The Day After Sandy

 Views along Old Mill Point beaches on Tuesday, October 30th, beginning along the Herring River and exiting from Seaway Beach entrance

*UPDATE* Several residents are still without power along the upper end of Pine Lane as a transformer seems to have gone out. NSTAR did not make it into OMP today to take care of the problem (even though one of those affected is a Selectmen here in town...)

Hopefully those residents have power restored soon.
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 The sandbags deployed around the Strandway tall staircase seem to have kept it safe from storm damage.

 The jetty seemed to have taken a beating from Sandy, with many of the chink rocks washed out onto the beach. Some of the new snow fence was also knocked down, and part of the dune eaten away.

 The Seaway stairs seem to have survived intact as well, no damage, and the view along the fencing shows that we may have actually gained some sand pushed up along the dunes from the storm.

More storm photos from incoming Hurricane Sandy

 At the highest point of the midday tide, the waves still didn't breach the dunes, although they completely covered the jetty. The river came up to the height of the new dock...

The view of the beach at the end of Strandway, where you can see the waves covering the jetty that runs along the river - the river and the ocean were practically one all along the jetty.

The winds are picking up and we've had a few power blips, but back in business as I type. Walking around the neighborhood, not much damage yet (small branches down, lots of leaves and needles blowing.) The part of Route 28 that crosses the Herring River was closed by flooding. Not sure about Allen Harbor but assume that part of Lower County is also closed down.

Staying indoors for now. Stay safe out there!

Hurricane Sandy on her way...

These were taken this morning about 2 hours before the mid-day high tide. I'll try to get back up at high tide to take more photos. You can see that the waves are already surging well over the jetty. Also note that the sandbags did get deployed down on Strandway Beach around the staircase to protect it from being washed away (those are the white lumps in the third picture down from the top.)

As of this moment, we still have power in OMP, although I've heard there are outages around the Cape. Some gas stations sold out of gas yesterday as people stocked up and/or left Cape Cod. Schools all over the Cape were cancelled for today, and some of the schools (like Nauset High School) are being used as
emergency evacuation points.

Everyone stay safe!

"Frankenstorm" headed this way

Looking out at the calm ocean, it's hard to believe that a giant storm is on its way, barreling toward the East Coast as I type. The local media has nicknamed it "Frankenstorm" as it's about to screw up everyone's Halloween plans.

That's a new thing - the weather service has decided to start officially naming storms so it's easier to hash tag them. But that system hasn't gone into effect yet, so we're still getting the fun, made-up names, like last year's "Snowtober" storm. And now, Frankenstorm. Go ahead, say it. It's fun to say.


I guess I haven't lived through a "real" coastal storm yet. I've been lucky in my years on the Cape. The insurance company keeps telling us that when they raise the rates in preparation for The Big One. I remain skeptical of just how bad a storm could be around here. I mean, it's not Haiti. It's Cape Cod.

And then I look at my sister's experience last year in Killington, another upscale resort community. Her house made it through unscathed, but her road was washed away. As were many of her friends homes, cars and possessions. And the Woodstock Inn (where she works) took forever to recover from the flooding and the mud damage. The state of Vermont is still in the process of recovering, more than a year later.

So maybe I will move the patio furniture, and bring the pumpkins inside. And keep my fingers crossed that the storm goes out to sea instead of crashing on my shore.

Although it does have a cool name.

Happy October!

The weather so far in October has been oh-so-capricious, sunny and warm one day and rainy and cold the next. Columbus Day weekend was its own mixed bag, with pockets of sunshine and beach walking weather mixed in with blowy, cold rain.

The garbage barrels are officially retired for the season from the beaches and dock, and the speed bumps are slated to go into storage this week. The signs are decorated for the fall season, and the signs of life around the neighborhood are slowing down despite the still-blooming flowers that dot the landscape.

Old Mill Point is taking a deep breath, and readying itself for the coming winter.