in my basement too. That's my update as of 10:18pm.

That's awful. The longest I've gone is a few days even after the worst storm. I can't imagine 2 weeks and in the summer time. I would probably have to go somewhere else for fear of heat exhaustion or something. I get hot quickly and sweat heavily without the AC.

there is a tornado watch in effect now for all the state of jersey and philly.

We woke up to no electricity. Our backyard is a mess.. fallen branches and leaves everywhere.

It's hard to tell from my phone where the storm is right now. Can anyone give me an update?

Someone? Please?

From what I saw this morning, at about 8a, Irene was done in NC, staying on the coast and now headed for Long Island, NY. As of this morning, she was a category 1 storm.

Ok thanks! It's hard to tell what's going on, because while the hard rain is consistent, the wind will be whipping and howling, and then it will die down to nearly nothing, and then pick back up again. I wanted to know how long it will be before we're out of this mess.

It looks like it made landfall right around Coney Island, if that helps. The massive rain is to the northeast of you, but you'll continue to feel wind for a while. It doesn't look like it is still raining in NJ from the radar maps.

They are showing Long Beach, NY and expect the storm surge to reach it's peak soon there.

Still a Cat 1 hurricane. If it hasn't stopped raining there yet, it should soon.

It just made landfall on Coney Island approx 15 minutes ago.

A tornado watch is in effect for eastern NJ, among other areas.

The Hudson River has overflowed its banks into the walkways. The East River is also overflowing.

You can try t_witter. CNN has a weather feed.

Hope that helps.

It also looks like you're going to have 50-60 mph winds for a few more hours yet.

I'm in northern NJ - it's still pouring, but like you said, maybe it will be ending soon..

http://i53.tinypic.com/106mptg.jpg

U mad New England?

You don't want to be going outside though, even after the rain stops. So far, almost everybody who has been killed by this storm was killed by falling trees and that could still happen with the high winds. There is a lot of river flooding and low lying roads have 2-3 feet of water on them. They just said that Newark airport got 8 inches of rain total so far.

From CNN:

Authorities said the storm had knocked out power to more than 3 million people and was responsible for at least 10 deaths as it pummeled some of the biggest cities in the Northeast.

In lower Manhattan, the Hudson River overflowed, sending massive amounts of water spilling over jogging paths and pouring into at least one nearby apartment building. Water also lapped over the banks of New York City's East River.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey closed the north tube of the Holland Tunnel due to flooding, and CNN affiliate WCBS reported serious flooding in Brooklyn.

The threat of flooding extended beyond New York City. Outside Philadelphia, waters had already climbed to street-sign levels in Darby, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said, sending "couches, furniture, all kinds of stuff floating down the street."

Waves pounded the shoreline in Long Beach, New York, as water poured underneath the boardwalk and into the city's downtown area.

By 9 a.m. ET Sunday, Irene had weakened to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Irene slammed into Little Egg Inlet, New Jersey, about 5:30 a.m., the National Hurricane Center said.

Thanks for the info! :)

Oddly enough, north Georgia and Alabama are extremely breezy but haven't gotten any rain. Irene! Send us some rain!

Too late carnation. Irene's rain is all in the northeast now.

They are showing Providence now. This is of biggest interest to me because hypoallergenic and I are headed there Friday night to visit Brown.

Here in Connecticut we've been getting heavy rain with short bursts of wind. I'm around Hartford where it's not so bad, but in Old Saybrook and Groton the winds have already been up to 60 mph.

It wasn't too bad in my part of Northern VA. All utitlities remained on with barely a flicker. Lots of leaves and small branches are down but that's about it.

The rain/wind finally stopped where I am in New York. It's a mess outside with branches, leaves and unsecured household items flung about. Church was cancelled this morning and it's a good thing too. There was a landslide on the mountain we have to go through to get there! :eek:

We lost power last night through today, but it's back now fortunately.

From what I've heard, New Jersey really got the worst
of it. It rained from about 7 PM last night until 10 this morning in NYC. Lots of trees and limbs down in my neighborhood, no building damage that I've seen yet. I haven't been home yet--staying with friends. I've heard that my road was closed for flooding--but it floods for a regular storm so I'm not all that surprised. Some stores opened, primarily delis and small grocery stores. Friends in Manhattan claim that everything is open where they are.

It's still misty and breezy here.

I checked in with all the chapter presidents in my region and I'm getting flooding reports from New Jersey.

Still rain and wind here. Watching the tree line in the back of the house. It's crazy how resilient they are!

The sun is out and the electricity is back on :)

I keep hearing reports of the terrible flooding in NJ (which is supposed to get worse as the day goes on), but fortunately for me, I wouldn't know it by looking out the window.

A family member who lives in NJ had no damage to her house, but two of her neighbors are now homeless. The foundation failed and opened up into a sinkhole. Both houses are now condemned and need to be torn down :( The families are physically ok though.

!
 

That's horrible... glad everyone is ok, though!

One of my friends just posted this picture on Facebook: The hurricane coming onto the shore in Virginia

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._7313733_n.jpg

That is an absolutely amazing photo. Did your friend TAKE this picture or just post it?

WHOA! Really cool but really scary picture!

Everything in me wants that to be an airbrushed/fake photo.

No, as far as I know, he didn't take it

And another picture I found online here: http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_new...ricane-updates

Biscayne Bay in Miami a few days ago

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Co...otoblog600.jpg

My parents live on the south shore of Long Island right on the water. The water came up around the house, but not inside (no houses in this area have basements for this reason). The tide has gone down and the water has receded; thankfully there doesn't appear to be any water damage. Flooding around them is keeping them stuck in town, but they never lost power and were not worried when I spoke to them this morning.

All of my friends from school in Northern Virginia have reported in fine. Apparently my chapter even had a party through the storm last night. :rolleyes: I hope they served hurricanes.

It is eerily similar to the fake photo of Katrina here: http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/nat...ces-of-Nature/

Just heard from my daughter. The worst of it to hit Boston has now passed. She and BF are safe. Don't know yet if the T will be open in time for work tomorrow.

DaffyKD

Yeah. I have to see that Irene photo elsewhere before I believe it.

Photos
http://i.imgur.com/lzyFC.jpg

Others
http://i.imgur.com/dedw8.jpg

Another gallery
Central Park:
http://i.imgur.com/QdciO.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/9GkTS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/xoaMu.jpg

And this one, because, wow does Obama look older than he did 4 years ago. (toll of the office and yada yada, tired maybe, but it just kind of struck me.)
http://i.imgur.com/6GAKt.jpg

As soon as the photo blog I follow does some Irene pics I'll snag some and post them, they're always beautiful (details on pictures at the links)

I just got 3G on my phone, it looks like my house is the only one throughout the town with power. Cable and internet is still out. Everyone here is safe but the boats nearby, not so much.