Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath. Backyard Summertime in New Jersey.
A Montgomery Township maintenance crew arrived in the morning to begin clearing out some of the cut logs and brush from the two downed Oak trees. Before they got here some folks with pickup trucks had been picking up a few of the logs for firewood. The Township crew removed the stuff next to the rock wall on the other side of Grandview road. They told me they would be back to collect the stuff on my side of the street but needed to leave so PSE&G and the phone companies could work on the remaining downed lines.
Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath Day 4. Rock Wall on the other side of Grandview Road. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath Day 4. Montgomery Township clearing the downed trees and debris on Grandview Road. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath Day 4. East downed Oak tree resting on rock wall. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath Day 4. East downed Oak tree resting on rock wall. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Daily Electric Energy Used (51.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (28.4 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. A deficit of 23.4 kWh.
Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath and Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.
Last night I slept in a dark house with the windows open. It was silent in the house, but you could hear several of the neighbors generators running all night. Power from PSE&G remained off all day. Even though I have solar panels, I can’t used them for safety reasons when the external power is off. By mid-afternoon there was a puddle of water under the fridge/freezer. I don’t know how much food I will lose. I am able to continue working with my computer since the Range Rover can be setup as a WiFi hotspot and has 115 VAC outlets.
In the morning two crews from National Tree Service arrived to clear the two downed Oak trees blocking my driveway and Grandview Road. They worked until mid-afternoon. The cut up sections of the tree were pushed to the side of the road and into my front yard. I set up my Garmin VIRB-360 camera to record the activity. The following nearly 6 minute time-lapse video was extracted from the 8483 images.
After the trees were cleared I took another set of images to create a “blue sky” Little Planet view of the front yard. As well as the remains of the trees, brush, and rock wall that will ultimately need to be cleaned up.
Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath. Little Planet View of my Front Yard after the Tree Crews Cleared the Downed Oak Trees. Composite of 27 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Individual images used to create the above Little Planet view. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Views after the Tree Crews Cleared the Two Downed Oak Trees — East Oak Tree, West Oak Tree, Neighbor’s Rock Wall on the other side of Grandview Road. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.Tropical Storm Isaias Aftermath Day 2 — Post Tree Clearing. Rock Wall on the other side of Grandview Road. Composite of 4 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Even thought the power was off, I still could set the camera up to monitor the patio birdfeeders: Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Thrasher, American Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and Northern Cardinal.
Afternoon at the Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
During the night the clouds were moving fast. The first heavy rain squall passed through about 05:15. It started raining again at 09:00 with heavy bands at 11:15 and 11:45. The weather station reported 3.19″ of rain up to the time it stopped collecting data. The wind started increasing at 09:00 with sustained winds of 18 mph and gusts of 34 mph. Power to the house failed at 11:06. The weather station continued to report data until 13:25 via WiFi when the UPS for the network went offline. By the time the weather station stopped collecting data the relative barometric pressure dropped from 30.0″ to 29.4″
I reported the power failure to PSE&G online at 11:21 and was told it would be restored by 18:00 the next day. I could hear several of the neighbors generator running. A neighbor texted me that live power lines were down and arcing in the street in front of my house. I took some pictures from my front door, and the back door of the garage. Even though it was still raining the arcing 10 kV power lines started to burn the asphalt. It took a while until the power company de-energized the lines. After the lines were de-energized I went to check out the damage. The two large oak trees at the head of my driveway had fallen. The oak tree on the east side of the driveway broke above ground and fell onto my rock wall and crossed the street ultimately landing on the rock wall on the other side of the street. The tree missed my mailbox with the troll that lights up at night, but did block my driveway and the street. The oak on the west side of the driveway fell while pulling the root ball out of the ground. These were two of the largest trees in my yard.
Downed Power Lines Electical Fire on Grandview Road in front of my House. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Little Planet View of my front yard after Tropical Storm Isaias. Composite of 22 images taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Individual images used to create the Little Planet view of my Front Yard after Tropical Storm Isaias. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Front yard after Tropical Storm Isaias. Montgomery Township Volunteer Fire Company, District 1, Car 46. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Front yard after Tropical Storm Isaias. West side side oak tree across Grandview Road, composite of 4 images. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
East Side Downed Oak Tree; West Side Downed Oak Tree; Downed Power Lines Damage to Grandview Road. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
My workhorse telephoto zoom 70-300 mm VR lens for the Nikon 1 camera has been acting up. Unfortunately, Nikon discontinued both the mirrorless Nikon 1 cameras and lenses. This lens on the Nikon 1 camera has the field of view equivalent to 189-810 mm on a full frame 35 mm camera sensor. I found a Japanese vendor online that had a 70-300 mm lens listed as practically new for sale. It was a bit more than I paid for the original 70-300 lens, but I felt that I needed the backup in case the original lens failed. The shipment got caught up in customs and I had to pay additional duty because of a tariff on Japanese goods. Thanks twitterer-in-chief for increasing the taxes I have to pay. Many folks don’t understand that it is the US consumer, not the foreign company that needs to pay these extra taxes. Vent over.
I went for an afternoon backyard walkabout with the N1V3 camera and new lens. Harvey the rabbit was out munching on the grass that needs to be cut. It appears that the recent Vultures left the skeleton of a small animal roadkill in the yard. Even though the majority of wildflowers are beginning to die off due to the excess heat, the more hearty Larkspur, Thistle, and Lance-leaf Coreopsis are providing nectar for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies and Clearwing Hummingbird moths.
Harvey the Rabbit. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Larkspur. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Dark morph of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Clearwing Hummingbird Moth. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Robber Fly. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Daily Electric Energy Used (58.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (71.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Lots of sun. A surplus of 13.1 kWh.
Morning at the Birdfeeders: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, American Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow, and Northern Cardinal.
Morning at the Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Afternoon at the Birdfeeders: Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, House Finch, American Goldfinch, and Northern Cardinal.
Afternoon at the Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (71.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (77.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. More sun. A surplus of 6.2 kWh. .
