Hurricane Irene

[RED DAVE]

I'm here in a house (surrounded by big, old trees) in Northern Westchester, taking care of my 93-year-old Dad and getting ready to ride out the storm.

It just started raining a few minutes ago (10:00 AM EDT). I'll keep posting as the storm passes through unless we lose power, in which case, I'll use my cell phone.

Anyone else in the path, let us know what's happening. Any new developments, post 'em.

Friendly talk would be appreciated.

RED DAVE

[Ballyfornia]

Good luck

[xub3rn00dlex]

You riding it out too? Nice to hear man, I'm here at home 5 minutes from the beach in SI, not moving anywhere!

[a rebel]

I'm about 10 minutes from the beach here in central NJ, supposed to be 100mph winds and they evacuated a few coastal towns. I heard Atlantic City about an hour south of me is totally deserted.

[xub3rn00dlex]

I'm about 10 minutes from the beach here in central NJ, supposed to be 100mph winds and they evacuated a few coastal towns. I heard Atlantic City about an hour south of me is totally deserted.

Time to loot the casinos! :D I'm in the mandatory evacuation site, but barely anyone is leaving here, my neighbors basically had a community meeting discussing who's staying/going and what our emergency options are etc. Over here it's supposedly going to turn into a tropical storm by the time it reaches ( 60mph winds ) and skirt west to long island.

[a rebel]

Time to loot the casinos! :D I'm in the mandatory evacuation site, but barely anyone is leaving here, my neighbors basically had a community meeting discussing who's staying/going and what our emergency options are etc. Over here it's supposedly going to turn into a tropical storm by the time it reaches ( 60mph winds ) and skirt west to long island.

Your in Staten Island? And last time the power went out here some people robbed a bunch of pharmacies and convenience stores. Atlantic City is gonna look like a looted warzone after this storm, not that it doesn't already.

[coda]

I'm in the mid-Hudson valley, too-- on the Hudson River at the point where it's a tidal estuary. My place is probably not the safest of places to withstand high winds, and lots of unstable trees and power cords, but my plan is to stay put and blast some very loud music...

[xub3rn00dlex]

Your in Staten Island? And last time the power went out here some people robbed a bunch of pharmacies and convenience stores. Atlantic City is gonna look like a looted warzone after this storm, not that it doesn't already.

Yeah I'm there, not really much to loot here since the evacuation is only coastal.



I'm in the mid-Hudson valley, too-- on the Hudson River at the point where it's a tidal estuary. My place is probably not the safest of places to withstand high winds, and lots of unstable trees and power cords, but my plan is to stay put and blast some very loud music...

Good luck with the storm, keep updates on the situation on the river! Are you in a mandatory evac. zone?

[The Douche]

I'm on the Delmarva peninsula, Ocean City (md), which is about 20 minutes from me, is supposedly going to get Katrina'd.

Its been raining for a little while I guess, I went to sleep around three and there was nothing, now there is rain and a little wind.

My parents live in the Carolinas, I asked them around 2 yesterday how it was, they said just rainy and breezy, by 6 they said winds were pretty bad, by 9 they said their yard and street were flooded and you could barely see the driveway cause it was so windy/rainy. And they're still getting hit, haven't talked to them yet today.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

I too am hunkering down...though it ought to be a busy night with all the downed trees.

[Hoipolloi Cassidy]

The Upper East Side:
Omygawd! The Starbucks' closed!
It's that shmuck Bloomberg...

WOID: a journal of visual language. (http://theorangepress.com/woid)

[The Douche]

Got an update from my parents, they said the worst has passed, its still raining, but there is only a little wind damage and the flooding is only in areas that are real low-lying or under construction.

Still no new developments here on the Peninsula.

[xub3rn00dlex]

I'm on the Delmarva peninsula, Ocean City (md), which is about 20 minutes from me, is supposedly going to get Katrina'd.

Its been raining for a little while I guess, I went to sleep around three and there was nothing, now there is rain and a little wind.

My parents live in the Carolinas, I asked them around 2 yesterday how it was, they said just rainy and breezy, by 6 they said winds were pretty bad, by 9 they said their yard and street were flooded and you could barely see the driveway cause it was so windy/rainy. And they're still getting hit, haven't talked to them yet today.

I hope your parents are ok man, the Carolinas are going to get it the worst. How low lying is their area do you happen to know?

[The Douche]

I hope your parents are ok man, the Carolinas are going to get it the worst. How low lying is their area do you happen to know?

They said their house is ok. Last night my mom said she was pretty sure we were gonna get it worse up here.

My friend lives in Ocean City, the whole city was a mandatory evacuation area, he didn't leave, so the fire department was going door-to-door collecting next of kin information from everybody staying and the firemen said to him "take a look around, cause its not gonna look like this on monday".

Elements of the storm are supposedly gonna go straight into the chesapeke bay, which I live on and OC is a little strip between the bay and the atlantic.

[praxis1966]

Keep us updated people. I'll be keeping a watch on it myself. The last thing we need is another RS2K situation where we don't get any news for days.

On a personal note, coming from a hurricane state I sympathize deeply with what you folks are going through. Shit's no joke.

[Le Rouge]

Is there somebody in NYC that could report how it is going now? I would like to know how such a big city prepare for a hurricane.

[praxis1966]

Is there somebody in NYC that could report how it is going now? I would like to know how such a big city prepare for a hurricane.

In all fairness, it's only supposed to be a Cat 1 by the time it hits there. No big shit. I would expect Lower Manhattan to experience some minor flooding, but I highly doubt there will be any wind damage that far north. The only reason people are freaking out up there is because they're not used to dealing with this sort of thing.

[RED DAVE]

I'm just north of New York (about 40 miles). The City shut down all mass transit, subways, buses, airports, railroads at noon EDT. At some point, when the wind picks up, the bridges will close. I think right now bridges are toll-free to facilitate people moving around. People in low-lying areas in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, including Battery Park City, which is right across the street from Ground Zero, are being evacuated. Apparently, there is some panic buying of food, water, batteries, etc.

Right now, where I am, its raining quite hard but no appreciable wind.

RED DAVE

[The Douche]

First rumors of power outages in my town are showing up on facebook. The governor of Maryland stated that if the power goes out it will stay out for 72 hours.

If we get flooding and 72 hours w/o power I'm a little worried at how people will react. My city has opened the civic center as a shelter (the Salisbury superdome as we're calling it), its down the street from me.

Luckily I live in a second story apartment, so flooding shouldn't be a big deal, and if the power goes out we have quite a bit of water in containers and plenty of dry/canned food.

[xub3rn00dlex]

I just went to the boardwalk a few minutes from my place, the atlantic is extremely calm here, no rain, with even few peeps of sunshine coming through. The word is that the storm surge is what will hit the hardest, yet the storm surge was worse during the blizzard and it wasn't that bad.

[praxis1966]

I just went to the boardwalk a few minutes from my place, the atlantic is extremely calm here, no rain, with even few peeps of sunshine coming through. The word is that the storm surge is what will hit the hardest, yet the storm surge was worse during the blizzard and it wasn't that bad.

That's what happens with hurricanes. They're almost like tsunamis in the way they suck all the life out coastal waters shortly before they hit. The ocean is also incidentally the first sign you'll know it's about to hit because the waives will start to pick up well before the clouds form or the wind picks up to any measurable degree.

[heyjoe]

im on lawn guyland and the storm track puts the center 3 miles from my house...had a few showers this morning. its not raining now and no wind yet. everything is put away and i have plenty of water and food so im not really expecting anything to happen...ha

[coda]

man against the wild..... (use to sometimes catch that show when i had cable)

my sister works at Barnes and Noble bookstore.. they are staying open today and tomorrow and insist that staff show up for their scheduled shift. Oh, how I despise that arrogant corporation. A tree through their roof and a massive window implosion.

[coda]

of course I mean not when people are there.

[Astarte]

long island here - about a mile or two (uphill) from the north shore - I too will make some reports unless I lose power.

[RED DAVE]

Comrades should try to post location and time, so we can see what's happening, where and when. :D

RED DAVE

[xub3rn00dlex]

Midland beach, SI - Drizzles here and there, actually getting sunshine coming through. I feel really bad for you guys in LI, good luck with the storm comrades!

[The Douche]

Salisbury MD, still just rain and a little wind, gusty at times, maybe 20 mph at strongest gusts. No more news of power outages, lots of people just writing it off down here now. We were supposed to have a birthday party for a friend, it was cancelled, think we're putting it back on now.

Pretty sure this is gonna result in a whole lot of nothing, maybe some minor isolated flooding around the low-lying areas in town.


I have really seen thuderstorms a whole lot worse, power hasn't even flickered.

[praxis1966]

Comrades should try to post location and time, so we can see what's happening, where and when. :D

RED DAVE

That, and if you wanna post pictures feel free to do so. I know what the guidelines of this subforum say, but consider this the exception. I don't want anyone doing anything stupid like putting themselves in harm's way, but if you dig really deep into Chit-Chat you'll find a thread I started to post my photos of the aftermath of Hurricane Dennis years ago... That's essentially what I had in mind.

[The Man]

I'm staying here too..

[Nox]

To be honest, people are getting far too worried especially in New York. It'll all blow over. (pardon the pun)

[Fawkes]

I'm in north Brooklyn. Just woke up and went outside, it's not raining though it looks like it just did a little bit. Somewhat breezy, but nothing bad yet. MTA's completely shut down, some stores (particularly stuff in Manhattan) closed, coastal hospitals and nursing homes got evacuated yesterday. ConEd's planning for a possible precautionary shut down of electricity in lower manhattan tomorrow.

[The Douche]

Went outside while it was relatively calm:

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo109/chrisbrochill/photo-1.jpg


Gusts are becoming a bit more frequent now, but we're still not seeing anything outside of a normal thunderstorm, and we should be relatively deep into it by this point.

[RED DAVE]

The calm before the storm: Croton-on-Hudson

http://i53.tinypic.com/ixum9u.jpg

RED DAVE

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Is there somebody in NYC that could report how it is going now? I would like to know how such a big city prepare for a hurricane.

It just started raining very lightly a short while ago. No wind at all.

The weather outlets I've checked say it'll be a tropical storm when it gets to the city.

I think the unprecedented shut down of the whole public transportation system (which is supposed to last until Monday) has more to do with Bloomberg's desire to rescue his reputation after his Blizzard Blunder (when he told folks to "go out and enjoy a Broadway show" from his beach vacation paradise while people died in the city) than it does with the actual threat level.

It has also shown how things break down by class when a disaster hits. The newspaper is full of interviews and stories on investment bankers and assorted scum packing up their cars (or in one case a $10,000,000 yaught) to head somewhere safe to ride out the storm while the rest of can't even leave our neighborhoods because of the citywide shut down.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

There has been some bright news:

1. Apparently surfers are enjoying some great waves at New York beaches.

2. There is a chance that Wall Street and the NYSE will flood.

[xub3rn00dlex]

8:33PM - In SI it has been raining heavily for the past hour, with a 15 minute break. Winds aren't really picking up yet but the rain has increased noticeably. Hopefully some of the cash from downtown manhattan gets washed outta the vaults and into the hands of the poor!

[Metacomet]

She made me have to amend my flight.

What a jerk.

[a rebel]

Toms River NJ, my brother went to seaside heights which is a town on long beach island about 10 min from my house. He says the waves are 3 quarters the way up the beach and that's a good 50 yards underwater. They've evacuated all the barrier islands but the storm here isn't that bad. it's really windy and raining very hard as well. The street outside my house is about ankle deep in water. It's supposed to be the worst here between midnight until dawn.

[Le Rouge]

Good night folks. I just hope the night won't be too long for you.

[The Douche]

Rumor is that Ocean City (again, about 20 minutes from me, and where some friends live) has been wrecked. People saying things like "there is no beach left", I saw one picture, water looked to be about 2 or 3 feet deep in the street.

I went out right before it got dark, all the parking lots in my complex have at least two or three inches of standing water, some have probably 5 or 6 plus. Still expecting rain through tomorrow afternoon, and some strong winds between midnight and 2 am.

[Le Rouge]

Ocean city? nice. Now the city is worth it's name. xD

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Lightly raining here as of 10:30 EST.

[RED DAVE]

Shit! Just lost power!

RED DAVE

[Astarte]

i think its suppose to peak here at around 2 am, was out there watching it for a bit ... we started really getting strong winds around 12:00 am here on LI, before that it seemed pretty timid.

[RED DAVE]

1:00 AM EDT

Power is back. Rain is very heavy but not much wind.

RED DAVE

[Le Rouge]

where do you live?

[heyjoe]

raining hard here on lawn guyland, got about 3 inches in the last 2 hours. trees are swaying, wind really picked up. i dont expect to have power too much longer.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Still mild rain here in the city. An expert was just interview on television. According to his informed opinion as a specialist, "rain and wind are expected to increase as the hurricane gets closer."

[RED DAVE]

where do you live?I don't live here, but I'm staying with my aged father in Croton-on-Hudon, NY, about 40 miles north of NYC.

RED DAVE

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

2,000,000 are now without power, so you might not get as many updates.

[Rusty Shackleford]

didnt it get downgraded to a cat 1?

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Yep. It's a category 1 now, on track to become a tropical storm.

[RED DAVE]

Heavy rain here in Croton, but not too much wind yet.

RED DAVE

[coda]

I have same as Dave.

[RED DAVE]

This link, at the bottom of the page, has updates every few minutes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/27/hurricane-irene-atlantic_n_939232.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk3|90098

RED DAVE

[Hoipolloi Cassidy]

There is an ongoing boycott of Huffington Post - or is that too bourj-wah for you?

[RED DAVE]

There is an ongoing boycott of Huffington Post - or is that too bourj-wah for you?Thanx for telling me, and while you're enjoying my thanx <EDIT> !

RED DAVE

[RED DAVE]

8:50 AM:

Water from the Hudson River in NYC is flooding on the West Side of Manhattan in the Meatpacking District. This is four long blocks from where my wife and I live (she's there now) in Chelsea.

RED DAVE

[RED DAVE]

Damn, it's over! :D

RED DAVE

[BostonCharlie]

Checkin' in from Boston. Moderate rain and a stiff wind but no worse than the nor'easters we get at least once every winter.

Still a little early but it looks like this one was severely over-hyped. :closedeyes:

[praxis1966]

Checkin' in from Boston. Moderate rain and a stiff wind but no worse than the nor'easters we get at least once every winter.

Still a little early but it looks like this one was severely over-hyped. :closedeyes:

Yeah, that's what I was thinking until I spoke to my mother yesterday. She still lives in Florida, but she's originally from Mass and we still have a bunch of relatives up there... Nearly her whole family in fact. I guess the reason why the Northerners were freaking out so badly has to do with the way homes are constructed up there. They're just not designed to handle anything over about 70 mph winds and just about all the single family dwellings are two stories.

Contrast that with Florida, where it's a real rarity to see a single family home that's anything but singly story and the latest building codes (passed shortly after Hurricane Ivan blew through) require that all new constructions be made to withstand 150 mph winds IIRC and they have to have at least one "blow away" wall. What that means is that there has to be at least one non-load bearing exterior wall which is intentionally designed to give way from a certain amount of internal pressure. It's done because generally what causes a house to collapse under wind pressure is if the windows in your house get blasted out by debris or something, this causes the internal air pressure from the incoming wind to become so great that the house just topples over. However, if you have a non-load bearing wall that just falls away, the wind has an outlet and the structure is saved...

Anyway, I gotta wonder, where were all the hurricane parties up North? Back home, when one of these little Cat 1 blow storms came through, instead of evacuating people all over town would meet up at a friend's house, get super drunk or whatever and dance around in the rain, lmao.

[xub3rn00dlex]

So there was barely any flooding in Staten Island around my part ( 5 minutes from midland beach ) but ConEd being the super wonderful corporate entity they are still haven't restored power to the neighborhood, and what's better - they have no idea when they'll be able to. YAY capitalism!

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Nothing noticeable happened in my part of the city at all. I've been through much worse thunderstorms. Now things are totally clear.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

So the transportation system here is going to be shut down a lot longer. They're saying it won't be up in time for the Monday commute. "Don't worry," says Mayor Bloombuck$. "We've had tough commutes before."

1. There will be no commute without the subway and buses.

2. Bloomberg's "commute" involves an escorted trip in the back of a chauffeured air-conditioned SUV from his mansion to wherever the fuck he goes.

3. Bloomberg does not belong to any "we" group, unless "We" = New York's billionaire scum.

The city is absolutely paralyzed for a second day. It will be for a third and possibly even longer than that. People who can't get to work don't get paid. People who rely on every penny of their paycheck cannot stand to miss even a single low-paid day of work.

[RED DAVE]

Shit! Just lost power again: 5:00 PM EDT.

RED DAVE

[Stand Your Ground]

I'm in western MA and we got some flooding here and more in cities around my area. My girlfriends mom is staying at our place for now, she lives right next to a river that's flooding as we speak. She might lose her house and everything in it. We still got power luckily.

Some videos, I'm not gonna embed em all:

These 2 are from Vermont actually: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sP88s2WDyA&feature=share

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FgIglLQzRI

This is from facebook so I don't know if you can see em(from MA):
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2139268514696

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2225318346929

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=277421612272863

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2182173007574

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2138680940007

[RED DAVE]

1:00 AM EDT Monday

Power still out. Con Ed says it could be 4 days; I'm dealing with a 93-year-old man. 4 fucking days!

RED DAVE

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

That sucks brother. Sorry to hear it.

[La Comédie Noire]

My work needs to get a life, they made us stay open during the storm and when we lost power they just told us to make cold sandwiches. McDonald's wasn't even open, nothing was open.

So we just sat there and drank a case of bud heavy in the dark with some friends. :cool:

Then corporate finally relented and let us close down at 5pm. Idiots.

[heyjoe]

lost power at 7am on sunday got it back this morning. got lucky only one big broken branch. lots of big oak trees down all over the area. the wind got pretty bad here from 2am sunday with wind gusts still over 70 mph and as late as 9pm last night still over 60 mph.

[danyboy27]

Quebec city got its fair share of wind last night. i live in an appartement on the top of the building, and i must say, that thing was a beauty to admire from there.

almost lost power 5 times, a tree next to my appartement fell down, and some places in my province lost power, tree and branches everywheres, other regions where flooded.

the next assole telling me global climate change isnt real will be kicked in the face.

[RED DAVE]

Power still out in Northern Westchester. Had to put Dad in a nursing home until power returns. He is very upset and disoriented. It will probably be at least Friday before he's home.

RED DAVE

[praxis1966]

Power still out in Northern Westchester. Had to put Dad in a nursing home until power returns. He is very upset and disoriented. It will probably be at least Friday before he's home.

RED DAVE

Man, I hate to hear that shit. Your situation is bringing back memories of RS2K and my own grandfather and shit. You're a good son IMO for being so close and making sure he's properly taken care of if it makes you feel any better.

[heyjoe]

had power since monday 4am but lost it again today for 7 hours , now its back again. there are a lot of felled trees around here, more than i at first realized.