Hurricane Irene

[GGT]

NYC is going to close its subway system for the first time in its history. New Jersey and DC are closing down metros and public transit, turning tourists away. The dedication of the MLK memorial was due this weekend, with hundreds of thousands of visitors expected.

Lots of mandatory evacuations up and down the mid-Atlantic seaboard. Sounds ominous when the NOAA and other meteorologists and weather forecasters say this is the storm they've worried about for decades....hitting heavily populated urban areas farther north than past hurricanes. Not just wind and rain damage predicted, but serious flooding.

What do you think? Much ado about nothing, or Katie bar the doors?

[Ominous Gamer]

Isn't DC built on a swamp or tidal plain to begin with? Not sure why the flooding is going to surprise anyone. And its far enough north that they are used to periods without power due to snow storms, so I don't think thats going to cause mayham either.
Irene is going to land as what, a Cat 2? Unless you're living on a coastal island, man the fuck up and deal with it.

But Florida weather right now is amazing. Not a cloud within miles, lovely seabreeze. Perfect fall weather.

[GGT]

Seems the category of hurricane matters less than....potential flooding, in places not used to an 11 foot wall of water coming ashore. Frozen water is entirely different from flowing water. Restoring electric grids after flooding isn't the same as moving snow and ice.



Lots of Floridians/southern coast dwellers are making fun of northerners freaking out over a Cat 2 hurricane. Kinda like we make fun of them when getting an inch of snow or a thin layer of ice that shuts down their entire state for weeks?

[Omega]

Earthquakes, aftershocks, hurricanes oh my!

[Ominous Gamer]

Kinda like we make fun of them when getting an inch of snow or a thin layer of ice that shuts down their entire state for weeks?

Damn right. About time the shoe was on the other foot.

[GGT]

I think it's easier to deal with snow and ice and cold temps. You can walk on snow, melt it for drinking water, build a fire to stay warm and cook, perishable food keeps when shoved in snow banks....utility companies can work on phone/electric lines in snow and cold temps, moving frozen water is time consuming but not hard.

Flooding and moving water is a whole different thing. We have more snow plows and snow blowers than personal boats. And places like Long Island only have one evacuation route out.

[Dreadnaught]

I may eat my works on this, but this Northeast Amerikan hurricane freakout thing seems like an overreaction.

Shutting down the subway in advance of a storm for the first time ever? Wow, great for for the MTA to rack-up that overtime pay and the politicians to look "prepared".

As of now, it seems likely to be a Category 1 hurricane or a tropical storm passing through. This happened just last year and it turned out to be nothing. Not to downplay preparedness, but methinks a lot of politicians are frantically afraid to look "unprepared".

[GGT]

In defense of "politicians", they're still in charge of public safety. I might just be a public-dependent-doofus, but if a subway is open and operating....I'll assume civil engineers and emergency management folks know it's safe, won't flood with me IN IT, and I won't have to look for a fricking flotation device to get OUT of it!

Closing sub-terranian tunnels is not much different than canceling airline flights when winds/storms/ice that can pose a danger. It's inconvenient and a pain in the ass, but it's better than planes-trains crashing and killing people.

"Better safe than sorry" isn't such a bad policy.

Shutting down the subway in advance of a storm for the first time ever? Wow, great for for the MTA to rack-up that overtime pay and the politicians to look "prepared".

Wow, do you say the same thing when airlines cancel flights, or airports temporarily shut down? Good for the union bus drivers and cabbies, and hotel service worker unions? Are you really that cynical?

[Dreadnaught]

I'm saying all this unprecedented storm preparation costs a lot of overtime. There's no precedent for this kind of shutdown. It may be wise, but it's being done very rashly and the overtime is flowing very freely.

[GGT]

Wait, how can acting wisely be considered rash behavior?

Are you so busy putting dollar values to "overtime flowing freely" (to those civil servants and union workers you love to hate??) that you're forgetting the value of human life? Are you so cynical that even natural disasters or their potential to wreak havoc has become nothing more than politics? Really?




edit: I've seen a total of two PSA speeches by mayor Bloomberg. I was quite impressed. He explained how this could affect everyone from the homeless, elderly, or ill....to those needing a response for random/routine things like fires or random medical emergencies (I was thinking of near term pregnant women, actually.) Evacuating some hospitals and closing certain mass transit is actually a good idea, from a disaster POV. The last thing you'd want are a bunch of extraneous people competing for fire/ambulance services, when those can be strained. Remember Katrina and Rita?

[Catgrrl]

Ugh. I'm really tired after dealing with hurricane prep all damn day. Hubby decided that today he needed to cut back the tree branch I've been bitching about for months, and fell off the ladder and bruised his shoulder. So I've done most of the work. Figures.

I'm hoping that we'll just get rain, and the winds won't be too heavy. Luckily I live at a higher point in the city, but many low lying areas around me have been called for evacuation. (There are some areas just above sea level, and barrier islands too)

I don't blame people for being overcautious. The northeast isn't built to deal with hurricanes, especially inland (and let's face it, much of the coast). We have to worry not only about winds, but flooding. Flooding is most of the worry here, actually. In some areas, if it floods, you are stranded. You will not be rescued immediately.

After the fuck-up local and state politicians that handled Katrina, I completely understand NYC being careful.

Anyway, I'll probably have no power for the next few days, or a week even, so hope everyone is well and catch you on the flipside!

[GGT]

oh yeah, Cat you're in Virginia! uh oh. Pruning trees is important for letting high winds rush through, instead of crashing down on your roof. (and yeah, it can't wait until these kind of warnings.... ) Philly and other east coast cities had such a wet August that many trees are ready to fall down by their roots, so any more water won't be good.

Hope you're okay during this mess, Cat. Got enough baby food and water on hand?

[Catgrrl]

Oh ya. Having a kid means I have tons of batteries. She can live on Cheerios and blueberries, so I have those on hand too. Borrowed my Dad's generator since my parents are in Hawaii this week (jealous!!!) so we'll still have good milk in the fridge.

The hard part will be no Sesame street if the power goes out. She will not be happy, and I will be resigned to reading baby books for hours on end (her favorite thing for Mommy to do).

She fell asleep at 6, before dinner and her last bottle...She really needed to have a bath too. I guess I'm going to have to break the cardinal rule, and wake her up. I need to fill the bathtub with water sometime tonight or super early in the morning. Sigh.

[GGT]

no, don't break the rule, let her sleep! A little dirty body never killed anyone

Not sure why, but I decided to cook our raw meat with onion and tomato sauce to freeze. Boiled a bunch of eggs, and filled pitchers and containers with fresh water, with some in the freezer. Just in case.

[Ominous Gamer]

I can see flooding being the problem. This hurricane is on the verge of stalling. The worst thing you can get is a stalled hurricane thats half on land and half over water, being able to dump an unpredictable amount of rain and seawater over areas that were in no way built to handle such amounts. What was it clocked at earlier today? Moving at like 14mph? Doesn't matter how fast the winds are, its able to hold together for an extended period of time, that means trouble.


I remember when I rode out the hurricane of 05, spent a week without power, and since I was living on the coast, managed to watch as all the manhole covers became inpromtu fountains.

[Catgrrl]

Blech!

I woke her; it was very unpleasant. Needless to say she did not get a bath. She missed last night's bath too. Oh well.

[littlelolligagged]

Baby wipes!

A few weeks ago we were out doing something in the 100 degree heat, and I found myself missing baby wipes. Would have loved to remove a layer of sweat and grime.

I did not miss all the other junk you have to lug around with the baby wipes, though.

[Catgrrl]

heh, that's the truth. I've just been giving her a quick wipe-down with a wet cloth. I figure it's just time for her to build up immunities anyway.

Oh well, it's more important that I got my shower.

I do wish I had a better liquor supply here though. I do have a bit of wine...hmm....

[Dreadnaught]

Wait, how can acting wisely be considered rash behavior?

Are you so busy putting dollar values to "overtime flowing freely" (to those civil servants and union workers you love to hate??) that you're forgetting the value of human life? Are you so cynical that even natural disasters or their potential to wreak havoc has become nothing more than politics? Really?




edit: I've seen a total of two PSA speeches by mayor Bloomberg. I was quite impressed. He explained how this could affect everyone from the homeless, elderly, or ill....to those needing a response for random/routine things like fires or random medical emergencies (I was thinking of near term pregnant women, actually.) Evacuating some hospitals and closing certain mass transit is actually a good idea, from a disaster POV. The last thing you'd want are a bunch of extraneous people competing for fire/ambulance services, when those can be strained. Remember Katrina and Rita?

I think government was unfairly blamed for not "doing something" when we got hit with a blizzard in December. And now I think they are possibly overcompensating, with a huge financial cost. Our subway system last shut down voluntarily when there was a strike in 2005. Before that it had been 25 years. It's a big deal.

[Ominous Gamer]

you guys shut down everything on 9/11, but I'm guessing that wasn't voluntarily

[Dreadnaught]

Indeed.

[Catgrrl]

It's been raining on and off for 9 hours, really hard the last two hours. Got the baby bathed this morning, and filled my bathtub after. Wind is starting to whip up and I hear transformers blowing in the distance (my friend IM'ed me that it was his neighborhood, LOL). So, just waiting, with my cup of coffee, for the power to go out.

[Flixy]

Take care!

[Omega]

It's been raining cats and dogs where I live in Virginia. It let up for a moment. Then it sounded like someone was hosing my window down.

[Hazir]

That's the way it rains in Amsterdam too and we didn't bother to evactuate sissy New Amsterdammers.

[Dreadnaught]

This seriously fucked up my weekend in like 2-3 different ways. And that's not including how all the plans-needing-to-be-shifted got me stuck walking on the side of the Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx at 4PM yesterday.

A number of restaurants shut down, which is unusual (but not expected given the lack of public transportation). Sort of amazed that certain restaurants remained open.

[Dreadnaught]

Wow, the wind is starting to pick up. It sounds like a low saxophone or something as it winds through buildings, pretty intense.

More annoyingly, some kind of alarm has been going on outside for almost an hour and I can't sleep. Also can't pinpoint where it's coming from, but I think it's a roof access on a building nearby that blew open and set off the fire alarm.

Wow, massive gust of wind and water slammed into my window. Glad I checked the waterproofing on my windows and air conditioner unit yesterday. My Internet has gone out in strong rainstorms, so not sure if it will survive this.

What is that damn alarm outside.

[Catgrrl]

Well, we were out of power for about 24 hours. Went out at 8:30PM last night and popped back on around the same time tonight. We got through the whole day Saturday with the wind and rain, and power stayed on. When the eye passed us (it was out to sea about 50 miles from me) the winds changed direction, and I guess that must have been when a power pole with a transformer split on the main road out of my neighborhood.

Thank goodness no damage at my house or any of my relatives/ friends. Just lots of debris to clean, but that only took a few hours (took our time since we didn't have A/C anyway so had to be outside).

I'm so glad the power is on too, I can't sleep in the heat and I'd probably have strangled my husband. He is usually a big help but this weekend he's been a real dud.

[Dreadnaught]

Eesh, doesn't sound too pleasant either way. It was weird being in the eye of the storm in the morning. Afternoon had some strong winds and light rain, but minimal stuff.

No power outages in my area, but my big concern is I'm supposed to take a train tomorrow morning and the lines are still craptacular.

[Catgrrl]

Have they reopened the subway yet?