Hurricane Irene

[Shrink]

Probably right, but my question is will our subway system flood? That would be annoying.

Last I heard from my sister who lives in Manhattan - she said it has been announced that the subways will not be running at all.

I'm near Boston - looks we'll be on the "wind side" of the storm - more high winds, a little less rain.

I'd be hiding under my bed - but I have a platform bed. Teach me to go for style over a place to hide!

 

[rovex]

Let's get the countdown rolling


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG7wB3G-xp0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[fireshot91]

Honestly, I feel like some of our local/state governments are causing a panic for no good reason.


Yes, in some parts of the country, the hurricane is extremely violent.

But in places such as Virginia, and Maryland, we're put into a state of emergency for basically no good reason. All we're going to get is some minor flooding, heavy rain, and above-average winds. Oh well. We'll live.

It's not like our power lines will be down for a week or so. At the most, less than 5 hours.


Hurricane Isabel (I think was the name. In 03 or 04?) was much MUCH worse.

 

[Tilpots]

Honestly, I feel like some of our local/state governments are causing a panic for no good reason.


Yes, in some parts of the country, the hurricane is extremely violent.

But in places such as Virginia, and Maryland, we're put into a state of emergency for basically no good reason. All we're going to get is some minor flooding, heavy rain, and above-average winds. Oh well. We'll live.

It's not like our power lines will be down for a week or so. At the most, less than 5 hours.


Hurricane Isabel (I think was the name. In 03 or 04?) was much MUCH worse.

It hasn't even gotten there yet! Give it time and play it safe. Business as usual in a hurricane is a recipe for disaster.

 

[fireshot91]

Well, yeah. But it's not even in our path. And it's, what, a category 2 now?

Statistically speaking, hurricanes die down by the time they get to DC area.

Yeah, I can see evacuating places near the coastline. The tide will rise. Probably significantly.

But evacuating inland cities?

I'm sorry, but I don't buy into the overplaying by the media.


Nonetheless, I will be playing this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlsZes95qiA

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Thanks but I think I'll heed the warnings of my elected officials in this case.

By the way, are you aware that we are expecting winds of 90 mph. We've also had almost 10 inches of rain in August and the ground is saturated. Perfect recipe for downed trees and power lines.

Going to stand by what I said. We here in the south area laughing at this panic. It is not even a major Hurricane and will only be a cat 1 at land fall.
Also remember buildings are going to be designed to hand 90 mph that close to the coast so a non issue.

 

[iJohnHenry]

Why don't you 2 just piss into the wind, and see who gets wet first.

 

[MacNut]

Going to stand by what I said. We here in the south area laughing at this panic. It is not even a major Hurricane and will only be a cat 1 at land fall.
Also remember buildings are going to be designed to hand 90 mph that close to the coast so a non issue.

Hurricanes in the Northeast are different animals from down south. A lot of damage has happened from cat 1 and 2 storms here. Long Island sound will funnel the water in with the southeast wind. Add to the fact that the storm is hitting at high tide and we are in a new moon cycle which adds 2 feet to the tide to begin with.

Unless you have lived through a hurricane up north best not to talk about things you don't know.

They are also predicting 12 inches of rain, on top of the 7-10 inches we have already received this month we can't handle anymore before trees start getting uprooted.

 

[OutThere]

Got my beer and discovered every single place was already out of D flashlight batteries. Knowing that I had a big box of 9 volt batteries sitting around taking up space, I stopped for some LEDs, resistors and 9v battery holders, fired up the soldering iron and have fashioned myself 3 mini 2-LED flashlights. Bring it on Irene!


As for the 'not a big deal' comments: we never have storms this strong, therefore there are lots of trees that can't stand up to high winds. When thousands of these trees fall across power lines and it takes crews days to remove them and fix the lines, it's a rather big deal, afaic.

 

[MacNut]

Hurricane Gloria in 85 was the last direct hit we have taken up here.

Hurricane Donna in 1960 produced damage

 

[Moyank24]

Going to stand by what I said. We here in the south area laughing at this panic. It is not even a major Hurricane and will only be a cat 1 at land fall.
Also remember buildings are going to be designed to hand 90 mph that close to the coast so a non issue.

Let's not pretend that they don't sometimes panic and over plan for no reason in the south either. Remember the non-issue that Hurricane Rita was? Yet people were stuck on highways getting out of town that year. The media tends to beat the crap out of storms like this, and they are much more prevalent down here than they are in the North East.

Let's equate it to all of the craziness that happened here during Superbowl weekend when the state of Texas was in a panic over some ice and snow. Northerners (myself included) were laughing then.

 

[(marc)]

Meh, we never get that kind of action in Europe . Here, the weather only ever changes between cloudy skies, light drizzle, and light fog.

 

[rdowns]

Hurricanes in the Northeast are different animals from down south. A lot of damage has happened from cat 1 and 2 storms here. Long Island sound will funnel the water in with the southeast wind. Add to the fact that the storm is hitting at high tide and we are in a new moon cycle which adds 2 feet to the tide to begin with.

Unless you have lived through a hurricane up north best not to talk about things you don't know.

They are also predicting 12 inches of rain, on top of the 7-10 inches we have already received this month we can't handle anymore before trees start getting uprooted.

No, no,, no. Our resident expert on everything, Rodimus Prime, said it's a joke and Southerners are laughing at us.

 

[shukelson]

definitely get more beer

Not only enough beer, but take your gf with you.

 

[bizzle]

Went to Target, Walmart and Kmart and they are all 100% out of water in my area. I happened to have half a case in my car which will be used for cats and we just bought soda (which I don't even like) for us. I don't think its going to be total devastation in my area but it's going to suck.

Located 10 minutes outside Philadelphia in NJ.

 

[ActiveApp]

I am in Norfolk and have been getting the edge of the storm this morning and the eye should be going by us around 5pm. Has not been too bad so far. Been raining all morning with some gusts of wind. The local news here have been reporting the storm has been weaking and is expected to continue. It might not even be a cat 1 when it goes over us. Still have power but been hearing transformers blowing up in the distance.

 

[nebo1ss]

Went to Target, Walmart and Kmart and they are all 100% out of water in my area. I happened to have half a case in my car which will be used for cats and we just bought soda (which I don't even like) for us. I don't think its going to be total devastation in my area but it's going to suck.

Located 10 minutes outside Philadelphia in NJ.

Fill the bath tub with water. You can use that for the cats and flushing the toilets. Keep the bottled water for yourself.

----------

I think it is kind of sad how people in NYC are so panic about this. It is going to be a Cat 1 by the time it gets there. That really is not that bad.

A Cat 1 is not considered a major storm at all. Most it will do is dump a fair amount of rain and that is it. The Media is really focusing way to much on the NYC part. NC is going to suffer more.

I think you will find its just the Authorities who are in panic mode. New Yorkers are a sturdy bunch. Guarantee you there will be people out jogging in central park on Sunday. Always amaze me when I see them jogging in big snow storms.

 

[Gregg2]

I'm on long island. I'm prepared. Got everything off the floor in our basement in case that floods.

In case?

They are also predicting 12 inches of rain, on top of the 7-10 inches we have already received this month we can't handle anymore before trees start getting uprooted.

Um, that means floods, for sure

I have asked my folks to stay with us, but they are pretty confident that this will be like every other hurricane (and after 23 years they could be right).

No such thing as "just" a hurricane. And no two are alike.

I agree--it may even be a tropical storm by the time it reaches the city. One thing to keep in mind though is that we are not accustomed to *any* hurricane here -- not even weak wimpy ones. The city rarely experiences them and so I expect there will be a little more damage than more seasoned people down south.

Oops! Which city, I forgot. But don't count on it weakening before it gets north of NYC if the predicted track is correct. The wind speed will be magnified in the canyons. There's gonna be lots of broken glass, from wind alone in the cities, from projectiles in the more rural areas. (Do you have farms in the east? )

Think of it as a very strong thunderstorm. I am pretty sure you all have been threw those. That is really all it is.

NYC will have very little damage is my guess.

I feel better now. Glad I'm in the Midwest though.

Probably right, but my question is will our subway system flood? That would be annoying.

That will be more than annoying. It's salt water. Metal doesn't like salt. If the subway floods, it will be out for quite awhile for the replacement of switch gear, etc.

 

[MovieCutter]

It's just gonna be a thunderstorm here in DC, people are freaking the hell out over nothing. I've got a charged iPad, iPhone, and MBP just in case, and a case of wine and a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue in case the water dies...but unlikely. Not to say I still won't drink the wine and the scotch.

 

[samiwas]

I'm currently doing exhibition work in a huge casino resort in Connecticut. My wife is kind of freaking out, but I'm not worried at all. By the time it gets here, it should be pretty minor. Plus, they have backup generators, huge supplies of food and alcohol, and I know where they store the bottled water for the hotel out in the open.

Oh, and then there's the fact that I'm the bad-weather anti-magnet. There have been numerous storms that come towards our house in Georgia, then split right before hitting us, going around us. Sometimes all the areas all around us are flooding, and we barely get a drop. Nope, not worried in the slightest.

 

[*LTD*]

From the radar tracking it doesn't look as bad as they predicted.

 

[zioxide]

Being in Boston, its been several years since we were struck by a major hurricane. It looks more and more like our luck may have run out.

I'm hoping and praying this bad boy veers to the east - out to sea, or veers west and then weakens dramatically while over land.

It's not even going to be a hurricane by the time it gets up here.. probably a strong tropical storm. Not much worse than a couple of the blizzards we had last winter.

The biggest issues for us is going to be flooding and possible power outages.

 

[fireshot91]

It's just gonna be a thunderstorm here in DC, people are freaking the hell out over nothing. I've got a charged iPad, iPhone, and MBP just in case, and a case of wine and a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue in case the water dies...but unlikely. Not to say I still won't drink the wine and the scotch.

Exactly.

My brother (who lives with us), is taking all these precautions. Hell, he even was like "Okay, here's how to use the battery backup system. If need be, plug it into a light to use for 20 minutes or so".

I just walked away in the middle of him talking. I don't even expect our power to go out for > 1hr. And for that hour, so what, our house is extremely well lit, I'm sure we'll get some light from the moon. And we have flashlights.

 

[andrewlgm]

In NYC here. Mass transit is now shut down for the first time in history - no subways, buses, and cabs may be out of service starting saturday midnight till Sunday night. And my boss still wants me to go into work overnight in manhattan from queens. I'm afraid I may be fired - I called off, but he was not happy.

 

[nycdesigner]

UWS Apple Store

Not sure what this is going to accomplish: the Apple Store, which is made entirely of glass, has sandbagged and draped their doors, and nothing else....