Sandy the storm

[4774Papa]

Wishing all you in the North Eastern Atlantic coast of the US the best in weathering Sandy.

 

Post your Sandy news, while you still have power.

[Keith1010]

I also wish everyone who lives in the area or who is cruising or traveling to or from this area lots of safety.

 

Keith

[1luckylady]

Stay safe everyone!

[Langoustine]

So far (I'm in Midtown Manhattan) we're having a little rain and gusty winds. Lower Manhattan is expected to flood later tonight as the storm gets closer. Our power lines are underground, so we may or may not lose power, depending on how many transformers explode under the streets as the water floods them.

[JMC715]

Thank you all for the well wishes - I think we're going to need them.... Its been raining very hard here in central Maryland (Baltimore) all last night and this morning. The wind has been picking up all morning, but so far we still have power so I'll post this while I can. I think the worst is yet to come however - (why is it always at night ???)

 

I think most of the city is shut down, with schools, courts & governments all closed. I quickly made dinner this morning while I still had the stove available so at least we'll eat today...might be peanut butter and crackers though for the next week!

 

As bad as it is here, my best wishes to you guys on the coasts - NJ shore, Delaware & Md eastern shores, and in NYC & long Island. Hope everyone is safe and survives to sail again in calmer seas soon!

 

Janet

[KirkNC]

Amen.

[Langoustine]

Rain is picking up a little, wind definitely stronger, and we're still hours from Sandy's arrival and high tide. Flooding is increasing, and Con Ed is planning to preemptively shut off electricity to areas of lower Manhattan and areas along the Hudson and East rivers to prevent damage to underground lines and transformers. Biggest problem so far near where I am is the partial collapse of a construction crane on W. 57th Street (http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/29/us/new-york-crane-collapse/index.html) which could cause great damage if it hits the street or adjacent buildings. Meanwhile, some restaurants near me are still open and serving. They will probably be closing early tonight, though, because later the weather is going to get really unpleasant. A lot of places are closed in Manhattan only because with the subway shut down, their employees have no way to get in to work.

[mking8288]

It's nightfall - streets in the outer boroughs (counties) are quiet except at the waterfront in Zone A's with the news van/suv and curious onlookers. Wind has been whipping up occassionally all day but has picked up intensity as Sandy began turning & picking up speed. JFK reporting winds of 72 MPH now and as high as 88 MPH north of the city. Coastal flooding expected at its worst around 9 PM tonight for the south shores - including Lower Manhattan and around 1 PM for the north shores - should not be as bad 12 hours later with the next high tide, if the rising seas retreat and sewers do not drain/backflow into the streets.

 

Subway stations near Zone A are expected to be flooded once the seas rise above flood stage this evening - measures in place aren't expected to be enough & if switching equipments are damaged and/or utilities take preemptive measures to shut down the system - cleanup & recovery will take days if not weeks once it's restored & inspected for safety.

 

Power outage within the city are scattered thus far, and strangely enough, in all the outer boroughs only - Manhattan with its underground wires have been spared thus far. Link to real-time outage map that's updated as many of you outside our area will have continuous access to the link - http://apps.coned.com/stormcenter_external/default.html

 

Fios services still up & operational here, same for satellite TV signals which tend to fade out/in during bad weather. Some gas stations in/near Evacuation Zone A ran out gasoline yesterday and to supermarket shelves were emptied - google for Asian groceries in Chinatowns as they were open today & have the basics.

 

Mass transit in NYC remained shutdown tomorrow, public schools will stay closed - bridges and most tunnels are now shut down due to high wind, airports is open but most, if not all flights are cancelled thru Tuesday.

 

The next 8 hours is expected to the worst - home weather instruments showing barometric reading of 945 mb - the lowest ever and a new record for NYC. Hopefully, we can soon transition to recovery mode by daybreak ...

 

Local fire house is busy mostly responding to down wires & trees. Rigged up 12 volt power pack to run charger for cellphone, if ... and ... :eek:

[mking8288]

Dup - deleted

[smoothdancer]

As I am sure you probably all know all airports are now closed.

Here in Ct the governor has also closed all highways at 10 this morning .... Cabin fever setting in!!

[Langoustine]

Very surreal here. Massive flooding in Lower Manhattan and expected to get worse, 6,700 customers down there without power due to Con Ed preemptive shutdowns, and the facade of an apartment building just collapsed at 8th Avenue & 14th Street. Yet 30 blocks north in Midtown, where I am, there's no rain, the wind has died down, the deli across the street is open, and several neighborhood restaurants and bars are still open and serving. People in my building are getting deliveries of pizza and Chinese food. It's as though all the terrible stuff is happening in another part of the country.

[fridaythe13th]

Have you heard how the port in Manhatten made out and the main road along the Hudson?

[Nitemare]

Have you heard how the port in Manhatten made out and the main road along the Hudson?

 

Just west of the port in Manhattan is totally flooded. Similarly, just East of Cape Liberty is also totally flooded. There are even boats going up and down there!

 

:)

[Langoustine]

Just west of the port in Manhattan is totally flooded.

 

No, not true. First, west of the Manhattan pier is the Hudson River. As for east of the pier, the area flooded at one point last night, but it's been completely open for hours. There's traffic on 12th Avenue, and tourists have been out and about all morning. Restaurants and delis are open (in fact, where I live--3 blocks east on 9th Avenue in the 40's--we never lost power, never flooded, there was very little rain and wind, and several businesses were open all night. I went out around midnight to take a look around, and ran into a delivery person from a Chinese restaurant. If I hadn't been watching the incredible flooding and damage all around me, I wouldn't have known that anything out of the ordinary was going on last night. We were exceptionally fortunate.

[greatam]

My drivers are sending in reports to our Bronx office minute by minute as they try to make their deliveries. Our Bronx office is communicating with both our MO office and me in AZ via Sat phone if they can't get out on cell. Our land lines are down in the Bronx. We have power but have standby generators so power was one of our least considerations.

 

Around JFK and those shore areas, there is a lot of standing water and still some flooded streets. Lots of debris in some of the streets.

 

Nobody is reporting many problems in areas like Hauppauge, Farmingdale, Mineola.

 

Our biggest problem right now is companies that have either electric rollup "burglar" doors or sliding front screens that are electric. IF they don't have power, they can't open and we can't deliver.

 

We put contingency plan after contingency plan into place and haven't used much of them.

 

It is actually worse in Northern NJ than it is in the NYC areas.

[SC LTC]

Be safe everyone.

[4774Papa]

My drivers are sending in reports to our Bronx office minute by minute as they try to make their deliveries. Our Bronx office is communicating with both our MO office and me in AZ via Sat phone if they can't get out on cell. Our land lines are down in the Bronx. We have power but have standby generators so power was one of our least considerations.

 

Around JFK and those shore areas, there is a lot of standing water and still some flooded streets. Lots of debris in some of the streets.

 

Nobody is reporting many problems in areas like Hauppauge, Farmingdale, Mineola.

 

Our biggest problem right now is companies that have either electric rollup "burglar" doors or sliding front screens that are electric. IF they don't have power, they can't open and we can't deliver.

 

We put contingency plan after contingency plan into place and haven't used much of them.

 

It is actually worse in Northern NJ than it is in the NYC areas.

So portions of NYC still have power?

 

There are reports that flooding has seriously damaged the subway system in NYC>

[BND]

Everything I've seen says north NJ (Bergen county) took a bigger hit than central or southern. Someone on our roll call has a daughter in Hoboken. She said the tunnels and subway will be closed for 7-10 days.

[Nitemare]

No, not true. First, west of the Manhattan pier is the Hudson River. As for east of the pier, the area flooded at one point last night, but it's been completely open for hours. There's traffic on 12th Avenue, and tourists have been out and about all morning. Restaurants and delis are open (in fact, where I live--3 blocks east on 9th Avenue in the 40's--we never lost power, never flooded, there was very little rain and wind, and several businesses were open all night. I went out around midnight to take a look around, and ran into a delivery person from a Chinese restaurant. If I hadn't been watching the incredible flooding and damage all around me, I wouldn't have known that anything out of the ordinary was going on last night. We were exceptionally fortunate.

 

Ahhh, that explains all the water and the boats that I mentioned that were traveling there.

 

I'll put another :) here in case you missed the prior one.

[Langoustine]

Ahhh, that explains all the water and the boats that I mentioned that were traveling there.

 

Yes, they keep trying to pump it out, but it just doesn't seem to work....

[Langoustine]

So portions of NYC still have power?

 

There are reports that flooding has seriously damaged the subway system in NYC>

 

Parts of Manhattan never lost power last night, and it's being restored in others. Our electrical lines are underground, unlike the other four boroughs, so there's no restringing of wires on poles that has to be done. As for the subway, they shut the entire system down the day before Sandy hit, because flooding does less damage to the electrical equipment if the power is off. They are pumping water out of the tunnels, after which they'll do an inspection. Subway probably up and running by Thursday, buses are supposed to start running around 5 PM today. This is in Manhattan, mind; I can't speak for the other boroughs. Things in my neighborhood were up and running all last night; if I hadn't been watching the TV, I would not have known that anything out of the ordinary was going on. We were extremely fortunate.

[mking8288]

A different perspective - Con Ed's East River 13th Street Substation's transformer fire last night triggered a blackout that rippled thru Lower Manhattan, and resulted in NYU Medical Center switching automatically over to backup generator power, that should've lasted up to 72 hours, which subsequently failed and triggered a massive & complete patient evacuation and transfer to other pre-arranged mutual aid facilities with available beds. Municipal or city employees are asked to work out car pool arrangements to ease commuting needs as mass transit tried to limp back over the coming days. The Mayor is on the air & live, briefly again from OEM's downtown Brooklyn HQ off the bridge -

 

MTA's comment on restoring full bus, subway & rail services in NYC as cited in the news - http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/10/30/lhota-mta-has-never-faced-a-disaster-like-sandy/

 

For those of you familiar with the N Train that run from Brooklyn thru Manhattan to Queens - here's something you don't see everyday

http://rosetintedvisor.tumblr.com/post/34623407509/the-river-that-was-the-n-train

 

We all have our ideas of when we believe things will get back to normal - you decide ...

 

Please stay safe & drive carefully, many intersections are without power and traffic lights/signal relays & switching are offline - not working, not even a flashing red or orange. Do a full stop or at least yield, look both ways before going thru an intersection - and watch for pedestrians as they do have ROW at the crosswalk, something that we often disregard and our team hear about all the time at the ER's trauma bay ...

[anitsiva]

10/30/2012 4:09:35 PM

Dear Port Partners:

 

Port Authority staff has been on-site today to assess the damage as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

 

The current status is as follows:

 

No electrical power and no time frame for repair

Channels closed

Roads covered with debris and traffic signals out of service

Rail track has been compromised

Fence lines – widespread disrepair

 

Port Authority staff is working to clear roads and is communicating with the container terminal operators and major tenants to coordinate

[BND]

10/30/2012 4:09:35 PM

Dear Port Partners:

 

Port Authority staff has been on-site today to assess the damage as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

 

The current status is as follows:

 

No electrical power and no time frame for repair

Channels closed

Roads covered with debris and traffic signals out of service

Rail track has been compromised

Fence lines – widespread disrepair

 

Port Authority staff is working to clear roads and is communicating with the container terminal operators and major tenants to coordinate

 

That doesn't say what port.

[anitsiva]

That doesn't say what port.

 

That is true! I suppose it coukd be the NJ port. Here is the link.

 

http://paalerts.com/recent_portalerts.aspx

 

Actually it is port Newark.