Looks like no one in my department lost power, but our VP did.

It's also the first time a hurricane eye has come ashore in NJ since 1821, which is quite a record in itself.

My sil posted on facebook that in Baltimore she and my brother have power and are safe and dry and that my niece - who is in lower Manhattan has no power but is, so far, safe.

I am very relieved.

Now I need to hear from my PA and upstate NY folks.

I also have cousins in south Jersey. I'm worried about them but not usually in touch with them.

Our power is still back up, and we don't seem to have any damage. Our cable is actually working, which is shocking. It usually goes out if there is any rain at all. TCG doesn't have to be at work until noon.

Kat, how awful. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to evacuate a NICU.

I'm guessing my NJ and PA peeps are w/o power too:

Atlantic City Electric, which serves the biggest portion of South Jersey - from Gloucester County to Long Beach Island - was reporting about 188,000 outages this morning, with about 77,000 in Atlantic County, 53,000 in Ocean County.

Indeed, much of South Jersey took on an eerie feel early with large swaths of towns darkened. Streets were littered with downed trees, branches and utility lines. Many roads were closed. Street lights were out at various major intersections.

In southeastern Pa., the majority of the outages were in Bucks and Montgomery Counties. In Bucks, 185,000 were without power, 175,000 in Montgomery County, 86,000 in Delaware County, 74,000 in Chester County and 65,000 in Philadelphia.

They are in (respectively) Gloucester and Chester counties.

Yikes.

Also: Over 50 homes destroyed in fire.

Jesus.

I just saw a tweet that said Sandy has "killed more than a dozen people." You mean in addition to the 50+ in Haiti, more elsewhere in the Caribbean, right?

And I am simply stunned to still have power. Hoping it lasts. Afraid to voice anything more.

Yeah, that's how I felt, too, during Isaac.

And I think it was Juliebird that mentioned upthread about the terrorizing sound of the howling wind. I absolutely couldn't sleep for a few nights, listening to that wind and freaking out. Ugh.

Thinking of everyone!

Yeah, that fire is crazy. I hope most of the residents were elsewhere.

My sister called me in a panic at about midnight last night, which freaked me out because my bro and SIL are in the DC area. But it was another kind of environmental emergency: a raccoon in her trashcan.

First she couldn't go inside because she has to pass the bins in a narrow alley to get to her door and was afraid it was going to leap out at her. Then she realized it was trapped and it became a rescue mission. Then she realized it was a baby and it became a rescue mission with lots of cooing. Finally it got released and fled under the porch and now she's all consumed with worry about how it will reunite with the mama raccoon. @@

Have all the NYistas checked in? Just woke up and saw crazy on my television.