Hurricane Sandy: when it gets noisy out there...

...everyone knows it's...:

I drove from Philly to Toad Woods Sunday. Solid grey cloud cover all the way, far as the eye could see It was interesting to be looking at the bottomside view of those satellite photos they've been showing on the US TV news reports for the last couple of days, especially the news reports down in Philly.

It's mostly quiet here at Toad Woods, but every once in a while the wind does that locomotive thing, building to a roar then dying down again as it passes. The forecast suggests there's a lot more of that roar to come. Predictions are that my neck of the woods will get off easy. Yes, my fingers are crossed and All That Jazz....

Here's to safety and well-being as far as Sandy can reach and then some.

Doug Faunt is OK

RIP HMS Bounty.

Bounty sank off the coast of North Carolina overnight. The crew donned survival suits and boarded her life boats in a timely manner. The Coast Guard sent out rescue helicopters.

Doug posted to Facebook that he's okay a few minutes ago. I don't know for sure he was on board; further details welcome. Right now, I'm relieved he's okay, and hope the same is true of the entire Bounty crew.

Bounty going down is the last news in the world I expected to be posting today. Yes, there's a huge hurricane out there. Yes, she's a ship that regularly sails these waters. But my head just hadn't gone there, not at all.

She was a fine, fine ship. A beauty.

Edited to add:

athenais sent me a text with an additional info based on what Doug posted on Facebook a few minutes ago. "He is at the USCG station in Elizabeth City, NC. 2 still unaccounted for. They swam free as the ship was sinking and got into the life rafts."

My prayers are with the entire crew.

Video coverage of the HMS Bounty crew rescue

Gary Farber sent me the link to video of the the Coast Guard rescue operation.

Knowing Doug was okay made it much easier to watch. Added bonus prize: seeing Doug walking away from the rescue helicopter at the 10:23 minute mark. He's the one in the yellow overalls and jacket; you can see him clearly at 11:00-11:05.

The current news reports are that Captain Robin Walbridge and Claudene Christian are the two people the Coast Guard is still searching for. NBC News (and others, no doubt), report that the survival suits they're wearing are "designed to help keep them afloat and protected from cold waters for up to 15 hours, but so far the Coast Guard has not seen any sign of them."

My prayers remain with them and their families and friends, including of course the Bounty's entire crew.

There's a public Facebook page for HMS Bounty that doesn't require a Facebook account to see. Lots of good pictures and information about her recent repairs and maintenance up in Maine.

Power = out

Power went out here at Toad Woods just after 4:45pm Monday. The UPS for the net connection and computer equipment has also failed, despite making all the right sounds when the power went.

I plan to stay here tonight and assess status tomorrow. I'll go up to my neighbors' house if need be.

Home phone is still working. Calls there welcome. The 413 number only please. Cell reception on my 612 mobile number sucks and its battery power is limited.

Good news: Sandy's winds knocked down the part of the Tree of Damocles that earned it the honor of the name. Win