I'm back in Little Egg, safe and sound. Irene turned out to be a bit of a dud, at least in Jersey, as far as I know. There is indeed flooding here and there, but the horrors of Nature on the rampage seemed to have been overblown (heh, heh).
A quick rundown: Betty and I arrived up north on Saturday morning. Little traffic on 539. We had a nice chicken and pasta dinner and did this and that for the evening. Frank from next-door called me to ask about any problems; I called neighbors who stayed--most of Sunrise Bay did--and found out there were none--no problems, that is, not no neighbors (DOUBLE NEGATIVE SPOTTED!). Called Frank back to tell him; he and Barbara will be back today. Where were they? In North Carolina, but not near the storm.
Electricity went out at up north at 10:10 pm when I was already in bed. The homeowners being both smart and resourceful, had filled the bathtubs with water so we could flush the toilet and bought bottled water. It wasn't bad at all once the sun came up. Lots of rain and pretty strong winds on Saturday and Sunday morning and it will take a while for them to clean up the debris in the front and back yards, but no major problems.
Betty and I got in about 3:00 and I had no damage at all. She left shortly thereafter and there doesn't seem to be much of a problem at her place either. It's ironic that neither Betty's nor my power went out. However, Comcast--may they and all their ilk rot in hell--went out, so I had no telephone, computer, or T.V. until after I got back from exercise this morning. However, they said they would deduct from the bill.
Anyhow, the whole thing is over and, it seems to me, except for certain areas here and there--my nephew, Tim, has water in his basement in Vermont--it was a non-event.