I'm baaack! Never lost power, but did lose phone/DSL until tonight. Some burlap blew off the berries/garden but everything else intact. Lost 1 birch and 2 hemlocks, haven't checked the orchard since I have to walk through woods to get there and was alone. Apple trees really old and need severe pruning, might be better just to plant new anyway (though I understand they don't grow well in old orchards so maybe graft?).

Shoreline damage extensive here - I have a fellow woman farmer who runs a nonprofit urban farm in New Haven, haven't heard from her, afraid it might be really bad. I know there are vineyards in Stonington CT, farms along the shore (again, women farmers network, people I know) I'm afraid might be hard hit but no power or communications capability there so it might be a while b4 we know anything.

Inland CT was hit much harder last year both with flooding from Irene and building collapses during Oct snowstorm, I think except for shoreline we'll find farms made out OK in Sandy.

Residential/commercial property all along the coast (Long Island Sound) damages are easily several million though. About 1/3 of the state still w/o power. But CT didn't get hit nearly as hard as NJ (and NYC) did.

Glad you're ok.

Thanks for checking in and I am happy you were not knocked out by this

Sheila, how close are you to Trumball? I have relatives there, and haven't heard anything since Sandy hit.

I'm about 60 miles north. Trumbull is close to the shore, but not *on* the shore, and I don't see that schools are still closed there so suspect damage isn't too bad.

One small area of the state is on a different power grid, they're still out (they had to de-energize 2 substations in Bridgeport before they flooded and I think they're still trying to clear underground vaults), so I'm sure that's why you haven't heard. I have no idea which phone system they might be on (AT&T landline, or something through their cable TV provider), that could also be down. Maybe the schools are on generators. Sorry I couldn't be more help, here's some info from NBC CT:

Have you tried emailing or cell phones? Shelters have charging stations and if library is open they usually have computers with Internet access (maybe not right now?) so if they log on and see email from you I'm sure they'll reply. I don't see a shelter set up (go to NBC site and search "shelters") in Trumbull, so maybe that's a really good sign?

Hope you hear from them soon.

Here is a link that might be useful: NBC CT news website

Thanks for checking, sometimes someone closer can find out more. I don't want to overload their systems, but I've been checking her facebook account, no word yet. You know, bad news travels fast, so I'm glad NOT to hear. I'm sure that he's online (works in NYC, some bigshot)but he might not be at home. When 9/11 hit, he was gone for 2 weeks, due to working very near.

Marla - email me his name and address, I'll try to find out more for you. Even if I can't get in touch, maybe I can find someone who knows the neighborhood and can tell us how bad the damage was.

Got in touch. no damage, but still without utility power. They have a generator at least. I'm sure their sons are having a blast (for awhile) 'camping'.