Sandy

[Svend]

Wishing all the best to anyone who is in the path of this coming storm.  Especially Midwif, in Manhattan.

I'm sure hoping that it's not going to be nearly as bad as they say. 

I would guess that maybe half the members (or more?) here will be directly affected in some way or other by this beast of a blow.  Drop us a note, if you can, in the next few days and let us know that you're OK. 

Take care everyone!

Svend

[jim-ratliff]

Actually, the one that is most likely to be affected is Living Proof. He has a "summer residence" somewhere on the NJ coast, almost directly where Sandy is coming ashore. And Philly is going to get a lot of wind this afternoon through tomorrow.
Lynn is farther uptown and on a higher part of the Manhattan (west side of Central Park). But she does have to get to the hospital to work tomorrow. Babies don't stop wanting to pop out just because of some wind and water. But it does sound like downtown Manhattan is likely to be really flooded and immobilized.

[LivingProof]

Jim is correct, sadly, in this case, as my summer home is a few hundred yards from the ocean in Avalon, NJ that is 20 miles north of the southern tip of Cape May NJ. We did all that we could to button it up and left on Saturday. One factor that is a big plus for us is that our home is located on the highest ground on the island and not subject to floods in the 30 plus years that I've owned it. Hurricane winds will be a test of my new roof and siding. Beaches will take a major hit. In PHilly I face some water issues in the basement, we'll be ok if the power stays on for the next 36 hours, small chance given the projected winds and large trees in my area. Owning 2 homes can be a PITA.

TV this morning shows flooding in excess of anything I've seen and the storm will not reach the coast for 12 plus hours.

The good life has taken a small detour. I promise to do nothing stupid, and, that's thought always in my mind when I'm on skis. Bushwackers body is immortal, I've long since realized mine is fading.

[Svend]

Hey Mike -- crossing my fingers for you that you get through this unscathed.  Keep your head down and your wine cellar stocked.

Up here (Toronto area) we're not going to get nearly the intense weather that you are, but we'll not be without high winds (~50 to 60 mph tonight) and an inch or two of rain.  Ugly weather all over the east. 

[jim-ratliff]

Keep your head down and your wine cellar stocked.

Wine bottles float, right? Should they be moved upstairs to protect the labels from peeling?

[LivingProof]

Thanks for the thoughts! It's good to have internet friends.

It's beginning to get dark at 3 pm and the worst remains ahead. It will be a  long 24 hours until the rain subsides.

Avalon has an emergency website, some pictures are available at    http://avalonemergency.org/
There is already more water than I've ever seen and landfall is 3 hours away.

Wine....never seems to stay in my home long enough to age. When this is all over, a good bottle of red will be enjoyed!

[Svend]

In the absence of a wine cellar, may I recommend a good stock of dry firewood by the hearth, a pile of cycling and ski magazines (preferably all the 2013 gear review issues) and some Woodford to warm the innards.  You'll get through just fine.     Let it blow, baby.

Edit:  just looked at the pics from Avalon...yikes! If that's low tide, then high tide will be darn nasty.  Best to you Mike. Hope your house is alright.

[jim-ratliff]

Always the optimist but Sandy is accelerating and should make landfall before high tide. May mitigate max flooding a bit.

But yes, a big storm and a near direct hit.

Best wishes.

[bushwacka]

I hope all you guys are ok.

My planning on this stunk. I wish I wasnt not stuck closing up the bike shop, and I have no plans no to try to drive though this storm to get to Wv.  I may change my mind on wednesday but who knows.

My guess is Timberline receives 36-50 inches of dense snow from this storm. Lucky if you can get there and ski some early season snow.

[jim-ratliff]

Things are pretty good here in Northern Virginia, impact of the storm was less than expected. Some 60 mph wind gusts, but limited power outages, especially when compared to the Derecho that blew through in June. I'm speculating that the 'derecho' pruned out a lot of the weaker trees, fewer fell in our area yesterday.
Sounds like New Jersey coast and especially New York City took the brunt of the storm.




This kind of fast-moving, long-lived, large, and violent thunderstorm complex is known as a derecho.
Racing along at speeds over 60 mph, the blowing line of thunderstorms formed west of Chicago around 11 a.m. and by midnight approached the Atlantic ocean. It left a massive trail of destruction spanning from northern Illinois to the Delmarva Peninsula. The National Weather Service has logged well over 800 reports of damaging winds.

[Svend]

Good to hear Jim.  Any word from Lynn? All I see on the tube is a deserted Manhattan, much of it flooded.

[jim-ratliff]

Good to hear Jim.  Any word from Lynn? All I see on the tube is a deserted Manhattan, much of it flooded.

She is fine.  The tip of the island (downtown) from 39th street south evidently was/is hit pretty hard. Going uptown (north) there is a crane that collapsed and is dangling off the side of the building is at 57th street. She is at 95th street and is fine.  Never lost electricity. Some loss of cosmetic siding off the sections of her building and other buildings she can see. She has a door that opens onto a patio, there was a spell yesterday when she was unable to push the door open against the winds. They shut down the building elevators as a precaution, but otherwise little impact.
Earlier, all of the tunnels and bridges to Manhattan were closed except the Lincoln tunnel. I assume that they need to do a routine check for damage before reopening bridges.
I believe all of the tunnels (traffic and subway) under the East River are flooded -- those connect Manhattan with Brooklyn and Queens, so the only access is over the renowned Brooklyn Bridge.

[midwif]

Hello Everyone
I am happy to say that all the pots of water, flashlights and candles will not be needed.
And some of the extra food I bought will go to a local food pantry.

Yes, the neighborhood I live in weathered the storm relatively well.
Stores were stripped of basic food and there was hardly any bread or meat to be found.

My daughter had to work til 5pm (because a sports bar is an essential business and storms
don't stop them ! I was glad they finally saw reason and didn't make her stay til 7pm.) and I
drove to pick her up. We took a small detour up the West Side Highway to look at the river.
I have never seen the water so high, just about to crest over the bank onto the footpath.

Incredibly, a local pizza joint stayed open and we saw their delivery guy out on his bike at the height of the storm!
I hope the tip was commensurate!

Mike, hope all is okay with you and your residences. Let us know how you fared.

Don't mess with mother nature. She gets pissed in a big way.

L.

[LivingProof]

Day Sandy +1 has us staying with our son as we have no power at home. Our local utility has 500,000 customers without service, so, not sure when we will return home full time. The good news is we get to spend some time with our grandchildren. Hope they don't wear me out too much.

Sandy was much less than advertised in Philly and our rainfall was less than 3 inches when projections were 5 to 10. Winds were much less than projected. We were doing great until the winds picked up as the storm center neared us. At 9 last night we lost power. My first career was with the local electric company and our outage is part of a much larger problem in the local area, so, we will get some priority in getting the issue resolved. I lost a gutter and one piece of siding, no water access into basement. All in all, I'm very relieved.

No firm information on the shore home and access to the island is still off-limits. It is not nice to mess with mother nature, especially a mean Atlantic Ocean. Without TV and internet, I've little information about other damage such as NYC is experiencing.

So, glad we all made it through unharmed. I'll update as more info is available.

 

[jim-ratliff]

LP:
I'm sure you've seen it, but the Avalon web site posted a picture of the calm as the eye of Sandy, evidently, passed right over the town.