Sunday morning (Hurricane Irene Day)
by Adrian

As expected our basement has water in a few spots. The unexpected one was our storage room. I have to remove all the stuffs in the room as the carpet was soaking wet. Also, the window well facing the front yard was almost flooded with rain water. I had to scoop out the water using a bucket. See for yourself, the damages caused by hurricane Irene.

Water seeping through the ground (I assuming due to the water table rising)

Discovered carpet soaked with water after removing the stored items

After relocating the items from the storage room, the basement looks like a war-zone

Our backyard's view from the side window

Front yard

Debris on the main street

Good thing it is over as hurricane Irene changed her coast slightly. Or else we probably be in the direct hit. That being said, we still have to be careful as the ground is soggy and the trees are prone to fall even with a faint wind blowing. At least, the worst is over for now. Please continue to pray for us....!

Side note: Juan, our contractor has just arrived to inspect the damages in our basement. He gave us a few proposals. Unfortunately, either way we still have to drain cash from our emergency fund. Sob sob...! For those of you who feel very generous, please feel free to donate to our "Hurricane Irene" rebuilding fund. I do have a paypal account so if you would like to donate. My pay-pal email is aycy@lycos.com. He he...!

Earthquake Tremors in NJ. What's next? Hurricane?
by Adrian

We have earthquakes in California, hurricanes in Florida and tornadoes in the Midwest. It didn't occurred to us we would experience similar natural disasters. But we did. At least one for now.

It was a regular day on August 23, 2011 around 1.50pm. I was in my cubicle drafting an email to one of my customers. Suddenly, my co-workers in the office started asking, "do you feel that?". I did not pay attention to them at first as I was concentrating on my email. And then I started to hear steel beams clinking and I felt the floor was swaying back and forth. I told myself this is definitely not a good sign. Without any hesitation, we quickly proceeded to our safety zone in the parking lot. People were panicking not knowing what had happened. And then someone said there was an Earthquake in Virginia and somehow it shook New Jersey as well.

The Record-Front Page

Metro-Front Page

Northeasters like us are not used to earthquakes, hurricane and tornadoes. We do have storms but nothing this big. Good thing everything is back to normal within half hour or so. Just so we thought. Guess what...! That evening we have a weather forecast saying that a category 3 hurricane will be sweeping through the area in a few days time. It is forecast-ed to arrive on Sunday in our area.

Live tracker from MSNBC

To prepare for the worst scenario, I started stocking up the essential stuffs. As I was looking for size D batteries at the grocery store, I already noticed people have started to flock to the premise as well. Unfortunately, the entire shelf of size D batteries for flash lights has been emptied. I suppose I am not the only one thinking of batteries. Well at least, we already have the essential items we needed to survive in case of emergency.

Please pray for us and wish us luck. Stay tune for more update.