Hurricane Sandy

[Easy Bakes 253]

every one in the DC/VA area

good luck those storms are about to collide.

[Msprintz 25]

Might want to wish every one of us here in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast luck as well, this isn't just a DC/VA storm. In fact the effects are going to be felt all the way to Canada and west to about the Mississippi in terms of winds and rains. This is a historic storm, and an unusual storm in terms of impact and track.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Luck to every one affected.

[Jazzmaster 716]

Seems it's gotten stronger. Wasn't expecting that.

Being a Floridian who has ridden out many storms and some more violent than this, I'm still somewhat of the attitude that "it's not a big deal until my living room is a marsh and my roof no longer exists". But selfish light attitude aside, I hope everyone in the path of it is alright.

  Edited October 29, 2012 by The Jazzmaster  

[Sgt Pepper 864]

Being from the South and Louisiana specifically I've dealt with quite a few hurricanes, but I really think most of the people in those areas are over-dramatizing this hurricane. I mean no offense of course, but it doesn't seem like it'll be that big of a deal. Ya'll be okay.

Storms come and go, seriously, ya'll will be alright.

  Edited October 29, 2012 by Sgt Pepper  

[Haljackey 17,403]

What's crazy is that cities on the Great Lakes are expecting storm surges... something they're totally unprepared for. Severe flooding and erosion is predicted to stretch from Lake Ontario to the south shores of Lake Michigan.

Also a crazy fact: this storm is now over 1,000,000km², larger than the entire province of Ontario.

Hopefully NY and other coastal US cities don't get nearly as much damage as predicted. If the road tunnels and subways of NYC get flooded with seawater that would make for a nasty clean-up.

EDIT: Current radar for the storm. If I put cloud cover on pretty much the entire map would be covered.

-The Red dot is where I am

  Edited October 29, 2012 by Haljackey  

[Duke87 1,070]

Indeed, a nasty secret no one talks about much is that the electric infrastructure in the underwater tunnels of the NYC subway is so old and fragile that if any of the tunnels were to flood with seawater, it would be out of commission for months - all the wiring would need to be rebuilt from scratch.

The MTA shut down all transit service last night in anticipation of the storm (as they did last year for Irene). So, I'm at home today and tomorrow. In theory I am supposed to be working from home, but there isn't much to do with everything shut down for the storm, so I'm back and forth between work and personal laptops here.

As of right now in NYC it's a bit blustery but the rains haven't come yet. The center of the storm will be coming on land later tonight somewhere near Atlantic City or Cape May, NJ

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Noon Monday - Latest take from CBC.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/10/29/new-york-hurricane-sandy-weather.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/10/29/canada-hurricane-sandy-frankenstorm.html

And this billet doux from the Weather Network for my micro-area.

"

Summary

Severe winds of 60 gusting up to 100 km/h beginning this evening. This is a warning that potentially hazardous winds are expected in these regions. Monitor weather conditions and listen for updated statements.

Details

Hurricane Sandy is forecast to track from the Atlantic ocean into the New Jersey shoreline this evening as it transitions into a strong post-tropical storm. Over parts of Southern Ontario, north to northeast winds associated with this storm will increase to 40 gusting to 60 km/h today, then intensify further this evening to 60 gusting at times to 90 km/h. Winds may be even stronger in the Niagara and Sarnia regions, as well as over areas of higher terrain, where gusts over 100 km/h are possible. Winds of this strength can break tree limbs and even knock over weak or shallow rooted trees. Some power outages are likely should any limbs or trees fall across power lines. The winds will begin to ease below warning criteria on Tuesday morning.

"

[un1 41]

So after a rather "blustery" night in the northeast, it would appear that most of the damage has been done. Lower Manhattan experienced record storm surge and has been flooded, and a bunch of New Jersey cities have also been completely flooded. Of course, these are night time reports and we will have a better idea tomorrow in the morning. Although it would appear that for now Duke's concern about the subway lines being flooded has come true. It seems the situation is grim. It would also appear that the fatalities will exceed 80-100. With 67 being confirmed in the Caribbean and so far 11 being confirmed in the United States, 6 of those in NYC.

Won't go into much detail on the damage although I would like to point out the significance of this storm. A storm like this, honestly, is something I would never expect to see in my lifetime. It's rare enough to get a strong storm like this north of the Caribbean, but Sandy was nearly a category 2 hurricane at landfall (with pressure and size nearing category 4 strength). Conditions were absolutely insane for this to happen. So in direct response to Sgt Pepper, no way this was overhyped. This thing was almost automatically going to be way worse than anything Louisiana has seen since Rita in 2005.

I wish the people of the NEUS the best of luck while rebuilding!

Sandy at peak windspeed right before landfall on Cuba.

Sandy at lowest pressure (940mb, lowest out of any hurricane this year) right before landfall on New Jersey.

[hym 358]

Won't go into much detail on the damage although I would like to point out the significance of this storm. A storm like this, honestly, is something I would never expect to see in my lifetime. It's rare enough to get a strong storm like this north of the Caribbean, but Sandy was nearly a category 2 hurricane at landfall (with pressure and size nearing category 4 strength). Conditions were absolutely insane for this to happen. So in direct response to Sgt Pepper, no way this was overhyped. This thing was almost automatically going to be way worse than anything Louisiana has seen since Rita in 2005.

To listen to the Weather Channel talk about Sandy, this hurricane was the 4th horseman of the apocalypse, so until I start hearing that Manhattan has been destroyed and millions are dead, Sandy was overhyped. (Not that I'm hoping to hear reports like that.) Sandy may have been one of the more significant hurricanes to hit the US, but the news agencies were freaking out over it. (Probably because a hurricane matters more to you when it's threatening to take out your place of residence.)

[Duke87 1,070]

The pictures from New York are not pretty. A storm surge of nearly 14 feet was recorded at the Battery at high tide last night. Seven subway tunnels flooded, along with the Battery and Queens-Midtown tunnels. All of Manhattan south of 36th Street went dark at about 7-8 PM due to a combination of Con Ed shutting off power to protect equipment and what appears to have been a transformer explosion at the power plant at 14th Street. A couple of hospitals in the city had to be evacuated because flooding prevented their backup generators from starting. A building facade on 8th Avenue and a crane on 57th Street collapsed. And a five-alarm fire burned out of control in Breezy Point, Queens (possibly still burning as I type this).

I can report, at least, that in my apartment the lights are on and everything is intact.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Power was out here for about 12 hours. Who'da thunk it, this far inland?

CBC on U.S. situation.

I don't think it was over hyped. Its not over yet.

CBC on Canadian situation.

Winds are less now, but were quite steady overnight.

[Jazzmaster 716]

Won't go into much detail on the damage although I would like to point out the significance of this storm. A storm like this, honestly, is something I would never expect to see in my lifetime. It's rare enough to get a strong storm like this north of the Caribbean, but Sandy was nearly a category 2 hurricane at landfall (with pressure and size nearing category 4 strength). Conditions were absolutely insane for this to happen. So in direct response to Sgt Pepper, no way this was overhyped. This thing was almost automatically going to be way worse than anything Louisiana has seen since Rita in 2005.

To listen to the Weather Channel talk about Sandy, this hurricane was the 4th horseman of the apocalypse, so until I start hearing that Manhattan has been destroyed and millions are dead, Sandy was overhyped. (Not that I'm hoping to hear reports like that.) Sandy may have been one of the more significant hurricanes to hit the US, but the news agencies were freaking out over it. (Probably because a hurricane matters more to you when it's threatening to take out your place of residence.)

Kind of a big deal, kind of not.

For that area of the country it's pretty significant, but if you live on the Gulf Coast where major hurricanes stare you down quite often, a category one storm just seems like another rainy, windy day.

What I find ironic is everyone was talking about how horrible of an idea it was to build a city below sea level (it is dangerous spot, don't get me wrong), as if they're so safe and secure. I think this weather event has demonstrated that nowhere is safe from nature's wrath, be it powerful enough. If this had been a strong cat 2 or greater then the largest city in the US, and the massive corridor of people it sits on, would be pretty screwed.

  Edited October 30, 2012 by The Jazzmaster  

[Silur 3,309]

All of us are there now, with a people on East American Coast ... Be careful and waiting a peaceful and lightly heating sun ...

  Edited October 30, 2012 by Silur  

[un1 41]

102 people confirmed dead (was at 67 before landfall on New Jersey). Deadliest atlantic hurricane since 2010. Initial damage reports suggest at least $20 billion in damage, but some go upwards of $50 billion. For the record, the 5th costliest atlantic hurricane of all time is Irene, at $19 billion in damages. The costliest is Katrina at $100 billion in damages and second costliest is Ike at $37 billion. This seems to have a shot at beating Ike for second place in damage totals for the Atlantic basin.

[Silur 3,309]

Hi, un1 - we must talk about people only - not about money ...

Two words about people in Your letter and 200 about money - ???

  Edited October 30, 2012 by Silur  

[Duke87 1,070]

The loss of life that these storms cause is relatively small. The fact that 100 people died is sad, but consider that tens of millions of people live in the path of this storm. For the vast majority of us, the economic damages are more personal. Millions are without power. New York City will take days if not weeks to get fully back up to speed since parts of our subway system were wrecked. People have lost homes, businesses, and all sorts of property to the storm. THANKFULLY that's all they lost! Be glad that most of the damage is to property. That means that people were able to stay safe.

[hym 358]

Hi, un1 - we must talk about people only - not about money ...

Two words about people in Your letter and 200 about money - ???

There are many different ways to measure the severity of a hurricane. Death toll is one of those measures. Financial damages are another, equally valid and necessary, measure of a storm's intensity. (The financial damages of hurricane Ike are part of the justification for a proposed multi-billion dollar project known as the "Ike Dike.")

[Jazzmaster 716]

^ When people die, it's very sad, because their lives can not be replaced. However, other things, such as property, can be replaced, so it is very much in our best interests to assess just how much work needs to be done to clean up any mess.

[Silur 3,309]

Child - Woman - Man = Only this is a Real ...

Money = is Zero ...

  Edited October 30, 2012 by Silur  

[un1 41]

Hi, un1 - we must talk about people only - not about money ...

Two words about people in Your letter and 200 about money - ???

In this situation damage describes the severity of the storm much better than death toll. It's sadly true that storms regularly cause 100s of deaths globally every year. However, it's very rare for a storm to cause more than $10 billion in damages though.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

My friends in NJ are without power and are updating their facebook statuses from malls. A friend of a friend exclaimed that the photos look like they came from The Day After Tomorrow and my friend (who posted the status) said that this was no work of any director.

--Ocram

[Silur 3,309]

" Without power" - but with life ...

[Meg 368]

I was without power for 17 hours and without tv or internet access for another 4 hours beyond that. Damage in my area seems to consist of a few downed tree branches and some ripped siding. No structural damage or flooding. The local newscasters are calling it "a glancing blow".

This picture looks like something from a movie; the water breaching the NY subway system

I was listening to the radio while my power was out. One station called it "a post tropical cyclone mixed with a winter storm"

[Silur 3,309]

_{Hi, Meg ...}

_{You're here - and this is OK !!!}

[Easy Bakes 253]

I was without power for 17 hours and without tv or internet access for another 4 hours beyond that. Damage in my area seems to consist of a few downed tree branches and some ripped siding. No structural damage or flooding. The local newscasters are calling it "a glancing blow".

This picture looks like something from a movie; the water breaching the NY subway system

I was listening to the radio while my power was out. One station called it "a post tropical cyclone mixed with a winter storm"

Glad to hear your ok.

[Meg 368]

Thank you. I'm good.

I even saved the food in my freezer. The goofy trick worked: Get cheap plastic snap-lid food storage containers. Fill with cheap dish washing liquid. The stuff freezes into a brick. Arrange the freezer so it is packed solid, with the containers mixed among the food. So, when the power goes out, the food is next to a frozen brick.

My ice cubes had not melted so I figure that no significant melting occurred.

[Easy Bakes 253]

And now you have some frozen dish washing soap too.

[Meg 368]

I'm just going to leave it there until I need the space. Maybe it will give the freezer motor a break.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Just dont confuse the soap with the soup.