Thanks Hurricane Irene

Tweet

Thanks to Hurricane Irene, our family spent Saturday night de-flooding (un-flooding?) taking all of the water out of our basement. What else could we have wanted to do on a Saturday night, right? In all honesty, my brother and dad did most of it because I couldn't do much.

But in all seriousness, we were VERY lucky!

Minimal damage, power stayed on, and no serious injuries in our area. Many weren't so lucky, and I know how fortunate we are and I hope everyone else effected by Hurricane Irene is okay.

I had no idea how badly the main street off of our road was flooded, considering our street was fine (as in the streets didn't flood, it just went into all of our basements). Seriously, Saturday night, us and at least three or four of our neighbors were up all night getting all the water out.

To give you an idea of how bad our main street is, click here to see my tweet earlier! Absolutely insane. Because our county has declared an emergency, only emergencies are warranted in being outside... which means I had no clue our street was like that until someone put the video on Twitter. Gotta love technology!

To the hurricane itself now --

It was much more mitigated than anticipated thankfully. All Saturday night we had crazy wind, heavy rain, and lightning after lightning that brighten up the night time sky. By the time Irene hit land in NJ Sunday morning, and we thought we would experience the worst of it... we didn't! :)

We had a tornado watch for pretty much all Saturday night, and thankfully nothing came of that either.

After being up for over 24 hours, I fell asleep a little after 9 AM for about 40 minutes and missed the TV coverage of it hitting NY.

After Irene passed, however, winds picked up fast and were present throughout! We definitely had higher winds in our area after the hurricane! In our backyard, branches fell off and fences were broken... but again, damage was very minimal compared to what could have been!

As I mentioned before, my biggest worry was power outage -- while the lights flickered on and off, our power stayed on!

It's funny and sad at the same time how many people were disappointed that Hurricane Irene wasn't as powerful as anticipated and that it weakened. As someone pointed out on Twitter, only would NY-ers be disappointed that a hurricane didn't hit them and cause damage instead of realizing how fortunate they are.

Crazy lightning and thunderstorm, earthquake, hurricane irene and tornado watches all in the span of a few days -- am I the only one ready for a peaceful rest of the year? Not to mention two blizzards this past winter plus and a very hot and humid summer.

The snow, I don't mind of course! :) Give me a snow storm any day!

P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.

Prepping for Hurricane Irene

Tweet

Non perishable food and bottled water has been bought. Flashlights are at arm's distance. Bags have been packed in case we need to evacuate. Cookies have been baked :)

Oh and rain and wind has picked up.

Are we ready? As ready as we'll ever be.

I'll take the crazy wind, rain, and possible flooding... I'm just hoping the power stays on!

Irene is supposed to hit us around 8 PM tonight, so let's see what happens. Praying for the best, and the safety of those effected by Hurricane Irene.

If your area is under the evacuation zones, LEAVE. Is it really worth the risk? I don't think so.

 P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.

Did You Feel It?

Tweet

"Did you feel it?" It's probably the number one question being asked along all of the east coast on the United States.

Living in New Jersey (or any part of the east cost), you don' really expect earthquakes.

Barring crazy thunderstorms (and your house being struck by lightning) and snow storms, we are fortunate enough to live in area that is rather safe from things like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes (that can cause damage/harm)... stuff like this just doesn't happen here!

The first time I felt it, I thought I was dizzy or something and the first thing I did was google "earthquake in central jersey" -- what can I say? I was born and raised in a tech-savvy era! When I felt it for a second time, I knew I wasn't imagining it.

Fortunately there was no major damage and even better -- no major injuries!

Where were you when the earthquake hit? Did you feel it?

By the way, if you felt the earthquake, you can check how intense the earthquake hit your area by clicking here!


 P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.

Domestic Violence Transcends All Racial Boundaries

Tweet

Domestic violence transcends all racial boundaries.

It's proven time and again.

I haven't been able to get the unfortunate news out of my mind all week. A fellow Pakistani female murdered. At the hands of her husband. Right here in New Jersey!

Not just because I, too, was born in Pakistan. Or that I am a female. But as a human.

Nazish Noorani, a young mom of two small children, was killed after her husband meticulously planned her murder with another woman.

There are so many disgusting aspects of this story --

• the husband has been living a life of a lie (lying about his educational history, for example, while carrying on numerous affairs)
• to murder a woman in front of her child
• to meticulously PLAN this murder... down to the expected police response time.
• to make up a story and try to blame it as a hate crime.

It's absolutely heart-wrenching.

According to Futures Without Violence, on average more than three women a day are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the United States. Yet, according to National Coalition Againts Domestic Violence, domestic violence is one of the most chronically under-reported crimes. Most cases aren't ever reported to the police!

WHEN, as a society, are we going to stand up for the matters that matter? HOW does someone decide to take away someone else's life? WHO gives them such a right?

How many domestic violence cases is it going for us to say enough is enough?  Too many, in my opinion.

Soon enough, the media attention on this case will diminish. But these young children, like many others, will still be left motherless.

If you see something, say something! You could be saving a life!

Friends and family of Nazish have set up a memorial fund for her two children, and if you are interested you can click here.


P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.