Weathering Irene

Since around noon today we've been experiencing what Irene has for us.  Mostly it's just been rain and wind.  It's certainly not pleasant out there.

Bryan had been trying to stay on top of draining the pool to keep it from overflowing, but at this point I think the rain is coming down faster than the pump can remove it.  He's pretty much resigned himself to the fact that we likely can't prevent the pool from overflowing.

A little over an hour ago we entered a tornado warning.  Thankfully, the tornados seem to have passed and went right between where we live and the town where our friends live.  We're camping out in the basement at the moment until we are sure we're not at risk for a tornado.  I've never experienced one and I'd prefer to keep it that way.

The girls are spending the night in the basement on the sofa bed.  The winds from the hurricane are supposed to be at their worst between midnight and 5AM so we figured it'd would be best if they were in the basement and not in rooms with large windows.

Our biggest concerns are that some of the trees around us could fall.  We have two trees in our yard that are near death (pretty sure the one is dead and the other is "mostly dead"--sorry, I couldn't resist using that term from Princess Bride).   We think it's very likely if the winds are bad enough that those trees will probably fall.  If that happens we could be looking at an obliterated swing set, shed roof or fence.  It's anyone's guess at the moment.

I talked to my mom about an hour and a half ago.  They lost power shortly before I called them to tell them of the tornado warning.  We're prepared for a possible power outage, but I'm hoping we don't lose power.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  I'll update as things with the storm develop as long as we still have power.