General Discussions => General discussions => Topic started by: gennee on August 27, 2011, 08:24:02 AM Return to Full Version

Title: Irene
Post by: gennee on August 27, 2011, 08:24:02 AM
Bracing for the hurricane. Here in NYC the public transportation is hutting down at noon. Those of you in the affected areas take care of yourselves and be safe.                                                 
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Janet_Girl on August 27, 2011, 10:27:18 AM
Be safe, Sister.  You and everyone in the path of Irene.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: tekla on August 27, 2011, 10:43:50 AM
Hold on girl, out on the West Coast we're thinking of y'all and sending out positive vibrations.  We were talking last night about how surreal the notion that NYC would be 'closed for the weekend' is.  But I have total confidence in New Yorkers, you'll show 'em how its done.  Rock 'em.

SCORPIONS - Rock You Like A Hurricane (Moscow '97) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaWOGx9d4tg&feature=related#)
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: ~RoadToTrista~ on August 27, 2011, 12:20:39 PM
I would recommend gtfo of there.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: tekla on August 27, 2011, 12:24:01 PM
The total population that is potentially impacted is 55 MILLION people, there are 2 million under evacuation orders now.  So it's not as easy as it sounds.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: AmySmiles on August 27, 2011, 12:44:35 PM
I wouldn't worry, it's only a cat 1 right now and still should be by the time it reaches you.  In Florida, nobody evacuates unless it's a cat 3 or higher so I'd be really surprised if there's major damage from a cat 1.  Do stay indoors though :)
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: tekla on August 27, 2011, 12:55:13 PM
Yeah, kinda like all of us out West were LOAO at people running outside during the earthquake, because around here a 5.9 doesn't even rate getting up from the breakfast table.  But prepared is better than not prepared.  And even at a Cat1 there could be lots of flooding with the storm surge on top of the high tide.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Pinkfluff on August 27, 2011, 01:29:38 PM
The wind speeds may be lower, but still don't underestimate a storm. When Fay hit Florida in 2008 it was only classified as a tropical storm, but some towns were almost totally underwater. People were going down the street in boats. These storms can spawn tornadoes too, and you might not see it amid all the rain.

Stay safe those in the NE, and do heed warnings that are given.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Alexmakenoise on August 27, 2011, 03:17:41 PM
I think that the concern with this hurricane is not its strength but the fact that it is likely to hit densely populated, low-lying areas where people are not accustomed to this kind of weather.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: tekla on August 27, 2011, 03:30:45 PM
And the fact that a lot of that area is pretty low-laying, and very flood prone.  That and it's impacting four or five out of every ten Americans, and numbers like that get coverage.  Also, NYC is not just some town, it's pretty much the real capitol of American in just about every important way.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Devlyn on August 27, 2011, 03:34:42 PM
I'm 15 miles south of Boston, I did all my prep. Batteries for the flashlight and 247 bags of Funyuns!
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: ~RoadToTrista~ on August 27, 2011, 03:49:54 PM
Yay funyuns!
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: tekla on August 27, 2011, 04:04:46 PM
Like several of my friends I keep my most special and awesome bottles of wine in my earthquake kit, because if it's going to be The Big One (as we refer to it) then we might as well go out in style.


My 'kit' is actually a 20 gallon garbage can on wheels sitting in a corner of the living room.  My tent, sleeping bags and all that other stuff is in there, roll and go.  (And it's out in the open - quite the decorating statement if I do say so myself - because you might not be able to open doors.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Hikari on August 27, 2011, 04:48:57 PM
Near DC it is pretty windy and rainy atm, It seems like flooding is going to cause the bulk of the damage around here though.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: tekla on August 27, 2011, 05:52:34 PM
Here's a little sunshine for you East Coasters

Stevie Ray Vaughan Couldn't Stand the Weather Live 85 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEh81oaDsLw&feature=share#)
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Julie Marie on August 27, 2011, 08:07:46 PM
While Irene isn't big in wind speed, it's a HUGE storm and has been pretty slow moving.  Imagine a "little Cat1 hurricane" punching you over a period of 18 hours.  You'll be worn out and pretty beat up.  And most of the areas it's hitting are unprepared for this kind of storm.  Florida would shrug it off.  Not so with NY, where they may see flooded subways, not to mention Battery Park and Ground Zero.

Here, in ol' Chicago, the weather has been absolutely GORGEOUS!!!  Last night we took a stroll downtown.  I can't remember weather this beautiful in the last decade, maybe more.  Day after day, paradise perfect.  We had a friend in from Detroit and she just couldn't say enough about what beautiful weather we've had here.

It looks like cool, dry Canadian air is coming down over us and Irene is taking it in.  Maybe our Northeast friends will be spared by this air weakening the storm and pushing it offshore.  We're keeping our fingers crossed!
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Sharky on August 27, 2011, 10:07:41 PM
I'm currently in the Philly area, some areas around me have been evacuated. Most of my family is in Jersey. Supposedly there is a strong chance of a  tornado in the area now.
I'm just eating the emergency rations waiting for something to happen.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: V M on August 27, 2011, 10:21:44 PM
Please be safe East Coast friends... Our thoughts are with you

Hugs

- Virginia
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Cindy on August 28, 2011, 01:11:35 AM
Hugs to all the Easties from Australia. Keep safe. Flooding is really nasty, we lost several people this year in floods. Very unpredictable particularly when you are not use to them

Cindy
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Michael Joseph on August 28, 2011, 01:47:56 AM
Im in Mass and its supposed to hit in the morning. im more scared of the tornadoes than the flooding and everything. i hope everyone affected stays safe! ill be in my basement tommorow..
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Devlyn on August 28, 2011, 05:49:10 AM
I'm lashing together my 246 bags of Funyuns (ate one bag) to make a raft, I'll come rescue you!
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: justmeinoz on August 28, 2011, 08:56:16 AM
TV doco here a few months ago covered this scenario, and looked at previous hurricanes that reached the NY area.  They pointed out the biggest  danger was a storm surge causing major flooding too.  Hope you are all high and dry.  Hard to imagine a single city with all of Oz's population bracing for a cyclone.

Karen.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Amazon D on August 28, 2011, 03:47:21 PM
I am half OFF-GRID now

everything but my 8-cuft frig/freezer + 5-cuft chest freezer, which i do use ice i make in winter too, for my old wooden ice box and wooden freezer.

I got a deep cycle marine battery (with carry handle) and a convertor and i am now online even though my power is still out due to a tree that fell and PPL electric being very very busy. Soon i will get solar for the food storage in warm times but still use ice in winter that i freeze outside. So my 14.00 monthly bill should go down as i re-charge the marine battery with my car when i drive to get things etc. I just need to get some charging wires run from under hood or back seat of hybrid battery to my marine battery.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Karla on August 28, 2011, 06:38:58 PM
I think it turned into a tropical storm by the time it hit Coney Island, I slept through it like a baby anyway :)
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Amazon D on August 28, 2011, 06:44:42 PM
All we got was rain and some wind but it knocked out 3/4 of a million power here in Pa. They say i might not get power back until the 31st sheesh and our road is the only road in my township without power. Better planning for future. That chest freezer will surely help next time as that will keep for days whereas the frig freezer only can last like 36 hours until food rots.. good thing mine is only 8 cubic feet
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: gennee on August 28, 2011, 07:57:31 PM
Everything is fine here. Had a lot of rain and wind. From what I see there isn't any damage. It's pretty gusty right now but it's clearing up.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: tekla on August 28, 2011, 09:41:44 PM
REO Speedwagon, live 1977 from Midnight Special.

REO Speedwagon - Ridin' The Storm Out *Live 1977* (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCeGCSvueM8&feature=related#)
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Renate on August 29, 2011, 05:42:27 AM
Up here in Boston the peak of the storm was around 3 PM.
I thought that we had dodged this one when the power went out about 8 PM.
I went outside to see if I could see how far the blackout extended.
At the end of our street was a cherry picker truck starting to chop up a large tree.
The scene was illuminated by a light truck and the whole neighborhood had gathered.
We all watched them surgically remove the tree.
Finally the three phase primary lines at the top swung free from a large limb.
A few minutes later, to a large crackle and shooting incandescent bits, a cutoff switch was thrown and the block lit up.
Amid all the stories of week-long power outages we were relieved that ours had lasted only one hour.
Everybody went back to their TV's and internet but the neighborly pause had been nice.
Title: Re: Irene
Post by: Julie Marie on August 29, 2011, 08:02:38 AM
A friend of ours in CT was, at one time, dead in the path.  We talked over the phone yesterday then tried to Skype.  We almost connected but it dropped.  We've tried calling, emailing & Skyping since then.  No luck.  Her area had 20-40% outages.  My guess is she's scrambling trying to figure out how to save that packed freezer of food she has.  (she's an amateur chef, lives alone and cooks for an army)