Sandy/Frankenstorm

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:48 pm

We have a lot of members—and family and friends—likely to be affected by the storm and its aftermath. Here's hoping for the best for all of you and yours.

This thing is astonishing, awesome in its scale and potential impact. I've been glued to the live coverage all morning.

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:59 pm

Deja vu?

I lived in New Hampshire in '91 and was in downtown Boston during Hurricaine Gloria back in '85. I hope y'all on the East Coast batten down the hatches and keep safe!

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Mon Oct 29, 2012 10:26 pm

Hide from the wind...run from the water. As a Floridian that has been through many Hurricanes we will be keeping all of you in our thoughts.

Listen to the local authorities!

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 12:58 am

So many unusual circumstances have occurred to pull this disaster together. But as you mentioned, it's the scale of the storm that is incredible. At work, this has not only affected our east coast operations (obviously) but has also caused us to do contingency planning for all operations within 1000 miles of the NE coast. My son works for an electrical contractor in Chicago. They've already staged large volumes of equipment and people out east to assist with the aftermath repairs.

While there's no doubt that the destruction will be significant, we can only hope that loss of human life and injuries will be very limited.

Rob

rsrider · Post by **rsrider** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:30 am

jprestonian · Post by **jprestonian** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 3:18 am

Only lightly affected, so far.
.

avonpirate · Post by **avonpirate** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 4:00 am

Powder turns at Snowshoe W Virginia! Positive energy to all in Sandy's path.

LunaP · Post by **LunaP** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 6:03 am

rsrider wrote:

This photo is extra hilarious to me because I know exactly where it was taken (VA Beach).

We haven't had it too bad in Richmond, a lot of steady, heavy and semi-heavu rains, steady wind with periodic harsh gusts... but overall, not near as bad as we were expecting. Still, I think we have probably at least 8-12 hours until we're totally out of the clear. Nobody I know has lost power... yet. But I know that some of the city has, and probably a lot of our rural outliers.

I'm venturing out in about 2.5 hours to give a friend who regularly commutes to work on a Ruckus a ride in, and am taking Lokky to class. Still doing my part in the scooter community

redhandmoto · Post by **redhandmoto** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 6:30 am

We lost power at 6:00 pm, fully expecting that it would take a week to restore (as actuarial types were saying, based on the scope of the storm and track record of our heavily-treed and vulnerable area).

The juice came back on eight hours later. Thanks to all who sent positive karma this way, and to Dominion Power.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 6:31 am

^^ Are you sure? I thought Godzilla fought Neptune in Japan, not Virginia.

JBenjimin · Post by **JBenjimin** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 11:43 am

We're at the totally opposite end of the state from NYC, we've had some rain and wind. Expected the power to be out, as we had had heavy rain for a few days before Sandy.

The only affect it has had on me was my download speed from an ftp server in Europe was screaming last night with most of the east coast off the net.

Stormswift · Post by **Stormswift** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 6:22 pm

We have power and Internet. Lost 3 pieces of siding off the corner where townhome connects to the neighbour. Still have pieces so these will be put back Thursday.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 10:33 pm

While we're 800 miles from NYC, the collateral impact from the storm on Lake Michigan includes 20 to 25 foot waves on the south end of the lake. I spend some time fishing right off of this lighthouse in Michigan City, IN.
This pic doesn't really do justice to the lake conditions today.

Rob

BootScootin'FireFighter · Tue Oct 30, 2012 10:45 pm

Rob wrote: I spend some time fishing right off of this lighthouse in Michigan City, IN.

I think it's amazing how clearly you can see downtown Chicago from Michigan City, even though its' over an hour drive away. It looks Atlantis just floating on the horizon of the Lake. Not that I've ever seen it other than photos.

An update from my end. It's relatively quiet. Lots of short term power outages in Northern Virginia, several trees down. Those are to be expected, and fortunately damage was minimal. I never lost power, but it did flicker a few times, so we expected to wake up today with no power. Our church was mobilizing to distribute sandbags downtown Alexandria, which is very flood prone, but not a lot of bag takers by the residents and businesses. Many people have leftover bags and businesses were already set up. Expecting the Potomac to crest a few feet late tonight into tomorrow. All else is good here. We caught a ton of rain, though.

My thoughts and prayers go out to our friends in New Jersey and the New York City metro area. Lots of major flooding damage reported. My parents lost power, but fortunately they are on higher ground of Long Island.

jonlink · Post by **jonlink** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 11:36 pm

My buddy and and I made it through alright. I went for a walk to the store when the wind just started picking up. There were lots of bikes and scooters laying on their sides. I got lucky!

We'll see about my grandfather's house on Long Island though... He's been in it for 52 years and always made it out without damage. The ocean crept up to his doorstep during Gloria, but nothing since then. But this time we hear 4ft of water made it down the street next to his. He can't even get to it yet. So... tomorrow, hopefully there's a house to go back to.

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 12:06 am

Been getting the "liveblog" effect from a former roommate of mine who works in Lower Manhattan. The place is just a wreck, and 5 tunnels to the Battery are completely flooded and out of commission. The legendary Subway is at a standstill...

Makes me happy that, for all of it's problems, Arizona is warm and dry right now. Do hope everyone is able to recover quickly and my thoughts and prayers to those who have lost their lives and their families during the storm

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 2:33 am

BootScootin'FireFighter wrote:I think it's amazing how clearly you can see downtown Chicago from Michigan City, even though its' over an hour drive away. It looks Atlantis just floating on the horizon of the Lake. Not that I've ever seen it other than photos.

Pardon the digression.... A few years ago, I took this photo from Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan (roughly due east of downtown Chicago, about 50 miles across the lake at that point, at least 1.5 hours driving), with a pretty strong telephoto lens:

That's as far north you can go and see anything across Lake Michigan, and even there it's only the skyscrapers that show; more than 100 years ago you couldn't see Chicago at all.

charlie55 · Post by **charlie55** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:15 pm

Greetings from NJ.

Lost power at 2:30 PM on Monday and it's still out. Numerous LARGE trees down, power lines everywhere. Managed to get through with only a broken roof ventilator and a single snapped roof shingle.

Very little rain in the Middletown area, so no danger of a flooded basement (unlike Irene). Have a generator, but am husbanding 25 gals. of gas just in case we pick up a ton of rain in the next week or so. A regfrigerator's worth of food is cheaper to replace than an entire basement, furnace, and water heater. Power is restored to the main drag, so we can get groceries on a day-by-day basis. Power is on to some gas stations, but everyone's wigging out and going after the fuel as if it was gold.

Our power company, JCP&L (Jersey's Complete Power Loss) is f'ing up as usual. The guys on the trucks are doing their best, but the suits are handling the crisis in a typical MBA fashion - telling the public about how well they were prepared while pushing the anticipated restoration date further back every day. Lying, bean-counter pricks.

The gov's been a rock - reminds me of LaGuardia. Tough, no-nonsense bastard.

Sending this from work. They just got power back and I dropped in to recharge a few things before I get back into harness tomorrow.

Never seen a Northeast wind like that in my life. You know it's bad when you see London double-deckers on the streets of Asbury Park.

Will update when I have time. But, thank God, everyone we know is safe.

Post by **ericalm** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:43 pm

Glad you're safe and sound, Charlie!

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 1:49 pm

BootScootin'FireFighter wrote:I think it's amazing how clearly you can see downtown Chicago from Michigan City, even though its' over an hour drive away. It looks Atlantis just floating on the horizon of the Lake. Not that I've ever seen it other than photos.

That would be because of the strong north/northwest winds. With southernly winds, the Indiana steel mill's contribution to the local atmosphere would have eliminated Chicago from the pic.

Rob

charlie55 · Post by **charlie55** » Sat Nov 03, 2012 5:02 pm

Update.....

We just had power restored at 11:30 AM. Spent from 9:30 last night until 2:30 this morning on a gas line waiting for a tanker. Lotsa folks gave up, so I was 5th in line. As I left, I saw that there were only about 10 cars behind me, so I dashed home and made the return trip with the wife's car. Had it filled up in 15 more minutes.

While JCP&L managment sucks big time, their crews, and the ones brought in from out-of-state are simply supermen and superwomen. If any of you folks have friends or relatives doing power work out here in NJ, please pass along our heartfelt thanks.

Supposedly have another Nor'Easter coming in on Wednesday, but nothing nearly as bad as the clustercane.

BootScootin'FireFighter · Sun Nov 04, 2012 8:54 pm

Charlie, thanks for updating us all brother! We're hoping and praying for some relief and a sense of normalcy again soon.

Many stories of heroism, but sadly another story of cowardice that I found very disturbing... (if it is indeed true)

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charlie55 · Post by **charlie55** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 5:50 pm

Lost power again late Wednesday due to the Nor'easter and it was just restored at about 10:00 EST today. Lines at the gas stations are now back to normal and stores are fully stocked, at least in my neck of the woods. All in all, we got off pretty lightly this time: maybe a couple hundred bucks for spoiled food and other miscellaneous stuff.

I'm about 6 miles in from the shore in Long Branch. The barrier islands caught the brunt of the hurricane and are utterly devastated. Kind of a tough set of decisions facing a lot of the residents there:

- Rebuild, move back in, get wiped out again with the next storm.

- Rebuild and try to sell when nobody in their right minds would now want to live there.

- Walk away and start over elsewhere.

IMHO, the state should just buy them out at a fair price, rebuild/improve the dunes and breakwaters, and then turn the whole area into park land. I can't imagine anyone wanting to go through this more than once in their lives.

tortoise · Post by **tortoise** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 6:54 pm

Per CNN report . . .
“You expect to spend the rest of your life in calm and peace,” he says. “And in one felt swoop, everything washed away."

Especially when you reside adjacent to the ocean . . or below sea level (New Orleans). Talk about DDD Syndrome (delusional downside denial)!

siobhan · Post by **siobhan** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 7:11 pm

charlie, thanks for the update. I'm sorry you're having to go through this, and my thoughts are with you, your family, friends and neighbors.

They're barrier islands for a reason. Every time places down on the Outer Banks would get washed out, I would say, "barrier island." Leave them do what they're supposed to do and move inland. That's a hard sell, though. Christy has come out looking pretty strong in all this, at least from the reports I hear. I wonder what he may be thinking career-wise.

My mom made it through with no issues (I really can't believe it!) in Burlington Cty, but my MIL went almost a without electricity and lost a furnace (she stayed due to looting, which I also can't believe). Thankfully her power is back and the snow didn't take it out again (6 inches on LI in November?!), so her house has become the flophouse for friends who live in Bay Shore.

It's going to be a very sober Thanksgiving this year.

KABarash · Post by **KABarash** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 3:08 pm

Hi All,
I'm just back from ten days at my mother's house in South Valley Stream NY. All though the damage to her home was really minimal the neighborhood looks bleak.
Her house and all the others of the same style (split level houses) on her side of the block took just shy of 3 feet of water in the garage and basement levels of the houses there was little more damage. (Heck I told her it was a good way to finally clean out that basement!) Geeze..... Mom's been there 58 years and this was more water at one time than she's taken in all the combined years!!
I've scrapped, salvaged and gutted out everything that was destroyed and/or damaged, there's nothing more to do until LIPA (Long Island Power and Light) get's things 'hot' again and that they tell me won't be till the middle of next week!!
THEN I need to get the oil burner guys there!
THAT may take two more weeks!!!!

All in all Mom is a tough and resilient old bird of 87 I've sent her to Bennington Vt to stay warm and dry.
Bonus: Today is her first great grandson's 5th birthday, and she probably wouldn't have spent the day with him otherwise........