Dilated hurricane pupils

As we expected, Irene was a bit of a let-down (no, we are not masochistic or ill-wishing, or jinxing, or nothing of sorts).  She dissipated into a tropical storm as she reached the NYC area.

We really did not feel much in our apartment.  The night was fairly calm. 

In the morning, we woke up in the eye of the, then, tropical storm.  It sped up significantly and moved out of the area within an hour.  We let the rain subside before heading out to assess some of the damage. 

What we felt was not indicative of what it left behind.

However, what it harmed in Jersey City was nothing close to what it caused in other areas.  Here are some examples.

A knocked down tree ripped a fence of the Bergen Light Rail.

This is one of the many drains on a street intersection.  It is not doing its job well because the entire city drain system was overwhelmed.  Basically, we cannot drain the water in the streets if the drains are flooded.













Van Worst Park got smashed up a bit.  It is a miniature park.  There is debris all over the ground and the city blocked it off.


















One of the more interesting things to see is how the owners and inhabitants of brownstone-style buildings cope with the flooding.  The basements of these 4- or 5-story buildings imperatively flood when a rain snout passes through.

It seems that most of them are equipped with sump pumps and they begin dumping water as soon as they can.  Some have provisional piping for this temporary use, yet, some others have it built into their house entrance.

You cannot gather this from the pictures, but that water is gushing out aggressively. 

And after all that, nothing really interesting to add, but plenty of street flooding. 

Jersey City downtown has intersections that are like little pockets where flood waters tend to gather.










More flooding.
















And yet, more flooding.

This is Choo's old block.  Some poor car got stuck in the flood there.  Every building on this block got the basement flooded and they are dumping water on the street.








Zoom on the stranded car.  JC's finest are around.














One of the things on the positive side of the tale, that I particularly enjoy much, is the solidarity that comes out of people, in the light of a disaster. 

We saw people crawl out to the streets immediately after the rain stopped.  People gathered on street corners, people gathered in front of houses.  People helped people move debris, move the water, and people talked.  Behind the curtain of the remaining wind howl, chatter could be heard everywhere we went. 

Down the street, in Hoboken, a huge tree fell down onto the street.  In Long Island, more of the same, and much more flooding than here.  Somewhere, further North, a family had to be rescued from their own home.


Irene, August of 2011, people will talk about her.