Trees fell. Streets flooded. Homes went dark. Schools did not open on time.
To be sure, Hurricane Irene left its mark on Baltimore County. Anyone who mocks the storm's severity obviously lives both in a house where the lights stayed lit and on a street free of fallen trees and rising water.
Unlike the out-of-nowhere Aug. 23 earthquake, we saw this one coming. And those whose job it was to be prepared were up to the task.
The county had response teams primed for emergency action and opened a shelter in Essex. Baltimore Gas & Electric brought in contractors from as far away as Kentucky to clear storm damage and repair downed power lines. Even Towson University had a role, playing host to about 600 international student workers evacuated from Ocean City at the behest of the Maryland Emergency Management Agency.
Plenty of information was available and it came from many sources. Updates streamed from state and county websites and from radio broadcasts. Even with the power out, residents could stay in touch via mobile devices like the BlackBerry. You could even monitor the traffic on the Beltway.
No doubt the 5.8-magnitude earthquake that shook the Eastern seaboard Aug. 23 put people on higher alert for the hurricane that arrived just five days later. Two potentially dangerous natural phenomena in less than a week — people could be forgiven for wondering if a plague of locusts was next.
Was there too much pre-hurricane hype?
In post-Irene retrospect, the build-up of suspense as the hurricane churned toward us ever so slowly can be examined with some detachment.
But we think it would be a mistake to call it over-reaction. Prudent precaution is wise, not foolish.
In fact, if Baltimore County escaped the brunt of the storm, we have only the luck of geography to thank. The path taken by the tempest went to the east. We doubt if jokes about Hurricane Irene sit well with the folks in Ocean City.
Perhaps you have an extra flashlight now and some jugs of water under the sink. Keep them handy. Hurricane season is not over yet.