Hurricane Irene & the hurricane season

[Reddy]

honestly i'm less worried now - it'll only be a tropical storm by the time it hits NYC hard. sure flooding is still an issue, and we may still lose power for a bit, but it's not looking near as bad as it was yesterday. First waves of rain are hitting now though.

 

and i'm only on the 4th floor - should be good.

[G&T]

Besides the fact that the wind and rain has gone on for the last 6 hours, hasn't been too bad around us. Looks like it will be gone in the next 2 hours and the back end of the storm has disappeared. But we have a long line of severe storms coming for the duration. We now have some thunder and lightening.

[Rex Kickass]

I drank through the whole hurricane, and all I ended up with was this lousy hangover.

[Reddy]

what a wuss of a storm. psh.

[G&T]

Yeah that ended up pretty tame.

[southsider2k5]

Luckily it managed to run on the western side of the projections, which kept it over land a lot more than it would have been if it would have hit the center or eastern edges of projections. If Irene ran say 50 miles to the east, it is a completely different storm.

[G&T]

Luckily it managed to run on the western side of the projections, which kept it over land a lot more than it would have been if it would have hit the center or eastern edges of projections. If Irene ran say 50 miles to the east, it is a completely different storm.

 

No doubt.

 

Even still, looks like 87 is closed from Albany into Catskill and roads heading into Vermont are also closed. We have 90k without power and plenty of flooding. I can't imagine what happens if we had another half of the storm to endure.

[southsider2k5]

No doubt.

 

Even still, looks like 87 is closed from Albany into Catskill and roads heading into Vermont are also closed. We have 90k without power and plenty of flooding. I can't imagine what happens if we had another half of the storm to endure.

 

Plus the eye wall just collapsed instead of regenerating out over the ocean. That by itself was huge.

[G&T]

So it isn't over. Still pouring very windy. There was a small mudslide not too far from where I live and a couple buildings were damaged. A friend's sewers are backing up.

Edited August 28, 2011 by G&T

[lostfan]

So I'm the world's biggest asshole right now I guess.

 

I have a leaky roof, a problem I was aware of before Irene showed up. Incidentally, I have an appointment I set up for next week, done before I knew the hurricane was actually coming. Because of where the damaged shingles are, when it rains hard, water comes into my stepdaughter's room and damages the ceiling. The last time it rained a couple weeks ago, it got a bunch of her clothes wet and her TV got wet, but it worked again when it dried (lucky).

 

Fast forward to today and now that Irene has come and gone, of course there was a lot of water that leaked into the room and damaged the ceiling in her room some more (expected, and also something I was going to get fixed). Here's the kicker though: my wife let her go stay over at her friend's house down the street for the whole weekend, and my stepdaughter KNEW Irene was coming but didn't bother moving her TV and put all her clothes back in the SAME SPOT.

 

So she comes home and sees her room and starts flipping out and having a temper tantrum. My wife asks "why didn't you move it?" and she says "I'm sorry, I didn't do it." I say "what are you apologizing for? It's your problem." My wife gives me the side eye and says "it's not that this is anyone's fault or problem, this is everyone's problem." Uhhh no. Really it's not. I ask her why she's giving me "that look" and she says "it was your reaction." I say "what did you want me to do, go start jumping up and down and start screaming "OH s***" a bunch of time while sobbing hysterically? We already got the guy coming to fix it."

 

If that TV is dead and she thinks she's getting another one, she's got a rude surprise! Sorry! Those are the consequences of her actions and the priorities she set.

[Rex Kickass]

There will be no trains from Trenton to New York in the morning, because the train station and track are under three feet of water.

The highway I take to go to work is closed because its under 5 or 6 feet of water.

The highway to go to the State House is closed because the 13 foot high tunnel under a riverfront park is about 60% filled with the Delaware River.

 

I live on a hill, I didn't think we got hit bad. The truth is my city got socked, I made out alright.

[hogan873]

The hurricane took the worst possible path through NC. It went right up the sound and pushed all the water out, then when the eye passed all the water came rushing back in. There were streets under 5 feet of water. My sister's house was flooded with about 3 feet of water in her utility room (most newer houses are built on pilings).

[G&T]

Water is rising in upstate NY causing voluntary evacuations in towns along the Mohawk and Hudson. Meanwhile, much worse, is what's going on in the Catskills. Here is a site devoted to getting word out about their situation. The pics tell the story.

[Steve9347]

So I'm the world's biggest asshole right now I guess.

 

I have a leaky roof, a problem I was aware of before Irene showed up. Incidentally, I have an appointment I set up for next week, done before I knew the hurricane was actually coming. Because of where the damaged shingles are, when it rains hard, water comes into my stepdaughter's room and damages the ceiling. The last time it rained a couple weeks ago, it got a bunch of her clothes wet and her TV got wet, but it worked again when it dried (lucky).

 

Fast forward to today and now that Irene has come and gone, of course there was a lot of water that leaked into the room and damaged the ceiling in her room some more (expected, and also something I was going to get fixed). Here's the kicker though: my wife let her go stay over at her friend's house down the street for the whole weekend, and my stepdaughter KNEW Irene was coming but didn't bother moving her TV and put all her clothes back in the SAME SPOT.

 

So she comes home and sees her room and starts flipping out and having a temper tantrum. My wife asks "why didn't you move it?" and she says "I'm sorry, I didn't do it." I say "what are you apologizing for? It's your problem." My wife gives me the side eye and says "it's not that this is anyone's fault or problem, this is everyone's problem." Uhhh no. Really it's not. I ask her why she's giving me "that look" and she says "it was your reaction." I say "what did you want me to do, go start jumping up and down and start screaming "OH s***" a bunch of time while sobbing hysterically? We already got the guy coming to fix it."

 

If that TV is dead and she thinks she's getting another one, she's got a rude surprise! Sorry! Those are the consequences of her actions and the priorities she set.

If I were in that situation, I'd have double-checked my kid's room that has rain getting in it to look out for her. She's a kid, kid's are stupid.

[southsider2k5]

The hurricane took the worst possible path through NC. It went right up the sound and pushed all the water out, then when the eye passed all the water came rushing back in. There were streets under 5 feet of water. My sister's house was flooded with about 3 feet of water in her utility room (most newer houses are built on pilings).

 

Ugh. Sorry to hear that.

[Balta1701]

Current estimates are zeroing in around a $7 billion loss for Irene.

 

That would make this hurricane the 10th Billion-dollar disaster in the U.S. this year, breaking the old record from 2008 of 9 billion-dollar disasters in one year.

[southsider2k5]

Like I said, if this storm runs a track of about 50 miles to the east, the spin is totally the opposite.

 

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/20...loudsclearirene

 

The storm-clouds clear

 

Aug 28th 2011, 23:41 by N.B. | WASHINGTON, D.C.

 

HURRICANE IRENE, which was downgraded to a tropical storm on Sunday morning, is moving north out of New England, leaving a trail of damage and destruction in its wake. At least 19 people have been killed by the storm, and travel across America's eastern seaboard was disrupted all weekend. But, as the New York Times noted Sunday, the hurricane "ended up falling far short of the historic disaster that many people had feared." Was all the fuss, as one of our commenters argued Saturday, "just plain panic promoted by the US media"?

 

Not quite. Hurricanes are serious business. They have the capacity to cause billions of dollars in damage and kill hundreds or thousands of people. They have political consequences, too—no politician wants to be blamed for a disaster the way President George W. Bush was after Hurricane Katrina. Moreover, it is very unusual for a hurricane to hit America's north-east, where around one sixth of Americans live and a quarter of the country's economic output is produced. An unusual, potentially disastrous event that was certain to affect millions of Americans and put billions of dollars of property at risk is just the sort of thing the media should be covering. Just because Irene wasn't the disaster that some Americans feared doesn't mean it wasn't important to cover it.

 

Although the media's coverage of Irene may have seemed wall-to-wall, Nate Silver, the New York Times' in-house statistician, says that, according to his research, "Irene received only the 13th most media coverage among Atlantic hurricanes since 1980," and that "Hurricane Gustav in 2008 received at least as much coverage as Irene and Irene may wind up causing as much or more damage." It's good news that Irene was not as devastating as some feared. Extensive media coverage meant people were more aware of the oncoming storm and better prepared to deal with it when it hit. That's a good thing, too. Remember: 19 people are dead, millions of people are without power, and there is widespread flooding and property damage across over a dozen states. People complaining about the "hype" are missing the point. Americans should be thankful the storm wasn't a lot worse.

 

[Balta1701]

State of emergency declared in Vermont, worst flooding there in 75 years.

[southsider2k5]

Tom Skilling

Check out some of these final Hur/Trop Storm Irene rain totals, many of which fell in just 24 hr: 20.40" 9WNW Virginia Beach VA; 20.00" Jacksonville NC; 15.66" Bunyon NC; 14.79" New Bern NC; 14.27" Williamson NC; 13.30" East Durham NY; 12.96" Plaum Point MD; 12.09" Ocean City MD;11.27" Freehold Township NJ; 11.23" Mendon VT; 10.43" Ellendale DE; 10.71" Little Falls Township NJ. To put these #s in perspective, Chi's "normal" annual precip is 36.89".

[Balta1701]

Tom Skilling

Check out some of these final Hur/Trop Storm Irene rain totals, many of which fell in just 24 hr: 20.40" 9WNW Virginia Beach VA; 20.00" Jacksonville NC; 15.66" Bunyon NC; 14.79" New Bern NC; 14.27" Williamson NC; 13.30" East Durham NY; 12.96" Plaum Point MD; 12.09" Ocean City MD;11.27" Freehold Township NJ; 11.23" Mendon VT; 10.43" Ellendale DE; 10.71" Little Falls Township NJ. To put these #s in perspective, Chi's "normal" annual precip is 36.89".

 

 

Thanks to the good people at NOAA.

[hawksfan61]

Our power finally came back on around 100 this morning after being out since around 11pm Saturday night, safe to say all the food in our fridge and our big chest freezer is a loss. We also ended up with some wet carpet in the basement from some water that worked its way into the house somehow.

 

Overall it is still pretty bad in the county where I live, lots of people and businesses without power (I don't know of a grocery store in the southern part of the county as of last night that actually had power). Driving is taking your life in your hands at this point with all the signals being out, for some reason a lot of people don't understand the concept of a 4-way stop and are just flying through the intersections pedal to the metal.

[Balta1701]

Electronic infrastructure update.

As of Monday afternoon, as the storm moved north, the commission reported that 44 percent of the cell tower sites in Vermont are out of service, more than a third are out in Connecticut, 31 percent are out in Rhode island, and a quarter are out of service in Virginia.

 

Meanwhile, the percentage of cell sites that are out of service in North Carolina declined slightly to 11 percent from 14 percent.

 

So far, Hurricane Irene has put 6,500 cell phone sites out of service, knocked out 210,700 landline phones, crippled two television stations, affected a million cable customers and taken 10 radio stations off line.

 

These numbers are larger than the ones reported Sunday afternoon by the commission, which at the time said 1,398 cell sites were not operational. That could be because many of the cell sites at the time were operating on back-up power.

 

But it also appears that the number of cable subscribers whose cable service has gone down has doubled from 500,000 on Sunday.

 

Nevertheless, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Sunday that in his opinion, the damage to the communications infrastructure wasn't "major," and that first responders were not impeded in their emergency communications.

[lostfan]

If I were in that situation, I'd have double-checked my kid's room that has rain getting in it to look out for her. She's a kid, kid's are stupid.

She is 14 though. She's old enough to know that when the roof leaked b/c of rain, a "hurricane" will do much worse.

[knightni]

Go get a Goodwill TV.

[southsider2k5]

Go get a Goodwill TV.

 

Or if you want to teach her the lesson, tote her down to goodwill to buy one with her allowance or something.