Hurricane sandy

[OhYouBigBadBeast]

Looking potentially very serious indeed for the eastern seaboard of the US, perhaps including NYC if some models are correct. The storm will probably be extra tropical but nevertheless if it interacts with a trough modelled off the east coast that could bring down arctic air then the result could be approaching catastrophic, with utterly torrential rain, severe blizzards, hurricane force winds and severe storm surges all being possible.

I think people will be getting very worried about this. Mon tues weds are the days to be watching. Lets hope the storm turns east away from the us coast.

[OhYouBigBadBeast]

It may well flood waswondering. They are doing a phased shut down from 7pm
here

[MrsjREwing]

I just saw a BBC news report on this, marking my place.

[MrsjREwing]

NY Mayor ordering partial evacuation.

[OhYouBigBadBeast]

breaking records for the largest hurricane/tropical storm ever recorded with a 12 ft high seas a thousand miles in diameter.
N. carolina has exprienced 12-15ft waves on top of the storm surge.
That blog is well worth a read.

[OhYouBigBadBeast]

guardian are doing a live blog on it.

[OhYouBigBadBeast]

[PrincessOfChina]

My little brother and his GF are in NYC now on a holiday they've planned for a year. He says it's not too bad right now (they're actually at the NY Jets NFL game right now) but expecting to spend tomorrow in the hotel.

Any ideas on whether they'll get any sight seeing done the rest of the week? How long do these things last?

[vixcyn]

From my brothers in Boston. Rain has been pissing down most of the day. Stores were doing a very brisk business. Some schools have begun being cancelled for Monday in Massachusetts. My brothers(Stae Troopers) hope everyone stays the hell off the road tomorrow.

[OhYouBigBadBeast]

Princess, impossible to say, two days of bad weather, but then it's whether there is power and if there was damage to the transport infrastructure.
They are certainly going to have a holiday to talk about!

Thanks for the update vixcyn. It sounds like people are taking it seriously and preparing.

[mankyscotslass]

I've found this webcam in North Carolina here

[HairyMaclary]

Oops, I'm taking my DB and sil to the airport tomorrow as they are due to fly in to NYC for six months of internships. I guess I'd better get them to check their flight before I pick them up. Do you have any news of the air travel situation?

[mankyscotslass]

It just cut out mid transmission - not a surprise really.

[PrincessOfChina]

Thank you!

I suspect he'll be proposing at some point too so it'll certainly be a memorable one if he does that too!

[HairyMaclary]

I don't really know their flight details, will make sure that they are checked though before we set off. All I know is I'm taking them to Heathrow for 4pm. I guess there will be some idea of the impact by then but it will be cutting it a bit fine!

[OhYouBigBadBeast]

Wonder what any prospective child might be called

[Erebus]

As others have said, providing your house/apartment isn't actually on the beach (storm surge etc) the problem could be the rain that follows.

A category 1 hurricane isn't that big-a deal, tbh (considering they go up to 5!)

25 years ago I spend a boring Xmas with a boyfriend in a motel in Cairns, Australia, as Cyclone Joy, a Category 5, bore down on the town. It sat off shore for days, but the power was cut (trees down on power lines) and the water was cut (pumps at the dams failing due to electric shortage and debris in the turbines). We had a battery radio that was updating us- they put out a loud 'jingle' every time there's something new to report so you listen. We'd filled the bath tub and criss-crossed the motel windows with masking tape and worked out how to get the mattress into the bathroom (strongest part of a house). We knew where our evacuation station was an' all! Luckily, though the staff left, the owner didn't so all us guests, together, raided the fridges and made pot luck meals on the gas burners, then swam among the submerged pool furniture in the pool (you sling it in to stop it becoming a projectile). We knew how to entertain ourselves... but we weren't that worried as northern Queensland houses are built to withstand category 5 cyclones.

Eventually it drifted south, still at sea, and crossed the coast as a Category 1 halfway down Queensland.

The big problem was then the rain and getting out. There were no planes left as, having learned their lesson during cyclone Tracey (Darwin, 1974?5?) the airlines flew them all out; the flooding cut the N/S railway line and the Bruce Highway that circles Australia was washed out!

Took me 10 days to leave back to Brisbane in the end (on a train that went 200 miles inland to avoid the central coats flooding!), having cancelled my dive trip as the ocean was full of debris and silt.... and small cuts on my feet festered as the were constantly wet as the streets of Cairns were still awash.

I very much hope this is hype not reality for the poor Americans!

[OhYouBigBadBeast]

Hairy, there's discussion here about ny flights. Not looking so good I'm afraid.

[OhYouBigBadBeast]

Erebus, part of the problem is that it is going to be fed by cold air and crash into a winter storm coming from the west. So it's not an ordinary cat 1 storm. I'm also a bit interested in how the winds will funnel around the skyscrapers, though they aren't predicted to be too terrible.

[OhYouBigBadBeast]

Also it looks like the surge may well coincide with the full moon high tide.

[LadyEvilBeagle]

It's all sounding very Day After Tomorrow isn't it?