According to an e-mail sent this afternoon by interim Town Administrator David Dolce, a meeting to review Portsmouth's response to Hurricane Irene "is already being planned."

Dolce's e-mail was in response to a note sent to the Town Council by resident Doug Smith — which cc'd hard deadlines — asking for a "lessons learned" session and the opportunity for public input. "Now is the ideal time to do a post-mortem of the town's response to the storm and to get us better prepared for the next one," Smith said in his e-mail.

I'll post details as they develop.

Full disclosure: I live in the Island Park section of Portsmouth and was the subject of a mandatory evacuation order that I learned about on Facebook.

The storm is over, the power is back on (at least for Island Park — our thoughts are with the folks throughout Portsmouth and the Northeast still struggling) and the Sakonnet is back where it's supposed to be.

Saw this coming down into the Park tonight and just wanted to share a moment of gratitude for what we have and all the people who make it possible. Especially the public safety workers like the Portsmouth Fire and Police who kept us safe over the weekend, the Red Cross volunteers who pitched in at emergency shelters, and the National Grid and other utility workers who put the jigsaw puzzle back together today.

Thank you.

Power still out across Portsmouth. While Park Ave remains impassible, the back route up Riverside to Cove is still clear, and a drive around town showed that, at least based on what was visible from East Main Road, damage seemed to be relatively light.

Okay, I'm guessing that the owners of the sailboat that fetched up on the beach at Island Park would disagree.

There are leaves and many small branches down, with an occasional branch taking out one lane of EMR, including a spot by Glen Park where a tree hpad come down across utility poles on the northbound lane, blocked now by crews in a bucket truck.

Heavy wind and rain in Island Park — lost power for a couple of minutes — shot this from Gormley and Park Ave, where the water is ankle-deep and waves are crashing over the seawall. There's a Portsmouth police car stationed down Park Ave — you can see the flashers in the center of the video — to keep people from driving through the flooded section.

Big jump in wind velocity here in Island Park, and the with high tide, water is now coming through and over the seawall and beginning to flood Park Ave.

Only sporadic bursts of rain so far in Portsmouth, but the wind has pushed the Sakonnet River right up to the Island Park seawall, and waves are crashing over near the intersection of Boyd's Lane.

Elsewhere, the streets are still calm. There are a lot of leaves down, and one tree branch blocking the eastbound exit ramp from Rt. 24 to Boyd's Lane, but generally the streets are clear. Power is still on in Island Park, and there was a small group of residents and sightseers on Park Ave to watch the waves.

Island Park, nominally under a "mandatory" evacuation, showed little evidence tonight that people were taking the town's edict seriously — or that it was being enforced.

A drive through the streets around Flo's found many houses with lights on and TVs running (and at least one party loud enough to be heard a block away). Down at the seawall, a group of young men in bathing suits were taking a late night dip.

If anyone asks why I'm here tonight, I'll wave my press credentials. But I'm not expecting a knock on the door.

The Portsmouth evacuation center at the Middle School was nearly empty when we stopped by to check; the official count was three people.

"We can accommodate 350," said shelter manager Charlie Fitzpatrick. "We'll be open all night through at least 8am Monday." He urged residents who might need shelter not to wait too long. "The sooner, the better," he said. "And bring a book or something to do -- it can get boring."

Portsmouth school committee member Thomas Vadney was also volunteering at the shelter. "I've been here since about noon," he said. Also there when we stopped by were State Rep Dan Reilly (R-72) and Town Council member Judi Staven.

Staven was sure that the shelter would be filling up later. "When the wind whips up, they'll start coming in."

The latest update from the National Hurricane Center has Irene packing winds of 80mph and forecast to move up the coast slightly faster.

We've moved our HQ to a spacious room at the Middletown Howard Johnsons, at 170 feet above sea level. Ran into one of our Island Park neighbors while we were checking in, who summed up the situation perfectly: "I don't want to be the person on my roof on the six o'clock news."

I'll be back and forth checking on the situation around town, but it's reassuring to know that Karen and Jack have a safe place to sleep. Hope you all have the same.