Nor'easter + Hurricane Sandy + full moon (high tides) = one big mess

[nycindie]

I am safe and got through Hurricane Sandy with no loss of power, though my lights flickered a great deal all Monday night. All my friends and relatives are safe and in good shape, though many of my family still have no power or cell service, as they are located on the New Jersey shore which was hit very hard.

It is weird to be in NYC in the midst of a national disaster - again. Much of the damage is
unprecedented here. The East River came up to 1st Ave. in spots. That is quite a distance. There is still no power in Manhattan below 42nd or 34th Street (I keep hearing different cut-off points), and we have a twisted crane up on the top of a tall building that got knocked over in a gust of wind (70 - 90 MPH winds!) and is dangling over the streets (about six blocks have been cordoned off around it and all residents and hotel guests in the area evacuated). There are at least 20 to 30 houses that burned down in one Queens neighborhood because firefighters couldn't reach them. We've got looting going on in Staten Island, all airports flooded, no flights in or out, cell/internet/landline services spotty, trees downed or broken and in danger of falling on people (incl. the one in front of my apt. bldg). No one is allowed in the city parks to avoid getting killed by falling branches (a few people died that way with Hurricane Irene), and we've had 24 deaths so far, including two young boys who were swept away by powerful flood waters that pulled them right out of their mother's arms!

I am a college student but have no classes this week because most people (staff, professors, maintenance personnel, etc.) can't get into Manhattan from elsewhere very easily. Plus the campuses are being used as emergency shelters for all the people displaced from downtown (no power, no water), and from around the crane. Most bridges and tunnels are closed, we have a mandatory carpool thing going on the roads that are coming into Manhattan, still no subways because most of the tunnels are flooded, and limited bus service. We have the National Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers here.

Stock prices on Home Depot, Lowe's, and some big generator manufacturer rose quite significantly.They are still allowing the NYC Marathon to take place, although they postponed the Halloween parade until next week.

It's a really big mess here, although my neighborhood is okay, but I only hope that my new job will still need me! With no business, they might not! I have to borrow money from a friend to meet my Nov. rent, so I really need to stay employed.


**Anyone else in the storm's path, please let us know you are okay.

[opalescent]

I am so glad you are ok NYCindie! I was worried about you when I saw how hard New York and New Jersey were getting hit.

That sounds a lot like how New York was after 9/11. But I've never heard of lower Manhattan being evacuated or the dreadful fire in Queens.

Baltimore got hit relatively lightly. I lost power briefly but was then fine the rest of the time. My neighbor's lost their front gutters. That's it on my street.

[LovingRadiance]

I'm glad you posted Nyc! I was thinking of you.
My father in law and his wife are in NYC also-I don't know precisely where, I've never been there myself.

He said they are ok but staying inside and not going anywhere. No other details.

Obviously-as far away as we are, we are doing fine. Just thinking about all of you!

[nycindie]

Originally Posted by opalescent

I am so glad you are ok NYCindie!

Thanks, Opal!

Originally Posted by opalescent

I was worried about you when I saw how hard New York and New Jersey were getting hit.

That sounds a lot like how New York was after 9/11. But I've never heard of lower Manhattan being evacuated or the dreadful fire in Queens.

It is quite different from 9/11, actually. That was, of course, a very specific place that got hit, but the smell of the burning buildings seemed to travel everywhere and lasted for months. Subways were affected but all other basic services were still running. With this, so many people are just stuck. Stores are empty (I waited too long to try and find size D batteries for my lantern and every store was sold out by Saturday - fortunately, I didn't lose power). Electricity is expected to be turned back on everywhere by this weekend, but that's still a long time for such a big city to have no power in major parts of it. For the stock exchange to close for two days because downtown Manhattan is inaccessible due to the weather -- I keep hearing that that hasn't happened since 1898!

As for the houses in Breezy Point, Queens, I have since learned that there have been somewhere from 80 to possibly over 100 lost to fire. Breezy Point had been ordered to evacuate but I think quite a few residents stayed. I don't know if any deaths occurred there. Most of the homes that burned down were old, wooden bungalows. Here is an aerial view of the terrible damage done by the fires :

Originally Posted by opalescent

Baltimore got hit relatively lightly. I lost power briefly but was then fine the rest of the time. My neighbor's lost their front gutters. That's it on my street.

Glad to hear it. I have heard news reports that Philadelphia got hit pretty hard as the storm moved on. I should check on Burnsy.

Originally Posted by LovingRadiance

I'm glad you posted Nyc! I was thinking of you.

Thanks, LR. It was kinda creepy just sitting here with my windows taped up and waiting for the storm to pass through.

Originally Posted by LovingRadiance

My father in law and his wife are in NYC also . . . they are ok but staying inside and not going anywhere. No other details.

That is exactly what they should e doing. I just went to the store and the streets are full of people who are, I am sure, a little stir-crazy from being indoors for a few days. Today, I got bored and chopped off a lot of my hair! Parents were taking kids trick-or-treating. But falling tree limbs are a real danger, and traffic lights are fucked up here and there, so it's best to avoid going out until the chaos subsides.

[BrigidsDaughter]

By the time the storm hit upstate NY it had tamed alot. Our lights flickered but didn't go out, but there were spotty power outages. Thankfully our maintenance guy trimmed the branches on all the trees on our property a few weeks ago, so we didn't have any danger of them falling on us. Our biggest problem was trying to get a jump start in the middle of the storm b/c our car wouldn't start.

[JaneQSmythe]

In Western PA we were braced for way more than what we got (I was fully expecting to lose power - we lose power if a deer sneezes in the backyard - but it didn't happen).

It's been raining and cold for days and many communities postponed trick-or-treating but we got real lucky (blizzards west and south, destruction in the eastern part of the state).

JaneQ