Hybrid Hurricane/ Winter Storm

Shadow Dragon

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
4,773
Reaction score
261
Location
In the land of dragons
All I ended up getting was an evening of heavy rain and some strong wind gusts. A couple trees in my town fell down but as a whole, we had minimal damage. Thankfully, I don't live near the bay here in MD, and in a mountainous area that gives some extra protection.
 

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
19,525
Reaction score
22,756
Location
Aotearoa
I'm still boggled by the size of the storm, as well as its ferocity and horribly bad timing. It's just so huge!
 

blacbird

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Messages
36,987
Reaction score
6,158
Location
The right earlobe of North America
I'm still boggled by the size of the storm, as well as its ferocity and horribly bad timing. It's just so huge!

By geographical span, from something I read just tonight, the largest North Atlantic tropical storm ever recorded.

And a potential rival to Katrina in dollar-amount property damage. But let's also remember this: Sandy has resulted in 50 deaths (at current count); Katrina resulted in something exceeding 2500 deaths, the exact number not determinable.

As another aside, people tend to get fixated on the Category-X number given to hurricanes. That is only part of the story involving these storms, and often not even the biggest part. The Category category is based solely on maximum sustained wind velocity. It doesn't take into account storm size, storm surge, rainfall, or any of the many local factors involving coastal geography, infrastructure, etc. Sandy struck the most densely populated portion of the U.S., much of which contains very expensive property. Therefore the property damage figures will be high, almost by definition. Katrina destroyed a lot of low-value property possessed by low-income people. The high-value property in New Orleans survived largely intact; I know, because I used to live there, and visited again back in 2009. The big stuff there survived pretty much intact. The poorer neighborhoods were devastated, and many rural areas in southeast Louisiana, where nobody even really knows how many people lived there, were just plain wiped out.

Which is not to be taken as any form of disrespect for the damage and problems now being faced by northeasterners from this colossal storm. Just to make a point that the two events aren't really directly comparable.

Other than both were caused by excessively hot seas in the tropics. But I'll let Senator Imhofe of Oklahoma apologize for that stuff.

caw
 
Last edited:

CQuinlan

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
407
Reaction score
34
I'm hearing lots of different death counts from many news sources (including reuters) and am hoping that it's the lowest one.
 

Diana Hignutt

Very Tired
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
13,314
Reaction score
7,098
Location
Albany, NY
I'm fine. And my crews are out working hard to get sewage treatment plants, sewer pumping stations and water wells back on line, throughout southern NJ.
 

Teinz

Back at it again.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 20, 2010
Messages
2,440
Reaction score
186
Location
My favourite chair by the window.
To be honest, since higher sea level is such a contributory factor to this kind of coastal flooding, maybe they should be reaching out to the Netherlands for advice. This is going to have to be more than a fix. This is going to have be an ongoing, permanent system of water removal, I think.

Those plans are already in motion. NYC invited a Dutch team to come up with and asses certain solutions, after Irene hit the city last year.

They project it'll take at least tens of billions of dollars to provide a failsafe way to keep the city safe up until 2100. I'm not sure if the current climate in the US will allow for such an amount of money to be spended.

But then again, it is just a numbers game, right? The loss of life, the cost of repair. If those once in a hundred year storms really become biennial, the math will become fairly simple.
 

kaitie

With great power comes
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
10,994
Reaction score
2,525
I was just wondering the same thing.
 

Jersey Chick

Up all night to get Loki
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 9, 2007
Messages
12,320
Reaction score
4,278
Location
in the state of carefully controlled chaos
Website
www.kimberlynee.com
South jersey took the brunt of it - Seaside and LBI really got hit hard. My inlaws have a house in lavallette and we don't know how much damage it took and no one can get to it to check. The boardwalk at seaside heights was washed away, rides and all.

We're still without power and no power also means no heat as well as no lights, etc. we've been given nov. 5 as to when the power will be restored. Gas stations that are open have wait times of 60+ minutes. The cell service is spotty (our landline has been dead since yesterday morning). I'm spending a ton of time in my car, charging cell phones. I can't wait for life to get back to normal.
 

Rachel77

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
575
Reaction score
114
Location
a galaxy far, far away
South jersey took the brunt of it - Seaside and LBI really got hit hard. My inlaws have a house in lavallette and we don't know how much damage it took and no one can get to it to check. The boardwalk at seaside heights was washed away, rides and all.

We're still without power and no power also means no heat as well as no lights, etc. we've been given nov. 5 as to when the power will be restored. Gas stations that are open have wait times of 60+ minutes. The cell service is spotty (our landline has been dead since yesterday morning). I'm spending a ton of time in my car, charging cell phones. I can't wait for life to get back to normal.

You're with PSE&G too, then? No power here either (South Jersey, near the Delaware), and "Nov. 5" is what they're telling everyone. The apple tree in my backyard split and fell, but fortunately the house itself is fine. I woke up Tuesday morning to see branches pressed right up against the living room window; if it had fallen at a slightly different angle, it would have caused significant damage.

Surrounding towns have power; I'm currently sitting in the synagogue recharging the phone and the laptop. Quite a few other members are doing the same.
 

Jersey Chick

Up all night to get Loki
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 9, 2007
Messages
12,320
Reaction score
4,278
Location
in the state of carefully controlled chaos
Website
www.kimberlynee.com
You're with PSE&G too, then? No power here either (South Jersey, near the Delaware), and "Nov. 5" is what they're telling everyone. The apple tree in my backyard split and fell, but fortunately the house itself is fine. I woke up Tuesday morning to see branches pressed right up against the living room window; if it had fallen at a slightly different angle, it would have caused significant damage.

Surrounding towns have power; I'm currently sitting in the synagogue recharging the phone and the laptop. Quite a few other members are doing the same.

Yep. We have PSE&G and I'm hoping they come through like they did after Irene. We were w/out power for five days then. I'm hoping they come in under the nov 5 deadline but we'll see.
 

mccardey

Self-Ban
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 10, 2010
Messages
19,212
Reaction score
15,821
Location
Australia.
We're seeing some terrible pictures... Thoughts are with you.
 

Smiley0501

Lurker, now activated. :-)
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 2, 2010
Messages
2,948
Reaction score
264
Location
The Northeast, USA
Yup, NJ took a bad hit. :( In North NJ, my parents don't have heat, electricity, power etc. Long Branch, near our beach house, is pretty shot. My friend from college's beach town, Brick, is basically destroyed. Literally. :(

I wonder what this means for the election if anything? Will power really be back on by Nov 5th? I mean the election is Nov 6......
 

Jersey Chick

Up all night to get Loki
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 9, 2007
Messages
12,320
Reaction score
4,278
Location
in the state of carefully controlled chaos
Website
www.kimberlynee.com
Yup, NJ took a bad hit. :( In North NJ, my parents don't have heat, electricity, power etc. Long Branch, near our beach house, is pretty shot. My friend from college's beach town, Brick, is basically destroyed. Literally. :(

I wonder what this means for the election if anything? Will power really be back on by Nov 5th? I mean the election is Nov 6......

I'm so sorry to hear this. It's heartbreaking, seeing all the damage done to NJ. We're fully expecting to see some awful damage to my inlaws home. AFAIK, no one has been allowed in the area to see what's left of their homes and the pictures I've seen so far bring tears to my eyes.

**hugs** to everyone affected by this. We WILL get through it.
 

Rachel77

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
575
Reaction score
114
Location
a galaxy far, far away
Yep. We have PSE&G and I'm hoping they come through like they did after Irene. We were w/out power for five days then. I'm hoping they come in under the nov 5 deadline but we'll see.

My experience with them is that they tend to overstate the worst case scenario -- when they say "four hours", it's usually more like thirty minutes. I'm hoping that's the case this time. At least they've assessed the damage in my neighborhood: trees on the wires. But from driving around tonight, it seems to be just my neighborhood that's out, so I doubt we're a priority for them right now.
 

muravyets

Old revolutionary
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 21, 2011
Messages
7,212
Reaction score
974
Location
Massachusetts, USA
Website
www.facebook.com
Those plans are already in motion. NYC invited a Dutch team to come up with and asses certain solutions, after Irene hit the city last year.

They project it'll take at least tens of billions of dollars to provide a failsafe way to keep the city safe up until 2100. I'm not sure if the current climate in the US will allow for such an amount of money to be spended.

But then again, it is just a numbers game, right? The loss of life, the cost of repair. If those once in a hundred year storms really become biennial, the math will become fairly simple.
I'm glad to hear that, and it fits with mentions I've heard of Mayor Bloomberg working to retrofit NYC's infrastructure and tunnel system to cope with repeated flooding and higher water levels. I have a feeling the math is already simple for a lot of coastal mayors.
 

Anna L.

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 16, 2011
Messages
407
Reaction score
38
Location
In USA's hat
Website
www.annafrost.ca
I just found out my step-sister's boyfriend is down in the USA right now, as part of a team of Canadian workers helping to restore power in certain areas. I hope it's speeding things up a little. My family once went without power for a couple days and it wasn't fun.
 

Komnena

In Honor of Peter Tomich,USS Utah
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 5, 2007
Messages
13,917
Reaction score
2,071
Location
King Louie's town
We appreciate those Canadian workers who have come to help.
 

MattW

Company Man
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 14, 2005
Messages
6,326
Reaction score
855
Power coming back on in waves, with more expected by Monday. I forgot that I was within spitting distance of a large nursing home - my neigborhood benefited from the priority for restoration.

Some of the more remote areas of NJ went 2 weeks after last year's storm. My office (slightly in the northwest mountains) is still closed, and we _never_ close.

Halloween also rescheduled until Monday.
 

mirandashell

Banned
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
Messages
16,197
Reaction score
1,889
Location
England
My experience with them is that they tend to overstate the worst case scenario -- when they say "four hours", it's usually more like thirty minutes. I'm hoping that's the case this time. At least they've assessed the damage in my neighborhood: trees on the wires. But from driving around tonight, it seems to be just my neighborhood that's out, so I doubt we're a priority for them right now.


This is known as the Scotty scenario. As in 'it will take at least 8 hours, Captain!'
 

Little Red Barn

haz own threads
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 27, 2006
Messages
2,839
Reaction score
3,669
Just poking in to give good thoughts to all affected.

And, has anyone heard from Stormie?