There has been some pretty bad flooding and wind damage in the Carolinas and Virginia, but Irene blew through the Mid-Atlantic last night doing far less damage than feared. Many Marylanders will be without power for a day or two and flooding remains a concern in some areas, but businesses are opening their doors today, the state has a 311 call center open and is taking calls reporting power outages and downed trees or large branches, and Governor O’Malley tweeted recently that Ocean City, evacuated for the storm, will reopen by noon. All good news.
Down in Washington DC, the Old Guard continued its sacred watch at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, through the storm (just as they did during the last hurricane to sweep through).
My family did get the message that church was closed due to lack of power, however the original message coming through featured a rather odd autocorrect: “No church. No Trinity.” Alas, Irene seems to have truly disrupted the Christian faith!
Brush off the dust! History now! 
The Baltimore Sun reports on Irene–MORE DAMAGE COULD STILL COME! WINDS ARE EXPECTED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE DAY!–http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-hurricane-irene-arrives-20110827,0,265731.story
Just presenting another side of the coin here… Many Marylanders (myself and an entire community) were without power for 6 days. For those of us who didn’t know anyone without extra freezer space, or were unable to find dry ice or even a bag of fresh ice within reasonable driving distance, or even better – had a generator on standby, the week of Hurricane Irene has been miserable. Losing almost a month’s worth of food and consequently spending money that wouldn’t otherwise have been spent for meals, having no hot water, and unable to shower or clean laundry has caused an amazing amount of stress.
The experience has shown a lot of us a certain level of humility though. And perhaps not a minute too soon. While we’re coming back “online” with the rest of the world we’re attentive to the fact that Vermont in particular has suffered greatly. Such a twisted conflict of emotions follows as we are both thankful, and angry. As I emptied the contents of our freezer and refrigerator I was continually reminded that someone else was without their entire home. I feel as though I should be so grateful to be without only food that will soon be replaced. Of course I wanted to curse with every item that passed my hands.
In our country we are so blessed to never experience some of the things that others go through on a daily basis. For some of us the inconvenience of being without our electronics is just too much. Throughout the week I have taken on the role of Super (Encouraging) Woman with neighbors, friends, and especially my children. I wanted to focus on the positive, and teach my children to do the same. These trials can quickly start looking like adventures when given the right frame of mind. When that wasn’t working, one thing still remained true – it’s time to wake up and stop taking so many things for granted.
Having said that, emotionally speaking – some things are an incredible struggle. Getting through the struggle is what makes us stronger. I would never want to downplay how tragic these events can be. I would just love to share my perspective on this. Katrina does not equal Irene. However, I don’t think the two events need comparison. For those of us who have the means, maybe it’s a good idea to be reminded that our help may be needed for Irene victims in several areas of the east coast. In fact – our help may still be needed for Katrina victims as well. We should continually remind ourselves that in spite of challenges of any kind, weather, economical, or otherwise – we have so much more than we really realize.
When there is nothing else we can do, we can always pray!
No, it does not need to be Katrina to be bad. It was not my intention to make light of others’ suffering or loss. In fact, it was largely to share that my family, in particular, was well and the humor in our personal situation–not to disregard the loss or impediment to others.