Goodbye and Goodnight (Hurricane) Irene

Dan and I rode out Hurricane Irene last night at our home here in Ocean City at Sunset Island off 67th Street. (Yes, the Mayor ordered a Mandatory Evacuation…)

 ”Hindsight is 20/20″ so they say… so I can see clearly now that The 2011 Hurricane Irene was not as bad as it could have been. After a nervous Saturday and evening watching Fox, CNN, the Weather Channel and the local news (yes we had power, water and Comcast the whole duration)-we finally fell asleep just after Irene past Ocean City to the West- about 1AM.  Yes, Irene blew pretty strong as she approached and past us by…but not too bad back here on the center of the island we live on on the bayside.  We went out this morning and toured Sunset Island first and found only one tree casualty (blown over) near the pond; and the requisite leaves and small branches here and there. Then we toured the whole of Ocean City (mostly still boarded up then)… from the Inlet to 144th Street; checking on as many of our clients’ properties as we could.

I can’t convey to you how good it feels to be able to say that  Ocean City is alive and very well , thank you. The storm never breached the dunes and the beach looked great. The Town opened up to the public at noon and it was good to see all the Tourists and Vacationers back into OC and on the Boardwalk in the bright beautiful sunshine. We actually ate at the counter at The Alaska Stand (best cheeseburgers in Town) near the Inlet and basked in the sunshine and forgot all about Irene, tropical force winds, storm surge etc.

All in all, Ocean City MD survived Hurricane Irene nicely, thank you!….and our hearts go out to those who were not as fortunate.

(ps: Our son’s home back in Bel Air Md is still with out power….)