Hurricane Sandy check-in, East coast US

[AnnMarie]

I know we're battening down up here... what's up with those south of me along the coast??

[Allen]

I'm in the middle of the country, but I just want to say I'm praying that everyone comes through the storm safe and with as little damage to property as possible.

Stay safe, everyone. Let us know as soon as possible after the storm.

[Cheryl]

We're battened down, and twiddling our thumbs waiting for it to hit.

School was pre-emptively cancelled. As is mass transit and other non-essential services.

[Angry Plecostomus]

Up here in Buffalo, people are going INSANE over this storm.

I remember Gloria in 1985, I was living in Lisbon, CT at the time... The storm came roaring up the cost and basically tripped over Long Island. Yeah the coast got clobbered but inland just got rain and moderate winds.... and that was AFTER chugging across Long Island.

Here we are in Buffalo, hundreds of miles inland and everything is basically shut down... over a Category One storm that will amount to little more than a couple of rainy days when it gets here.


...even if I'm wrong I'm still prepared, so are my companions.

[Cheryl]

And apparently the neighborhood next to our street, which contains our school, has lost power.

[Kater]

We are prepared here in central Delaware. So far we still have power but the wind is starting to pick up as is the rain. So far we're okay though!! Will check in later.

[mara]

stay save everyone!!!!

[Hans]

Be safe, all of you in the storms path of influence!

[mawra]

We are several hundred mile inland. Most schools were closed today. I am not sure why. It is chilly today. That is all. Not much wind, no rain yet. Tomorrow I can see closing schools. We are suppose get high winds and rain.

We'll be alright as long as we don't loose power. We've got lots of blankets and flashlights.

If you are on the cost becareful.

[Lily]

Watching progress of storm with concern. Be safe, all those in its path. And get out the craft projects and books. That's if you've got light!!!!! Look forward to having you report your experiences of how you cope.

[AnnMarie]

I know there were a lot of preemptive moves. Some local schools had early release today...mostly in areas hit heavily by Irene and Lee last year. We aren't getting a lot of rain, but the wind has been picking up and is supposed to get even stronger over night.

[Bruce]

I'm sending prayers of protection for all members who are in the affected areas. Thank goodness if the tv or Internet goes out out you still have Anne Mccaffrey books to read. Ha ha!

[kevia]

We're far enough inland that we're just getting some wind gusts and scattered rain. But I have a brother and his family who are in southeastern PA and are getting it worse. Everyone on the coast, stay safe!

[Lady Maelin]

I have been very worried about this storm...too many of my friends are just too close to it. PLEASE BE CAREFUL...and like everyone above said...PLEASE STAY SAFE!!!

Out here I haven't been able to find out much...they just keep saying it's going to be awful, LORD...lets hope they're wrong and all it is, is heavy rain and some wind.

[Daccio]

Sussex County New Jersey survived. We had no power from 6:15 PM Monday to 5:30 AM Tuesday. Rain and wind, though Irene was worse. Haven't been out yet to see what the streets or the small river down the street look like.

[Hans]

Strange reports from New York. Half the city is dark. From 39th street downtown to The Battery everything is dark. Surreal effect and a very strange feeling, the Dutch reporter said.

[Cheryl]

We made it through fine! We still have power and no obvious trees down (I still need to go out for a look around, but am still eating breakfast). Many local friends were not so lucky, with either no power or a wet basement or both.

The former eye of Sandy actually stalled out just a few miles NE of us, then swung south right through Baltimore city, and now sits in western MD. It's calm here now, very little wind and light rain. More rain and wind to come as everything sweeps past, but I think the worst is done.

It's crazy how hard NY was hit considering how far north of the storm center it is. We're praying for all who weren't so lucky as us.

[Anneli]

glad to hear you're OK, Cheryl, I started to really worry when the radio here began to lump several states in together, presumably for speed, but actually causing less clarity.

hang on in there everyone!

[Hans]

Glad to hear you and yours are okay, Cheryl! I suppose New York is hit hard because I understand that the city and mych of the surrounding area isn't high above sea level, thus easily flooded.

Glad that tree in your garden that toppled not too long ago went then and not now! You might have had more damage had it given up the ghost now.


Did you get a chance at any storm pictures?

[mawra]

I am about four hours from the coast. We got some wind and rain. Some lost power. We have not lost power or anything.
The higher elevations are getting blizard like conditions. A couple of ski resorts may be opening earlier than than they had planed. The local new reporter said no one want to go to West Virginia for a day or two. A lot of roads closed because of snow.

[AnnMarie]

Originally Posted by Hans

Strange reports from New York. Half the city is dark. From 39th street downtown to The Battery everything is dark. Surreal effect and a very strange feeling, the Dutch reporter said.

Part of that was because of an explosion at ConEd. They closed the plant down at about 4mp, but water must have gotten into somewhere it shouldn't have been.

[Cheryl]

Hans, I have some storm-related pics in my daily ones from yesterday/today, but really it was pretty boring to look at. It never felt like a scary storm here, no heavy wind gusts and rain rarely heavy as well.

I'll try to update my 365 pics later today.

[Lady Maelin]

Cheryl...We're so glad to hear that you and your's are safe tonight.

AnnMarie...hope you don't get anymore weather through the night...and that you will see the end of it by tomorrow. STAY SAFE!!!

I spent a good deal of the day scanning different news sites on the internet to see what was going on. From the sound of all the talk, it didn't hit quite as bad as they had thought it was going too...at least not all along the coast...although it looked pretty bad to me.

[Kugai]

Glad to hear you're OK

[Hans]

Scary to realise the storm are was actually as big as my whole country! And the figure of damages is staggering... I can't understand why the Us / the states don't spend (more) money on prevention. In the south they learned their lesson and have started to adopt the Dutch model (prevention). I know it's all after the fact but many billions could have been "saved" for now and in the future and what's more, a lot of human tragedy I suppose. Dutch people just don't completely understand how it could have come so far. I do understand that the Dutch now on our radio and TV probably have a commercial interest in mind, too but the damage and the amount of dollars involved in getting things in working/living order again is mindboggling.

[Sniff]

2 Hans:
I think fact that storms come from an open ocean, not a sea, make a difference between US an Netherlands. And a storm from an ocean has much more power, and can't be stopped or valuably weakened by any human-made constructions. Anyway, you can't protect with a dam a whole coast. And if you do this, the dam can stop only a wather, not a wind or a rain. So bad there aren't any natural barriers on the way of the storm.

(It's all just my IMHO, i'm not a professional in this area)

2 all American friends:
I'm crossing my fingers for you. In the russian media things don't seem very bad, but NY an NJ looks like after armageddon.

[AnnMarie]

The Jersey coast and NYC caught the worst of it. There is no way we could build something big enough to totally protect the amount of coastline here. NYC has/had levees...they were repaired over the summer, too. They didn't actually break, from what I understand...they were swamped.

Maelin, we're still getting some scattered rain showers, and the te,mp took a nose-dive, but that isn't just Sandy... it's the storm front the came down out of Canada last night.

[mawra]

What I hate are the people who are told to leave. You MUST leave. They stay anyway. Now they are crying to be rescued. They are flooded. They have no power ect... Now first responders are risking thier lives to save stupid people who would not leave. If you are told to leave and do not don't coming cry to be rescued. I am not talking about the ones who can not afford to leave. The ones who decided to ride it out. STUPID.

If you stay after being told that you MUST leave and have a child you should be charged with child endangerment. I don't have sympathy for stupid.

[AnnMarie]

Nor do I, Mawra. I SOOOOO agree with you!

[Lady Maelin]

AnnMarie...stay as warm as you can...and I will send possitive thoughts your way, that your power stays on, until this is all over for you and your family.

[AnnMarie]

Maelin, for us, it IS over. What is left of Sandy is out over the western edge of the state. I believe everyone in the Albany-Schenectady-Rensselaer area has power back. My aunt and uncle in Bayonne, NJ, won't have theirs back until Monday, but they can go to one of my cousins...none of whom lost power at all.

[Cheryl]

I've updated my daily pictures now, which show just a bit of the storm and debris afterwards. As I said, the effects in our neighborhood were minimal; we were lucky!

[r2005]

Maine really lucked out from Sandy. There was some wind and rain, but the majority of the places that lost power were on the coast. I think there were a couple of places further inland than where I am that lost power, too, but overall things aren't bad for the entire state.

Maine has been lucky for the past couple of storms. Sandy didn't cause too much harm up here. For my town, I think the winds were worse during Irene than they were during Sandy, but that probably has to do with the difference between the tracks of the two storms.

I think the last time that we lost power for a significant period of time was during the Ice Storm of '98. I live in an urban area, and our house lost power for a few days, but there were more rural areas that didn't have power for a week, sometimes even longer.

[Moonlady]

I'm glad that everyone is still safe and I pray/sending positive thoughts for a full recovery to the areas hit by Sandy.