Tropical storm and mountains don't play well together. Maybe a joke, but not a funny one.

our basement is dry!
i rode mtb through local area after hurricaine with significant river rise (Maurice river- Cumberland co, NJ) before dam break up-stream (actually walked bike through 4 ft surging h2o). at 1/2 way through that walk/ride, it seemed to be safer to go forward than retreat (the bike was floating in current). i completed "ride" and met other locals. that was Sunday, pm. by Monday, the fire department were evacuating area, police guarding cross roads and stopped my access. today i broke out my LHT and was again denighed access to same roads i swam (rode) on Sunday by the national guard. spin/swim safe!
t

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...4dca9e5&type=1

I think this link to a photo album of my neighborhood and the destruction of nearby boardwalk/MUPS should work...

Late Sunday morning, here in the NW Philadelphia 'burbs, I typed a post in this thread saying things were much less bad than expected and the power had stayed up the whole time. As I typed in a line about seven of those obnoxious horn-like alerts on the radio calling out tornado warnings, the lights flickered up and down a couple of times and the power dropped altogether - spoke too soon. So I sort of let the whole notion slide.

In my youth (a long time ago!) I understood that tornado watches meant one could happen and a warning meant one was spotted dangling in the air or on the ground. It seems now, it's a bit more cover-your-butt in nature; a warning is "Dopple radar shows spots of possible rotation" or some such thing. I accept that it's probably better to be told than not, but it can really raise anxiety levels. (Note to self: pick up a "real" battery operated radio with weather band ....)

But today, I drove through Spring Mount on my way back from somewhere and discovered an unexpected bit of damage. The bridge across the Perkiomen there just opened last October after a total replacement costing $4.6 million. It has a divided section to carry the Perkiomen Trail, a pretty decent Montgomery County MUP across the creek. By the debris line, it appears the water was up to mid-span at some point, about 15 feet above the normal level. So I drove back this evening and snapped a few shots of the damage. I haven't walked or ridden any of the trail yet, so I don't know what else may have happened.

A round trip from Pottstown to Birdsboro on the Schuylkill River Trail yesterday found the Riverfront Park end of the trail still flooded at a couple of low spots, and three trees down up toward Douglassville, though one of them was being sawed up as I returned.

Compared with north and east of here we were pretty much spared. Can't imagine what it must be like in Vermont.

DaveT

Just got back online- we lost power for 14hrs, not too bad, but the big fail was/is comcast. 6 days to get internet service up and running, those who bundle tv/phone/internet w/ them (in my area) had nothing. They are so incompetent- we're switching over to verizon for dsl.

I don't know if I read all of the posts, but are there any Vermonters who can describe the situation in their area(s). I'm hoping to be able to get up there for some photography this week, if I can navigate the roads where I want to go.

I'm planning to ride New Hampshire the beginning of October. I read a lot about Irene and Vermont. How are the roads in New Hampshire? Did Irene affect NH as well?

Route starts from the Boston area, up to Hanover via Peterborough, Keene, then across to Lincoln/Woodstock to ride the Kanc, then back to the Boston area along the Merrimack Valley. Advice welcome. I live in the Chicagoland area so I have no idea what the riding is like in NH except that it's hilly. :-)

If this is the wrong thread, I apologize.

I have family in Keene, and believe it or not they said they were fine - but Brattleboro VT was apparently hit hard, which is sort of 'just down the road' as you reconnect to the interstate south via car.