Northeast Frankenstorm, hurricane Sandy.

[Robert Maxwell]

CNN is just reporting that a dam or levee breached in New Jersey around midnight and that they may have to rescue/evacuate possibly up to a thousand people in the three towns downstream from the dam. One of the towns that was most flooded (the water is up to head level) was called Moonachie and it's in Bergen County. People are on top of their homes and trailers awaiting rescue. and emergency workers are using as many large vehicles and boats as they can find to get people off the roofs in the freezing weather.

Shit, I have a friend in Moonachie. I better check on her.

It's eerily silent around here. I still have power, but almost everyone I know in the NY/NJ area doesn't. There is a foam rubber plant next to my building, and its gutter got ripped off, and was flailing in the wind, right next to some power lines. It eventually hit them and took out the power to some surrounding buildings, but I'm still on.

It was indeed like a lightning storm last night, with transformers blowing all over the place. I had a friend over and she was absolutely terrified. It was a fucking epic storm, that's for sure.

My thoughts go out to everyone affected. The images of flooding are just unreal. I know Atlantic City and the shore got hit yesterday morning, and now I see all these pics of NYC flooded. It's crazy.

 

[SmoothieX]

I'm way up in Dutchess County and it was nasty, but nothing like in the coastal areas. No significant flooding, large tree limbs down but no major structural damage from what I could see. Of course when the storm hooks back northeast like the models show I could still be screwed.

I got relatives in Westchester and they got it much worse than we did. Depending on conditions later, I'm probably going to have some company looking for a some dinner and a hot shower.

 

[marillion]

Over 50 homes in Queens destroyed by six-alarm fire.

A fire department spokesman said that almost 200 firefighters were at the scene in the Breezy Point section of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens. Fire officials would not confirm any injuries.

Holy crap.

My friend Paul, who is retired from FDNY was posting callouts from his fire radio last night.. Not just the homes in Queens, but from all over Brooklyn and the Bronx.. Stories of fire crews ditching their gear so they could swim from their trucks to rescue people trapped inside buildings, Fire crews trapped in their stations due to rising water, fires left unfought once people were evacuated because there was no pressure in the hydrants... It was scary to read his posts..

Deep, deep debts of gratitude are owed the men and women of the emergency service agencies on the east coast for their bravery yesterday (which is continuing into today)...

I'm happy to say that I've heard from most of my friends and family in the affected areas, and everyone seems to be ok, albeit soggy..

Thoughts, prayers and good vibes to all of you here who are having to deal with this.. Hang in there, gang!!

 

[Tora Ziyal]

My heart goes out to everyone further up the coast. By comparison, we had nothing down here. My power's back on already.

 

[Kira's Mom]

I didn't even lose power. We really dodged a bullet in my town. My mom's friends lost their beach house in New Jersey, though.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

It is rather adorable when Mayor Bloomberg speaks in Spanish.

https://twitter.com/ElBloombito

Anyway, my thoughts go out to New York and New Jersey. They definitely got hit far worse than we did down here. Hopefully, things will get straightened out as soon as possible and we won't hear any more bad news.

 

[Data Holmes]

I finally have limited cell service again, it dropped around 2am last night.

North nj is a mess of downed trees polls and wires, many roads still closed as cleanup is just starting.

 

[Chris3123]

Over 50 homes in Queens destroyed by six-alarm fire.

A fire department spokesman said that almost 200 firefighters were at the scene in the Breezy Point section of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens. Fire officials would not confirm any injuries.

Holy crap.

Thankfully, the fire was contained a few hours ago, 12 hours after it was reported. The number of houses destroyed by the fire has gone up to 80.

Link

Overall death toll from the storm now up to 28.

 

[Rhaven]

My heart goes out to those that have suffered losses from this storm.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

CNN is just reporting that a dam or levee breached in New Jersey around midnight and that they may have to rescue/evacuate possibly up to a thousand people in the three towns downstream from the dam. One of the towns that was most flooded (the water is up to head level) was called Moonachie and it's in Bergen County. People are on top of their homes and trailers awaiting rescue. and emergency workers are using as many large vehicles and boats as they can find to get people off the roofs in the freezing weather.

Shit, I have a friend in Moonachie. I better check on her.

Have you had any luck getting in contact with her? I hope everything is okay.

 

[thestrangequark]

I went for a walk around my neighborhood. There are a lot of broken and downed trees, rubbish everywhere, some buildings with the sides blown off. My pocket of Brooklyn was relatively lucky, though. Work is off indefinitely. I know there's no power at the building, and since most of the employees are B&T crowd, looks like I'm off until some transport solutions are found. I'm still waiting on word from a couple of friends in Queens and Long Island...I hope they're okay.

ETA: Just heard that, for the first time, the Halloween parade has been cancelled.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

CNN is just reporting that a dam or levee breached in New Jersey around midnight and that they may have to rescue/evacuate possibly up to a thousand people in the three towns downstream from the dam. One of the towns that was most flooded (the water is up to head level) was called Moonachie and it's in Bergen County. People are on top of their homes and trailers awaiting rescue. and emergency workers are using as many large vehicles and boats as they can find to get people off the roofs in the freezing weather.

Shit, I have a friend in Moonachie. I better check on her.

Have you had any luck getting in contact with her? I hope everything is okay.

She's okay, just doesn't have power. Her building is safe, though.

I went for a walk around my neighborhood. There are a lot of broken and downed trees, rubbish everywhere, some buildings with the sides blown off. My pocket of Brooklyn was relatively lucky, though. Work is off indefinitely. I know there's no power at the building, and since most of the employees are B&T crowd, looks like I'm off until some transport solutions are found. I'm still waiting on word from a couple of friends in Queens and Long Island...I hope they're okay.

ETA: Just heard that, for the first time, the Halloween parade has been cancelled.

Wow. I had been thinking about going again this year, but I can totally understand it being canceled. I can only imagine it's going to be a while before NYC is functioning "normally" again.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I'm glad your friend is okay, RobMax, and that your neighborhood is relatively intact, TSQ.

 

[Darth Duck]

In other news:

The replica of the HMS Bounty from the 1962 Mutiny on the Bounty film and Pirates of the Caribbean sank in the storm, with the loss of one crewperson and presumably the captain, who stayed with the ship and hasn't been found. The rest of the crew was rescued.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...andy-ship-abandoned-ship-coast-guard/1665339/

The crewperson who died, Claudene Christian, was the great-great-great-great-great granddaughter of original HMS Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

You know, when I saw her last name I wondered if there was a connection or if it was just coincidence. Thanks for confirming, even if it is under unfortunate circumstances.

 

[Maestro]

My student had been keeping her friends in the loop via text message. As of 830 EDT this morning, I was told that she and her family are fine, their hotel has power, and to stop worrying about her.

(And she was really glad to hear I was worried, too)

 

[doubleohfive]

Glad you are ok Robert.

Has anyone heard from JonathonWally or donkey at all? I've texted them both to check-in, but haven't heard back from either of them since early last night.

 

[EKeelerWasRight]

You Americans are very lucky it was only a relatively weak storm in the end. According to this, although it was almost three times larger than Yasi or Katrina, the winds were less than half as strong. It sounds like most of the damage was caused by the storm surge/flooding, not destructive winds in the end:
<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-30/hurricane-sandy-comparison-inline/4341764"/>

 

[EKeelerWasRight]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-30/hurricane-sandy-comparison-inline/4341764

 

[EKeelerWasRight]

By the way, France has also been suffering from wild weather for the past few days. Severe blizzards have claimed two lives:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/w...r-heavy-snow-and-strong-winds-hit-France.html