Checking on the Maryland and DC Metro ladies

nuancedream

The East Coast is having some rough weather right now. I understand a tornado touched down in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, near Annapolis, and there has been severe flooding. Janet, Suntiger, Laurie, and Tanya, I hope you are all safe.

2 years ago

Off Topic

28 replies

Latest reply was from Christina F.

Tanya

Veteran

Thank you for checking in Nuancedream, all is well in my neck of the woods (DC suburb). Hope everyone is safe.

2 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Be safe peeps!

2 years ago

Anonymous

We had 2 tornado warnings but luckily nothing here. According to WBOC one touched down in Hurlock but didn't do any damage. Annapolis definitely had it worse.
We're lucky to have underground lines too so we almost never lose power. It happened maybe 3 times in 17 years!

2 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Yikes! Hope you all are safe.

My post looking for waves seems in very poor taste next to this one. I’m sorry!

2 years ago

Toban

Veteran

The Annapolis tornado’s path came as close as 100 meters from my husband’s work. He doesn’t know if they have power yet. He was there (and safe) and said it was quite something. There’s been some flash flooding around due to high amounts of rain in short time periods. Lots of accidents and road closures due to flooding and downed power lines. It seemed pretty non-eventful in our neighborhood other than heavy rain and I didn’t notice downed branches, etc (which often happens with big winds) on this morning’s run. We get hyper-localized weather issues.

ETA no power at his work this morning, unsurprisingly.

2 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Toban, what a scare—glad he’s ok.

My parents in Ohio also had 6” of rain the other day, including some big storms. NYC is also having significant flooding. I think Ida has blazed this path all the way across the US East of the Mississippi.

2 years ago

Anonymous

Oh yikes Toban! Glad he's ok!
I found some big branches in front of the house but at least they didn't fall on our cars or house. One was quite a lot bigger than the one that busted DHs rear window last year.

2 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Thank you for checking in. It turns out we were literally only a mile away from a tornado touching down in Annapolis — we had an appt at the MVA and decided to turn back and go home. If I had not suggested to my husband that we take the back road home, we would have ended up right on top of it. A couple of local businesses are gutted, a high school seriously damaged, and a host of other smaller damages as well. Fortunately no lives lost.

We were really lucky. The worst of it skirted our area. We went out for dinner in between storms and the power went out at home, so I’m glad I didn’t cook! Power was out for about 5-6 hours, so no big issue here. Trees are all still intact but lots of leaves and small branches down.

One of my BFFs in the Philly area is helping his friend try to get to his mother’s house today. Her house was hit by a tornado and she’s now with neighbors. Lots of flooding in Philadelphia.

And now I see a lot of damage and flooding in NY and NJ as well. Sending good vibes to all and hoping all of you in those areas is safe and sound.

2 years ago

Christina F.

Veteran

NYC had severe, historic flash floods. Everything in our basement is wrecked but the upper floor was spared. We retained power as well.

The city is using all the flood mitigation companies, and lots of people are in this trouble, so it’s unclear when someone can come pump out the basement, which is draining, but slowly.

Husband, cats and I are all okay. Our massive book collection is probably mostly a loss, along with most of my husband’s treasured sentimental items and his cello. I did save some heirloom rugs that we just inherited, but they may need restoration.

He’s more attached to physical books than me, and my sentimental stuff is all upstairs, so he’s feeling this loss even worse than I am.

2 years ago

Anonymous

Oh no Christina! I'm glad you and your family are ok though!

2 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Christina! Your new house! I’m so sorry. And as one whose physical library was once gutted by a 100 year flood, I feel for your husband.

2 years ago

Toban

Veteran

Oh, Christina! I am so sorry to hear about your basement water damage.

2 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

So sad for those of you caught in this. It's awful. Honestly, between the fires, the floods, and the pandemic this year...well...

Christina, that's horrible about your husband's books. I'm so sorry.

You may know this, but just in case, a trick that might help, if you can manage and you still have power -- buy or rent a massive dehumidifier (if you can afford, of course) and/or get some fans running. Of course you need to ensure electrical use in the area is safe (and it might not be, in the basement itself -- you might have to cut the fuse and use extensions from elsewhere in the house). If there are appliances in the basement, best to shut off the power to that area if at all possible.

I've had basement floods and lost a lot of books, but some were salvageable, so it just depends. They will definitely need sun and airing.

2 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Oh no, Christina! I’m glad you are ok, but that’s still such a loss.

2 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Ohmigosh, Christina!

2 years ago

Sal

Veteran

Oh Christina - how sad and stressful.

Janet and Tobin - so close - my goodness.

2 years ago

nuancedream

Veteran

How awful, Christina! Such a terrible loss. However, I am glad to hear that you, your husband and the cats are okay.
Janet, I immediately thought of you when I heard about Anne Arundel County, MD and you were able to avoid the worst of the remnants of Hurricane Ida.
Toban, WOW! Such a close call for your husband. I am glad he's OK.

2 years ago

Christina F.

Veteran

Thanks all. Our building manager found and turned on a sump pump and we are now drained. The cleanup and and salvage efforts are now beginning. No idea when a crew can get out here but our insurance hooked us up with a company. We think we may be covered for most of this, but it’s yet to be determined. We are supposed to go to Greece in a week, but this insurance process is going to be drawn out due to the widespread disaster. Who knows?

2 years ago

Debora

Veteran

Thank you for starting this thread, Nuancedream. I have family and friends all along the East coast. Thankfully, everyone came through the storm with minimal damage. Christina, I’m so sorry to hear about your flooding.

2 years ago

Inge

(website)

Moderator

Christina, that is horrible, I'm so sorry!

I too am thinking of everyone affected by the storm, and hope you are all safe.

2 years ago

Christina F.

Veteran

Thank you all.

Most of my clothes were safely upstairs but for a few colder weather items. Those got wet. The stuff in suitcase fared better than stuff in plastic bins, since the force of the water knocked those open. Anyone got tips for cleaning?? Right now I am trying to air dry stuff.

2 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Oh, Christina. I am so sorry

2 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Oh no, Christina. That sucks! Have you tried calling ServiceMaster or one of those companies? They may have some good info on cleaning after such a disaster, although I’m sure they are busy!

2 years ago

Christina F.

Veteran

Janet, we are waiting on one of those companies to come. Demand here is insane right now, and the city immediately hired most of those teams after the storm to help with the flooded subways.

We had to cancel our trip next week because we don’t know how long even the initial cleaning and assessment will take.

2 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

After “my” flood, wool blankets were ruined. Not sure if that was from the floodwater or if someone washed them with soap (I was overseas at the time, so missed the initial stages of clean-up). Don’t go so slowly thst things mold/mildew—that’s not covered by insurance—but don’t rush so fast you skip over basic correct cleaning instructions. Step by step.

2 years ago

slim cat

Veteran

So sorry to hear about books, canceled trip and all the mess with cleaning/figuring out insurance - wishing everyone the strength, patience and some old fashion luck.

2 years ago

Cardiff girl

Veteran

So sorry to hear this Christina,l hope that you can get the house dried out soon.How stressful for you both.

2 years ago

Christina F.

Veteran

Thanks, everyone.

The clothing seems to have survived okay - it was in a closet and in suitcases, so protected from the worst of the muck. It's all dried out and I plan to clean it all carefully over time. My husband's cello and some camping gear survived in another closet, and a few books survived (wet, not destroyed or full of muck) because one bookshelf kind of fell over face up. My husband now has to work on the couch because his workspace is gone too (fortunately all computers etc were upstairs at the time, except one charger). The rest, including some artwork and many of my husband's mementos.... ugh.

But we are okay, and still have the half the house. We hadn't remodeled the basement to be what we wanted yet (old school library, like something out of Agatha Christie), and I guess things might have been worse if we had in terms of sunk costs. We will also figure out how to avoid such awful flooding in the future.

2 years ago

Category