Yesterday morning was a healthy half-day of debris removal in Greenville. This city boy does enjoy time with a chain saw–even if it is a little wimpy, electric one that sounds like its run by elderly gerbils. A few of the branches that landed in very lucky spots (between structures, really threading a needle) were about 8″ diameter, about 30′ long…just takes time. But it was a good workout, and the yard’s clean.

We packed up and drove to Surf City; easy ride, no road closures. A bit of debris roadside as we got closer to the beach. Getting on the island was a bit eery, as the roads and yards were covered by sand. Looked a bit like a post-snow storm landscape.

Here at the unit, we were pleasantly surprised to hear the a/c working when we arrived. We’d expected the power to be off, but though it had been off over night (Monday), it had come back on long enough to cool off.

Water had seeped in through the beach-side sliding doors, soaking some rugs. A drag, but hopefully the dehumidifiers will do the trick, some time in the sun, etc. The new floors beneath only seem damp and, hopefully, we got here soon enough (probably about 15-18 hours after water came in), and the rugs wicked the water away from the floor…fingers crossed.

The significant damage was outside, on the beachside deck. Keeping in mind that the decks were still damaged from 2018’s Florence, and due to be rebuilt at some point in the coming year, so any damage out there isn’t long term. The decks of the four units in this building are divided by privacy walls that project from the apartment’s external wall out about 8′ towards the water. As you’ll see in the video below, the privacy wall between us (unit D) and the one next to us (C) just blew as though it were a door towards C. You’ll see a light on the privacy wall; the wall is supposed to be perpendicular to the external wall…and you may also see that the privacy wall between C and the next unit (B), is also blown like a door. You’ll also see that the upper deck of C is just gone, but that’s from 2018’s Florence.

The second video is taken from upstairs, from the master bedroom looking out at the upstairs deck. The privacy wall had extended the height of both stories and, as you’ll see, there’s now nothing there, no wall on that side of the deck.

Certainly could have been worse in terms of permanent damage–the rugs will dry or, worst case, are easily replaced. The external damage was due to be replaced, anyways, so… Still four months left to hurricane season, so lots of finger crossing left to do.

Speaking with family in the NY area, hearing that there’s lots of power loss there. Joe in Scarsdale lost power in the afternoon, not sure if it’s back on yet. Others on the north shore of LI report outage yesterday afternoon and notice from the power company to expect power return Thursday afternoon! Two days without power…what a hassle.

Back to work.