Hurricane Sandy...Is my yeast still Good??

I live five miles from the coast in central NJ. Hurricane Sandy knocked out power for 8 days for us. I have a vial of whitelabs american lager yeast that I was going to brew the week of the hurricane. I was stored in my fridge which was gen. powered. I obviously couldn't leave the genny running at night (those things grow legs at night!!!) so for a period of eight days the temp in the fridge would rise to 55 degrees by morning, and then cool again in the daytime with the genny running. I hate to throw it out, but I also hate to brew a lager only to find out 8 weeks later that it was in vain.......What to you think should I use it or chuck it?

Heat up some dme and let it cool. Add it to a jar with the yeast. Shake it or put it on a stir plate. If the color changes to light brown and you see tiny bubbles after three days then your yeast is good. You should be making a starter for lager yeast anyway. My guess is it is still good.

I'm up in rockland county ny. Definitely feeling for everyone down your way. I agree w the previous post of making a starter. You should be fine though- probably just lost a little viability with the temp swings.

I often have yeast that gets much warmer than 55 during shipping and never have any issues. Hope you and those you know made out ok after the storm!

Thanks very much, I appreciate it. Will try the starter.