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PELHAM, N.Y. One Pelham and one Mount Vernon resident decided to enjoy the sunny skies Monday with their daughters after tropical storm Irene soaked the area for much of the weekend.
Maxine Helman, a longtime resident of Mount Vernon, and Ellen Payne, who has lived in Pelham for 16 years, sipped their beverages in the park at the corner of Wolfs Lane and First Street as their daughters played in the grass.
Payne said the two women took the girls out to enjoy the sunshine after they were stuck in the house throughout the hurricane.
"The kids were getting a little stir crazy at home," Payne said.
Payne's three-year-old daughter, Caitlin, played with Helman's two-year-old daughter, Gianna, while the adults chatted and kept an eye on them.
Helman said that the coverage of and preparation for the hurricane was necessary based on previous disasters.
"Everything that everybody had said did kind of come true," Helman said. "Because of everything that happened with Katrina, we had to be very prepared. I felt all the precaution was necessary."
Payne said that area residents were fortunate that the storm was not as bad as people expected. Payne said she did not lose power during the storm, though Helman said that her power cut out for a few moments and then turned back on.
After the gloomy weekend, the National Weather Service predicts mostly sunny or partly cloudy skies for the remainder of the week with the highest temperatures in the low 80s. Skies will be mostly cloudy Saturday night with a 30 percent chance of precipitation on Sunday.
Check our Hurricane Irene page for more coverage of the storm and its aftermath.
How are you enjoying the weather now that the storm has passed? Comment below, on our Facebook page or on Twitter @DailyPelham.
Contact Pelham reporter Andrew Meola at ameola@thedailypelham.com.
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