In many ways we lucked out in the Maryland/Virginia Chesapeake area, when compared to the damage caused by Hurricane Isabel. The winds drove the water from the bay; so much of the rain hitting the Eastern shore was able to drain without causing the same of flooding during Isabel.

The family at home encountered no problems. No power outages, no wind damage.

I was at the fire station throughout the event for possible deployment. Our team deployed two members ahead of time with Maryland State Police (MSP) - Aviation Division and had several more standing by. We also prepared a FEMA Type II water rescue team for deployment and maintained a contingency of members for local responses. Other that one member deployed with MSP –Aviation who provided surveillance flights over the Southern and Eastern-Shore Maryland areas, no water rescue or evacuations actions took place of which I am aware.

To all of those who suffered damage, my thoughts and prayers go out for a speedy recovery.

Pete

I think we are spoiled rotten. Hurricane prediction has made amazing progress in my lifetime, and the loss of life has been reduced accordingly. Remember Galveston? Now we are quibbling about a few mph - I doubt I could tell the difference between 73 and 75 mph - the "all important" distinction between a killer Hurricane and an insignificant, insipid tropical storm.

Now if we could just do as well with earthquake prediction. Upon which political group do I place the blame for the lack of progress in this area? It must be someone's fault........

Has there ever been a Hurricane Jeanette? Dagny? BacPakJac? Christina?

If so, I am sure they woudl be memorable?

Apologies to those forum members whose names I did not list...

Yeah, gas leaks are scary.

Many instances of earthquake damage came to light before and with the hurricane. For instance, some friends' septic system was damaged in a way that became evident in a Thursday night storm. Thankfully, it was fixed before Irene hit on Saturday.

Other friends in Loudon County Maryland (80 miles west of DC) discovered that some critical piece in their well had sheared off from the well pipe.

And I've read accounts of people discovering the earthquake rendered their basements no longer waterproof.

Correction made.

Thanks-
Pete

I've had roof problems and learned a few things about tarping.

* I've seen people lay down tarps and staple them down. This simply doesn't work, as there's not enough support to hold them down in wind.

* I followed others by laying down the tarps and nailing (double-headed nails) strips of lath on top of the tarps to spread out the support. I put them about 4ft apart and all along the edges of the roof so the wind couldn't catch it.

* NEXT TIME! I'm laying down the tarps and holding them down with half-filled sandbags, and just nailing down the lath at the edges. Half-filled/tied sandbags are easy to carry and move around. They don't leave holes in the tarps, so if the tarps aren't left there too long (UV damage), they can be folded up and stashed for later use.

Sue

As a young teen I once helped my dad use rope to tie down a tarp to protect a roof with a hole. That, or sandbags, was how I was planning to secure one. It never occurred to me to nail it down.

Susan...if you have a small roof puncture and not loose shingles or tile, the spray foam insulation works pretty well... to expand and seal holes...in 04, red fuel cans and blue tarps were in short supply down here...

good idea to have a can of roof mastic, blue tarp and lath or firring strips...portable screw gun and deck screws

Has anyone tried that new (at least to me) spay rubber product advertized on TV Flex Seal ?

If it really works and will actually stick to a variety of surfaces, it might be a useful product to have on hand.

Pete