Hurricane Sandy

[Amy Jeanne]

Don't forget to FILL YOUR BATHTUBS if you have one! In case you lose power you can still flush the toilet!! Important, but often overlooked.

I cursed our building by saying "we never lose power here" so now all my neighbours are convinced we will. So we've already planned a power-outage party.

 

[Atticus Finch]

The following is from Dr. Jeff Masters' blog this morning. I hope he doesn't mind me reproducing it here. I'm guessing he would like to get this message out in any way and as quickly as he can.

Massive and dangerous Hurricane Sandy has grown to record size as it barrels northeastwards along the North Carolina coast at 10 mph. At 8 am EDT, Sandy's tropical storm-force winds extended northeastwards 520 miles from the center, and twelve-foot high seas covered a diameter of ocean 1,030 miles across. Since records of storm size began in 1988, only one tropical storm or hurricane has been larger--Tropical Storm Olga of 2001, which had a 690 mile radius of tropical storm-force winds when it was near Bermuda. Sandy has put an colossal volume of ocean water in motion with its widespread and powerful winds, and the hurricane's massive storm surge is already impacting the coast. A 2' storm surge has been recorded at numerous locations this morning from Virginia to Connecticut, including a 3' surge at Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and Sewells Point at 9 am EDT. Huge, 10 - 15 foot-high battering waves on top of the storm surge have washed over Highway 12 connecting North Carolina's Outer Banks to the mainland at South Nags Head this morning. The highway is now impassable, and has been closed. The coast guard station on Cape Hatteras, NC, recorded sustained winds of 50 mph, gusting to 61 mph, at 5:53 am EDT this morning. In Delaware, the coastal highway Route 1 between Dewey Beach and Bethany Beach has been closed due to high water. Even though Sandy is a minimal Category 1 hurricane, its storm surge is extremely dangerous, and if you are in a low-lying area that is asked to evacuate, I strongly recommend that you leave.

AF

 

[HoosierDaddy]

AF
Will you be safe at home? Any high water there? Power outage?
HD

 

[Atticus Finch]

AF
Will you be safe at home? Any high water there? Power outage?
HD

Thanks HD, we're good. Sandy passed well to the east of us. We got about three inches of rain and some 40 MPH wind gusts, but that's about it. About the same as we get in a bad summer thunderstorm. But the river is up a bit from Sandy's huge wind field pushing water up the Pamlico Sound.

AF

 

[kamikat]

I just found out that our schools are closed Monday and Tuesday. I'm not sure I believe the hype but having been here through Isabel and living with a husband who spent most of his youth in South Florida, we are well prepared. The power company that supplies my county as well as DC proper is known to be the worst in the nation for reliability. We typically loose power for 4+ days during any major rain or snow storm. It happens at least twice a year. We'll do ok. I do worry about my sister and her family, as they live right on the Chesapeake Bay and had major flooding during Irene.

 

[countryclubjoe]

Raining very hard here in my area, 20 minutes west of AC NJ.

I'm not optimistic about this storm. It looks like Mother Nature is mad about something.

Hang tough folks.

CCJ

 

[scottyrocks]

I just finished battening down the hatches, and have everything about as ready as I can, except for a generator which I said I was going to buy after Irene last year but never did.

We live on the south shore of Long Island with the Jones Beach barrier islands south of us. We have water a block away on opposite sides. During Irene, water came up the block but didn't quite get to us. Sandy is supposed to be about twice as long and twice as bad. I hope we don't get flooded. And hopefully the wind doesn't knock out the power. As I said, no generator. But I bought a bunch of non-perishables just in case. We have batteries, flashlights, and each other. It'll have to do.

 

[KilroyCD]

The 5pm update from the National Hurricane Center has the center of Sandy (aka "Frankenstorm") looking like it's going to track straight over my neck of the woods once it comes inland.
I don't have warm and fuzzy feelings about this one...

 

[Atticus Finch]

The big issue with this storm will be surge. Sandy's size, the amount of ocean water she's already piled up in front of her, the concave shape of the New Jersey and New York coasts and the angle at which she is approaching those coasts...are all discomforting.

AF

 

[m0nk]

They're saying that the eye will head right for us and hang out for a while... should be interesting. Hope everyone else on the board that may be in the path is safe and well supplied!

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Philadelphia public transportation has been shut down. Nothing here yet but some rain and winds. Nothing crazy, though. My work has a delayed 9:30am opening tomorrow.

 

[TraditionalFrog]

This thing is a monster! I'm in Indianapolis and the local NWS office issued a high wind advisory from tonight through Tuesday evening. First time I recall Indy being affected by a hurricane in any way. Also The Weather Channel puts Indy in the "possible" area for power outages.

Again, hope everyone stays safe, warm, and dry!

 

[Quigley Brown]

I don't have to work today....even though I live just seven blocks away. I work for state transportation and they cancelled everything for the day.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I am worried about NYC.

Any reports from NYers?

 

[kiwilrdg]

Be careful in Northern areas. Do not get a false sense of security based on the weather now. It is way off the coast and we are getting a fair amount of storm in NC and coastal VA. When it hits you will get a lot more than us.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

https://twitter.com/coreykilgannon/...262893342113800192&tw_e=media&tw_p=tweetembed

 

[kamikat]

The wind has definitely picked up, as has the rain. The dogs were not happy about going outside this morning. For the DC area, they are excepting it to really intesify around 3pm.

 

[Delthayre]

I'm a Commonwealth employee who didn't bother to look into whether the offices were closed today. I guess that I should have known when the traffic, foot and automobile, was markedly less than usual. My department head was quite surprised to see me! Fortunately, I live only half a mile from where I work, so it was a short walk home.

It's with an overcast sky, but nothing drastic has happened here in Harrisburg. I'm reassured that according to the city's flood maps, even in the event of a thirty foot flood, the waters shouldn't come anywhere near me. Poor Shipoke would be drowned, but it always is.

 

[kamikat]

 

[kamikat]

Here is a side by side comparison of Irene and Sandy
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203880704578084772419442066.html?mod=wsj_share_twitter