<p>Just thought I would share our story. Our D moved in to Univ of MD Baltimore County (UMBC) today. She is a freshman. It is only a 20 minute drive from our home, so we didn’t have to deal with transportation issues due to Irene. They allowed students to move in earlier in the day to avoid the bad weather. They won’t have hurricane conditions, but could have 25-40 mph winds with gusts up to 60 mph. They are also forecasting heavy rain later tonight and early tomorrow morning. It is very possible that they may have power outages on campus as that seems to be a common occurrence. I made sure our D has two flashlights and extra batteries. They said if they are not able to serve meals in the dining hall, they will provide food in the dorm lounge.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, her roommate went back home with her parents after moving her things in today. Not sure why, but her parents seemed to be concerned that she wouldn’t be safe in the dorm if the power went out. She won’t be returning to campus for 2 more days. That means our D will be staying alone in her suite for the next two nights. Her other two suite mates are sophomores and won’t move in until Monday. It upsets me that she will be alone, especially during the storm tonight. My daughter is afraid of thunder storms. I’m hoping all will go okay.</p>
<p>Just wanted to report that we arrived safely at Goucher at 2:15 after leaving Boston at 6:30 this morning. Roads were pretty clear and there were no weather issues – we only hit two bands of serious rain before getting to the Baltimore area, and here it’s just a light steady shower. So it looks like we made the right choice. Of course they might lose power, but he’ll survive.</p>
<p>My D is a senior, so the “move-in” wasn’t supposed to be that exciting, except she is doing an internship in Boston instead of on campus, so new apartment. Keys were to be picked up 10:30 Sunday… flight cancelled, of course, but WORST is that NOTHING can be rescheduled until NEXT Sat. Jet blue was gracious in trying all sorts of combinations, and we’ll probably hit the airport when we find out flights have started back, but this is a pain. Not the pain of dying in a plane crash however…</p>
<p>Just moved s in for soph. year. For our drive across Pennsylvania we shared the turnpike with utility and tree trucks that were heading toward the hurricane areas in preparation for the big storm. We got to campus before the rain started and got everything unloaded with the help of S’s 4 friends. S offered to have dinner with us if we wanted but we could tell that he really wanted to go with his friends, so H and I headed to our motel. Now we are hoping that the power doesn’t go out here and that ESPN will have the Steeler game will be on.</p>
<p>57beach - I’m sure there are other kids in your daughter’s situation so they’ll probably hang together and maybe even sleep in the same room. To kids, it’s an adventure!</p>
<p>I was quite happy Rutgers moved up move-in time for D1’s dorm to 7am. We were 6th car in line and had her stuff inside by 7:30am. The first rain band moved through around 9am, so people & stuff were getting soaked. She said they suggested you go home and return Monday - she laughed and was reading a book when we left at 10am.</p>
<p>I’ve been listening into the sit report conf. call DH is on and walked in on the very end of the road closure report. Asked him what was closed and he said he wasn’t paying attention as he already gave his report and only needs to do anything else if someone has a question. Roads are staring to be closed and they are beginning to evaluate the bridges. I heard mentioned Brx River, Henry Hudson, Taconic but I missed the beginning of his report. </p>
<p>The meteorologist said to expect 21 hours of at least tropical storm force winds in NYC & LI. </p>
<p>They seemed very well prepared and on top of things for during and after the storm.</p>
<p>S made it back to DC on Amtrak today. His trip itself was rather inconsequential. He said there was no rain until Baltimore & that it wasn’t even that bad by the time he got to his dorm in DC.<br>
Last night wasn’t so uneventful. I had been checking Amtrak’s website regularly since Thurs to check for cancellations and there had been none. I was also checking the Washington Post’s website for DC-specific info, when I saw a headline that Amtrak was cancelling service on SAt. and Sun. When I checked back on Amtrak for the status of his originally scheduled train, it was no longer listed. After being on hold for an hour, I was able to confirm that his train had been cancelled but was able to book him on a train early this morning. As it turned out, his train this morning ended up being the only one that actually left CT for DC today; Amtrak had cancelled 2 other trains that were still available last night.<br>
At least he’s back at school and incredulous that Amtrak cancelled all those trains because he doesn’t think the weather’s that bad.</p>
<p>Now the aftermath…some schools still not open and they’re telling students not to arrive until Tuesday or “whenever we update you.” For instance, the city of Williamsburg has no power to 80% of its residents, including a couple of W&M dorms totalling 800 students. They’re hoping for Tuesday but still don’t know.</p>
<p>It wasn’t a terrible storm but there was still much damage in terms of wind, coastal flooding, & power outages. People like Mayor Bloomberg don’t get credit when good preparation causes good results, but the fact is, it could have been a lot worse.</p>
<p>I’m happy that Brown and other Ivies don’t move in until this coming weekend. Hopefully all will be okay. Now if I can just get D to pack! (“too hot and boring with the power off. Going to the beach instead!”)</p>