Spaghetti state of emergency...and anyone know how to bail out a basement?

Motto of my life: Things could always be worse. That definitely held true for Hurricane Irene.



We escaped Friday afternoon and headed to a friend's place upstate. Things weren't that bad here, though we were driving around today and there was major flooding and downed power lines (pictures coming soon).



Meanwhile, our street flooded. My neighbor peeked in a window and said there's about a foot of water in our basement. Also, no power. Also, no water. Good times!



But, everyone is safe. No major trees fell, and we have a whole lot of big old trees in our 'hood. And we should be able to get home tomorrow and retrieve Max's refrigerated medication.



Hope any of you who were in the obnoxious Irene's path are doing OK.



Not sure yet how we'll handle Max's spaghetti supply. Our grill has a little burner, that could work. You know I so have my priorities straight to worry about this.



Meanwhile, call in to fire department to see if they can help bail us out.



We've had minor floods before; the last time, Dave stayed up most of the night and with the help of some old towels and a wet vac, he kept most of the water at bay. My hero. But the wet vac's just not going to cut it this time around.



Any of you ever bail out a basement? And just how much fun was it, exactly?