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.

You're right soggy. But don't much like the ideas of him waving about in the wind up high either. Rock and a hard place eh?

I'm sure you are right mumble - he will be well looked after :) (and have a story to dine out on for the rest of his life )

PPC, as soggy says, hes not going to get flooded :) and the hotel will be very mindful of keeping their guests safe.

Yeah, I can understand that. Waiting and watching from afar is rough.

Aw it's lovely to hear reassuring comments. Got lots of "oh you must be so worried" type comments at the school gate, I wasn't too worried up until that point!
Thanks MNers :)

PPC, if it does start to rock a little (and thats not a worrying thing, its supposed to do that!) he can move down to lower levels to feel better. They have dampers and things in the very tall skyscrapers (how tall is his building?) which help to damp out the motion.

school gate people arent always helpful in these things they imagine themselves in your shoes rather than being able to stand back and look at the situation more practically.

Just as an update. The Playmobil reporter for CNN has taken control of Sandy the oscillating fan's plant mister and is using it to keep Captain Jack Harkness (representing The Weather Channel) and Father Christmas from interviewing the small squeaky duck.

THe outer banks webcam is back up and running - incredible footage, here

soggy

thanks manky :) quite a good view considering as its dark!

It is - I am surprised power is still on though.

I'm also waiting for sunrise at the Coney Island and Statue of Liberty webcams.

The Coney Island webccam is quite well lit at the moment. here

OYBBB - wow, I didn't know any of that! Dampers and stuff, all very technical Not sure how tall the building is overall though.
Loving Soggy's updates :)

I'm stuck in manhattan with DH, flights were cancelled yesterday :(. We should be safe at accommodation, not in flooding areas. Really scared though. Just feel sick and can't eat.

Mrs Jamin, what do you see when you look out the window; is it just a normal rainy day so far?

Hugs MrsJamin. Do try and eat if you can, I know its an old fashioned thing to say but you need to keep your strength up. They are prepared really well for this and you can bet that with the election next week they are going to move heaven and earth to sort out things as soon as they possibly can. Try and get a good breakfast.

I take it you arent in a hotel from your term 'accommodation' There are a few things you can do to help yourselves. Make sure that you have water, if you cant get bottled, fill some containers, sink etc. Its only that if theres flooding the water can get contaminated. I'm sure you know about torches etc. If there are chairs and stuff outside, obviously bring them in. clear gutters out. Later on, close curtains and move beds away from windows. Apologies if the above seems obvious or doesnt apply.

You know though, I think that if you are away from the flooding then the reality will be that tonight will be very noisy and seem long but actually you'll both be ok.

It is 7.30 am in Northern Virginia, but am still lying in bed listening to the rain and planning to get up in a sec. No school for ds, but he wants to go to day camp at Taekwondo and they are planning to go bowling to keep the kids busy. The office is closed so I will be working from home. It looks like it will worsen during the day and peak between 8pm and 4am.

We have all the supplies we need, so there is nothing we can do but sit it out. I am just worried about making our flight to California on Friday - we are going for a short vacation to the Yosemite National Park.

Good luck to all US MNers and families of MNers!

Embarrassing - realized a short while ago that my storm windows were still open from the summer. Leapt out of bed and closed them!

Mrs Jamin - I am sure you will be fine. The flooding is the biggest risk, so stay away from flood prone areas and maybe try and see a movie or something. Things get noisy and loud, but it will be over in no time. NYers take no nonsense, as soon as it is out of the way, they will get it all back to normal very fast! OYBBB talks lts of sense, get a nice breakfast and try and relax a little. You are not alone, there are lots of MNers here - we can keep each other virtual company!

Stay safe everybody who is likely to be affected. x

Would I be PFB to phone DS's teacher to check everything's ok and what the plan is (after 9am Washington time) or shall I assume no news is good news?

Calling to ask about the plan seems reasonable enough to me. I imagine you won't be the only one!

Thank you OYBBB, we are in a private flat with the nice landlady living next door so we're not alone and someone is looking out for us. Had a bagel for breakfast and we will be ploughing through copious amounts of tea. It's just such an unknown thing, I just don't know how it's going to pan out and whether we will keep power. We have lots of food, lights, water and we will fill the bath too just in case.

MrsJamin You will be fine - just get out and try to do something this morning. I was in NYC for Snowpocalypse 2009 when flights were shut down and it was weird and scary at night but by the morning everyone was over it.

In NYC it is really only people in parts of Brooklyn, Queens, Lower Manhattan and Staten Island who need to worry. Anyone who is in Midtown will be fine.

Just looked at the NC beach webcam...! I admit that when I see travel brochure images of luxury resorts with small thatched roof luxury huts on stilts out into the sea, connected with boardwalks, I always think 'hurricane'!

ScarePhyllis, you sound like you know what you're talking about. DS is headed for 41st street (Hotel Excelsior). Would that count as lower Manhatten?