South Orange Remembers Irene

A year ago, blow through town. Even days before, forecasters warned of Irene's power. South Orange residents took note; with the hurricane expected to hit late Friday into Saturday, many .

Resident on hurricane supplies, and, by Saturday, Eden Gourmet's of many basics.

and rescheduled weekend orientation, advising on-campus students to stay in their residence halls for the duration.

When the storm came, , some , basements filled, and some 60 trees came down around town.

Still, many residents said that the damage could have been worse, and by Sunday, .

Town officials did the same, and cleanup. South Orange reported no injuries due to the hurricane. 

While South Orange was soaked, and the , there were no reported injuries during the storm. 

Indeed, the South Orange community .  Locals appreciated the work of town employees, and their neighbors.  Readers wrote into Patch to laud those efforts:

Terrie Brodie, very grateful friend/neighbor, writes:  We were in ankle deep water in our basement on Sunday morning with no power.  Our friend Henry Sands came right over and helped us bail out for 3+ hours.  The Sands also lent freezer space to save our food.  Many others also offered forms of assistance!  Love how we all pull together for each other!

Anne B. writes: Happy Audley resident here. Thanks for the power, hot coffee, wine and sympathy to ALL of my friends on the street!!!

Tell everyone at Morrow Church that we appreciate that they made themselves available for pastoral counsel over the weekend, and then went ahead with Vacation Bible Camp yesterday. It did a world of good to know we could call and then to be able to get our little ones back to some sense of normal yesterday -- even without power and water in the house.  Bless you!  Jennifer G.

Most memorably, the Audley Street contingent gave a helping hand and power to Kendall neighbors. When one side of the street had power, and looped them across the street to share their juice. 

And for those who plan to , Kim Collins shows us how!