Hurricane Irene	Saturday, August 27th, 2011

The fact that the original Yorktown windmill was lost in the face of a tornado (presumably the product of a tropical cyclone) gave all of us pause as Hurricane Irene approached the east coast. With only hours to spare, we made our final preparations.

All of the gears and components that had been stored outside under tarps were rolled into the workshop. The wallower which hadn't been installed yet, was moved into a corner in the living room. With minutes left, all of the trees in the back yard were tied together with 1/2" nylon rope in a configuration that would cause them to fall away from the body of the mill.

With everything buttoned up... we began the wait.

By late afternoon on Saturday, the winds began to rise and the tide rushed in from the York River. The waters rose... past the street... across the yard... under the porch.

Alas, though, by midnight the winds and water subsided and the windmill was left unscathed --- not a shingle out of place. In fact, she had been the beneficiary of a good pressure washing.

A few photos of the event are shown below.