SANDY

[Penn]

"Sandy Expected to Bring Life-Threatening Storm Surge Flooding to Mid-Atlantic Coast"

So, does that mean there is a down grade on the severity of this storm, is it reduced to coastal winds and flooding? http://www.weather.gov/

I'm calling BS on the hype, Lyndon Johnson :
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/...-egg-at-a-time

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/news/2012102...Transition.pdf

[Ret10Echo]

As this is in "Soapbox" I'm looking at this in political terms...

It's the week before an election... This weather event is an opportunity for the sitting Administration to directly interact with the voter base... Of course the impacted regions are locks for the Dims, but the Public Relations could swing wildly one way or the other. Should there be any hiccups in response and the bashing goes off the charts...but EVERY opportunity to blow trumpet fanfares about "look at what your government can do for you" will happen, and happen often.

You can't do that level of PR for a "Rain event"... but ... for the STORM OF THE CENTURY you can get a lot of press.

I imagine the FEMA Administrator is reporting to the White House "on the 10's" as they say.

This chaps me because there are disaster response personnel out there who do this time and time again with no spotlight or much thanks (if any). Often times these personnel are the target of the ire of local government and citizens as they go about their jobs.

No suddenly there is political capital to be gained off of the misery of others...

You should expect to see staged photos of POTUS in shirt sleeves..."working hard to save the Eastern seaboard". The kabuki-theater of leadership continues in Washington.

What we have been hearing locally has had little to do with wind effects. The storm surge in our area is expected to create some serious problems...not to mention the volume of rain in "low lying areas". With the mean elevation of the region at 60 feet (highest point at 450 feet) pretty much the whole place is "low lying".

Time will tell. I wish those directly impacted by the storms the very best. If you failed to prepare, well, good luck. Thank you ahead of time to the responders. To the politicians...crawl back into your hole.

[Dozer523]

Last time I looked this was a Catagory 1 storm. Not much compared to what the Gulf is accostomed. The real differences are more people and bigger buildings ( with lots of glass). Anyway, probably won't be much of a show once it gets on land -- they lose power fast. Then it's just rain ... And lots of it.

Good luck to all.

[Penn]

National Doppler NOAA - contrary to the local news outlets this image shows the storm has made landfall and is moving inland. If you click on the image it will open the site.

http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/Conus/full.php

[Richard]

October Surprise ala "Nature's Laws and the God of Nature."

Richard

[Old Dog New Trick]

Originally Posted by Dozer523

Last time I looked this was a Catagory 1 storm. Not much compared to what the Gulf is accostomed. The real differences are more people and bigger buildings ( with lots of glass). Anyway, probably won't be much of a show once it gets on land -- they lose power fast. Then it's just rain ... And lots of it.

Good luck to all.

The president has FEMA operatives stationed at critical node power stations all along the Eastern Seaboard ready to throw the switches and put people in the dark until he comes along and saves the day!

But seriously, everyone affected good luck, batten the hatches, grab a good book and a strong beverage of your choice. Be safe!

[Red Flag 1]

There is a storm surge to consider. According to NOAA/NHC, http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/grap...large#contents, a storm surge of 3' or so is expected as far up the Hudson River as Albany. This is the graphics page from 1500z today. If you click on the "cone/interactive" you can get a detailed look at the areas right in harms way. Not so sure if it will get that bad, but there will be a considerable "push" of storm driven water into NYC waters. The Hudson's southern flow will be interrupted by the storm surge. It will be a backed up toilet, in a way.

Political impact? Well, a day of the GOP convention was lost to a similar event. Will Sandy have an impact? Yup, it will.

RF 1

[echoes]

Originally Posted by Ret10Echo

As this is in "Soapbox" I'm looking at this in political terms...

It's the week before an election... This weather event is an opportunity for the sitting Administration to directly interact with the voter base... Of course the impacted regions are locks for the Dims, but the Public Relations could swing wildly one way or the other. Should there be any hiccups in response and the bashing goes off the charts...but EVERY opportunity to blow trumpet fanfares about "look at what your government can do for you" will happen, and happen often.

You can't do that level of PR for a "Rain event"... but ... for the STORM OF THE CENTURY you can get a lot of press.

I imagine the FEMA Administrator is reporting to the White House "on the 10's" as they say.

This chaps me because there are disaster response personnel out there who do this time and time again with no spotlight or much thanks (if any). Often times these personnel are the target of the ire of local government and citizens as they go about their jobs.

No suddenly there is political capital to be gained off of the misery of others...

You should expect to see staged photos of POTUS in shirt sleeves..."working hard to save the Eastern seaboard". The kabuki-theater of leadership continues in Washington.

What we have been hearing locally has had little to do with wind effects. The storm surge in our area is expected to create some serious problems...not to mention the volume of rain in "low lying areas". With the mean elevation of the region at 60 feet (highest point at 450 feet) pretty much the whole place is "low lying".

Time will tell. I wish those directly impacted by the storms the very best. If you failed to prepare, well, good luck. Thank you ahead of time to the responders. To the politicians...crawl back into your hole.

Very well said, Sir! The First Responders will be crucial in keeping the peace and keeping folks safe. Wish those impacted the best, and hope they all follow TR's Be Prepared tips! They are life savers...as I have first hand experience of knowing.

Holly

[Dusty]

Just the thing to postpone the election in the hope his numbers go back up.

As far as the storm goes, prayers go out to the ones affected.

[Ret10Echo]

Winds are at about 55 sustained with gusts to 75. Power is hanging in there fortunately. Early in the event. We'll see how things hold up over the next 48 hours. Folks North and East of us definitely getting hit harder...

Politicos at all levels maximizing their face-time on TV and Radio. Our local mob-boss...ahem....Governor...making the most of past sensitivities with quotes such as "We've had a boot in the backside of BGE to be prepared..." (in reference to the utility provider for the majority of the State...which the State's Utility Commission has been negligent in managing and allowed to railroad the citizens of the State)...


Stay safe all.

[MR2]

I've only experienced one hurricane. I was in the middle of my E&E portion of SERE. I learned later it was called Hugo....

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by Ret10Echo

"We've had a boot in the backside of BGE to be prepared..." (in reference to the utility provider for the majority of the State...which the State's Utility Commission has been negligent in managing and allowed to railroad the citizens of the State)...


Stay safe all.

Interesting overview of power degradation.
Pick your SITREP.

Prayers out.

[Penn]

I made a bad call on the intensity of Sandy, but thanks to TR and the invaluable "Be Prepared" thread, we did ok, out of power for days, but we were well prepared with solar powered lighting, food, water, batteries, Sterno (cooking & heat) etc., etc. everything that thread is about came into play in some form, or another. There is great security in knowing you can protect and care for your family. A knock on the door late at night with someone looking for directions, lost due the many road closures sending people all over state, gives you a moment of pause, but the friend or foe judgment call is another example of how important it is to be secure, and trust the information and prior training the site speaks to. I am deeply grateful to TR and everyone who took the time to suggest what essentials are needed in everything from your go bag, to how best to clean and preserve water. Thank you for helping us put our house in order long before the event occurred!!!
Lambertville is still without power. We have shared and helped where we could every day without jeopardizing our supply; we were careful in doing so, did not want to become the go to people.
A generator attracts a lot of attention. Also, it is only as good as its fuel source is available.
Interesting observation, we are so spoiled with our ability to instantly reach out and communicate, but with limited access to electricity to charge phones, or recharge batteries - solar power charges are worth their weight...Facebook is also very important commo source to locate family etc... Phones die quick, at one point I was trying to remember dah dit, I made myself a promise to get on that ASAP.

[The Reaper]

D:

Glad to be of assistance.

I found a great deal on some rollable 5w. solar panels. They can be daisy chained and work great for AA battery chargers.

Eventually, we would like to have a couple of the larger roof mounted panels installed and ready to charge a deep cycle battery bank should we need them.

The generator fuel isue is easily fixed if you have an LP model or an LP conversion and a large LP source available. And the bucks to refill it. No need to run it 24/7, IMHO. Just an hour or two in the morning and another couple of hours at night. Use the runs to keep cold things cold, catch some entertainment, and to recharge the batteries.

All the best.

TR

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by Penn

Interesting observation, we are so spoiled with our ability to instantly reach out and communicate, but with limited access to electricity to charge phones, or recharge batteries - solar power charges are worth their weight...Facebook is also very important commo source to locate family etc...

Glad you applied what you could & came out the other side.

As TR has mentioned before, a rudimentary HF radio setup and the basic knowledge (which should come from at least the General licensing procedure) can be used. This isn't a ham thread, but I had several reports from folks using WINMOR over their HF to get information out to family that ends up traversing standard email relays but outside the affected area. If you can run your laptop and a basic HF setup on emerg power you're in business when local connections (wireless & otherwise) are down. Allows comm with those who may need to hear from you but may have no comm skills. Basically the free version of what sailors have been using for a long time. Your radio, to an HF gateway, which then dumps your traffic onto commercial internet connection for routing to family, etc. You can then let them further populate FB etc. There is an initial learning curve, but it works slick.