Stay safe - Helping Sister Donna at Woodwinds Condo in Hatboro, PA

One and a half inches of rain so far. Blurry foto of barricades at the ready at corner of Terwood and Old York Road, on our way thru Hatboro, so we could check it, and on the way to Donna's.

Daddypop's Diner was open. The PO closed at 9 am, but I got a donation for ND in Box 181. My policy is to never put the check in the mail until I've wrin a thank-you.

I did both and then ran after the mailman.

The deserted parking lot on Drummers Way. Everyone fled b/c the condos are notorious for flooding.

Back of Donna's 2-story condo on the corner. Sandbags are used to prevent water from entering premises.

Sometimes it works! Fingers tightly crossed. After a flood 14 months ago, August 29, Donna had a foot of water and mud in the entire downstairs.

A lovely creek flows behind the condos. Today the creek had risen to the top of the banks. This was five hours ago.

Donna, who knows the flooding better than anyone, says it won't rise or flood until tonite. She'll be safe here with older sister Ruthie.

Explanation please! Okay, this is a huge tarp that a construction worker neighbor laid down over four units. Hopefully, this will prevent the water from coming in.

Twill be interesting to see.

Donna's bundled up as we approach her home. See how the tarp goes all the way up. We dunno the function of the rope he put there.

Will the tarp with duck tape hold fast? Well, lemme tell you something. Other people's plastic was flapping helplessly, having come undone by the winds which were not even a fifth of their full ferocity.

I just lost a tree limb in the backyard and hope the tree doesn't.....

Donna's dwelling.

Donna's got a zillion chotckies lying all over including this darling green frog. Scott, Donna and I scurried about in the cold rain picking em up and putting em in her house.

Stopped at mom's house, which experiences partial flooding. For safekeeping they have some downstairs furniture in the living room.

Mom said she had a good nite's sleep last nite. Who knows what the next 24 hrs will hold?

Then I went shopping at the Willow Grove Giant. I needed carbs, in the form of my Utz's 7-grain pretzels and Brown Rice crackers.

Since Donna's staying with me, we created a snack bowl

I made Scott, Donna and me some delicious salmon, sauteed with mushrooms and balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and steamed asparagus, carrots and onions.

Scrumptious! Donna asked why it's so tender. I don't overcook the salmon but cook it until it's just done. The fridge is stocked!

My son's electricity went out this morning. The PECO truck said it should be back on by four. They couldn't wait and went to spend the nite at Barb's house in Mayfair.

I said if it's a dangerous drive to Barb's, come stay here.

Here's Grace in her princess dress.

When I pulled into the back of Giant, all the truck bays were full with Giant tractor-trailers. Inside, I learned from a man who was emptying out a refrigerated container, that the electricity went out at five Giant supermarkets.

Our Giant was out for nearly half an hour. The store generator was traveling to the Giant in Morrisville. The Giant trucks I saw in the bays were refrigerated, so they can store things there if the lights go out.

Dyou think I could persuade them to...o never mind.

As I walked thru the parking lot, all bundled up, I felt the wind pushing me along.

 Ocean City, MD, from the Christian Science Monitor. Remind me to tell you about Mrs Kultti, my piano teacher, who was a Christian Scientist.

Scott has a barometer in his bedroom and says the barometric pressure has never gotten so low.

My house is silent. Scott is watching the news upstairs. Donna is taking a nap downstairs. I'm tapping on the computer in the living room.

You can hear the rain in the gutters. The leaves are swaying not terribly fast. And the house is cold. It's set for 69 but it's chilly in here.

Scott works tonite at 10 pm. The trains aren't running, so he'll drive to the SEPTA carhouse at 69th and Market, Upper Darby.

STAY SAFE Y'ALL! Btw, I highly recommend your watching the first five minutes of this prophetic documentary about flooding in NYC.