Sandy, aka here we go again...

[ny biker]

Sitting here watching storm forecasts for Sandy/Frankenstorm.

Hoping everyone in its path makes it through with minimal impact.

[Koronin]

Stay safe. We're in coastal NC and supposedly we're past the worst of it for us. The rain should end sometime tomorrow and the wind should be gone by Tuesday here. It was not as bad as they were forecasting for us. Ended up mostly with a light rain that started last night. Right now we're actually getting some heavier rain than we had all day, but the winds haven't been bad at all. Actually have had regular storms with much stronger winds than anything with this so far. I hope all in it's path are as fortunate to have it be much less impact-full than it's being forecast to be.

[withm]

Sigh,
I've brought in all my deck furniture and plants. Done laundry, run the dishwasher, charged up all my electronics, cleaned out anything questionable from the fridge. We rarely get power failures, and winds in the 75 mph range should be ok. Yeah, trees will come down, and I'll just have to hope one doesn't land on my house. I'm evacuating in the morning.

The big threat for me is serious flooding. I live at about 3' above sea level. I'd thought about parking over at the bike shop where the elevation is about 5' and walking home, but then there is this pesky mandatory evacuation order to deal with and they don't issue those capriciously. Then again, who wants to be the one that said, sure you can stay home, no problem.

I went over to the ocean just at dusk to see what was going on. The wind was gusting to 30kt easily, and it was high tide. Or should I say, extremely high tide - to the foot of the dune and the waves were easily 8' or more in the surf zone, and forecast to build to 19' over the next couple days. A couple days of that will make the high tides really interesting. The rain has just started, and I guess it's going to rain for the next 3 days. Oh joy!

[azfiddle]

Be safe everyone.

[ny biker]

Don't forget the full moon making the high tides higher than usual.

I'm far enough away from the Potomac, and up on a hill, and on the second floor of the condo building, so I don't have to worry about flooding for my home.

I went grocery shopping yesterday before the insanity hit the stores. I have lots of batteries for flashlights (and my bike headlights, which can double as rather bright flashlights ;)), plus a new lantern that I picked up after the big power outage in July. I've also got the smartphone with the really good battery that I bought in July, and I kept the old smartphone so I can use that to play solitaire and removem without draining the battery on the new phone.

Tomorrow I'll fill up as many pitchers and water bottles as I can fit in my refrigerator and freezer. I'm running the dishwasher tonight and will do laundry tomorrow. I'm also meeting a friend for lunch tomorrow, and will fill up the gas tank and hit the ATM on my way home.

My real concern is my parents up on Long Island. I expect the main roads in their town will flood. They're on a hill so they'll be dry, but they will be cut off in the event of an emergency.

[Crankin]

Cleaned up the leaves, so nothing gets caught in the drains in our yard (we live on a hill). Took down the wind chimes, whirly gig, and checked the yard for anything that needed to be done.
Did laundry, got cash and groceries. Running the dishwasher now. We have a supply of batteries to last a lifetime. Got the cell phone charger for the car out of DH's car and put in my car.
Made sure I have enough canned food and stuff I can heat on the stove (I have gas) and am making some turkey meatballs. Dug out the manual can opener.
Will fill up the car later, but I probably will go up to my office in the AM, which will use up gas, so may fill up again. I have to get some billing stuff done at the office, but the rest of day is my clients who live within 12 miles of my house. We are getting mostly the wind effects and some rain, according to the weather folks. We are on the edge, thankfully, of the really bad stuff.
Glad I no longer live in a house with a well. At least I can flush the toilet, use the water if the power goes out. We have a municipal utility in Concord, so if the power goes out, it's usually back within a few hours. Last year, in the Halloween snow storm, our power was out for 4 hours and the surrounding towns were like 4-7 days.
But, I wish DH wasn't away.

[tealtreak]

Don't forget the full moon making the high tides higher than usual.

I'm far enough away from the Potomac, and up on a hill, and on the second floor of the condo building, so I don't have to worry about flooding for my home.

I went grocery shopping yesterday before the insanity hit the stores. I have lots of batteries for flashlights (and my bike headlights, which can double as rather bright flashlights ;)), plus a new lantern that I picked up after the big power outage in July. I've also got the smartphone with the really good battery that I bought in July, and I kept the old smartphone so I can use that to play solitaire and removem without draining the battery on the new phone.

Tomorrow I'll fill up as many pitchers and water bottles as I can fit in my refrigerator and freezer. I'm running the dishwasher tonight and will do laundry tomorrow. I'm also meeting a friend for lunch tomorrow, and will fill up the gas tank and hit the ATM on my way home.

My real concern is my parents up on Long Island. I expect the main roads in their town will flood. They're on a hill so they'll be dry, but they will be cut off in the event of an emergency.


With you on the concern for Long Island- I have a son at Kingspoint....... (USMMA)

[jyyanks]

Manhattan is closing down the transit system as of tonight. Schools are closed tomorrow, as is my office. In the burbs, I know we're going to lose power so determining now whose house we should go. Biggest concern for us are 4 giant pine trees on my neighbors yard that are sure to come crashing down on us so trying to clear the upstairs of any valuables and hope for the best.

[PamNY]

There's talk of a pre-emptive power shutdown in lower Manhattan to protect equipment, so I'm filling water jugs just in case. We have food and batteries, and my apartment building staff is very good. I think we will be okay.

Taking the dog out will likely be a problem, but that's minor in the great scheme of things.

Hope everyone stays safe and comfortable.

[thekarens]

As someone who has been through a couple of hurricanes I feel for y'all. Stay safe!

[Koronin]

Good luck to all. The rain here has stopped, just the wind which will last through Tuesday and the gusts here are no worse than any other regular storm. I have seen some pictures from the Outer Banks of NC, mostly of Hatteras Island and there is a lot of flooding there. Milo Beach (Rodanthe, Salvo, Waves) appear to be taking the worst of it (which is typical as this is the smallest strip of land). There has been 1 definite house collapse into the ocean. It's the 2nd house from what is referred to as the S-Curves which are totally flooded. This house was condemned after Irene last year and no work was done to it, so no one was in the home. Anyone who watched the movie Nights in Rodanthe, this house at the time was the 3rd home from the S Curves as Serendipity was the first, but was moved father south 3 years ago. This area is prone to flooding with a minor storm, so the flooding was expected and the only evacuations were called were for visitors to please leave since they would be stuck on the island if they did not. No evacuations called for residents. I hope those who are still in her path will be safe.

[Shellyrides]

I will be lighting a BIG candle tonight to hope for the safety of all in this storms path. I just hope there "Frankenstein" monster storm ends up being more along the book lines and less of a horror movie!

[Crankin]

All the schools are closed tomorrow. I am wondering if it's really going to be that bad here. It's raining out, been raining all day, but no wind really, yet.
I'm ready, although not sure what I am going to do about work tomorrow. One client (the one who lives right near me) cancelled already.

[Owlie]

My dad's up in Boston these days... Hopefully Frankenstorm isn't as bad as expected.

Stay safe, everyone.

[ny biker]

Pam, I read that if you live on a high floor you should consider finding a lower place to stay, because winds will be even worse at higher levels.

Federal government is closed tomorrow, schools closed, Metro system closed, local governments closed, public library announced that no books are due between now and sometime next week.

Yet I know several people who are expected to go to work because their employer plans to be open. Which is just stupid, I think.

I usually go to the gym for weight training on Mondays, but I went today instead. Also met a friend for lunch, just to get out of the house. Then I went to pick up a few non-storm things at Target, which was not at all crowded.

I received an email from Verizon and a phone message from Comcast with info about reporting outages and how to get information during the storm. My credit card company sent an email saying that they will not charge late or overdraft fees for the next several days.

I also received an email from Tim Kaine, who is running for Senate, asking people to take any campaign-related yard signs indoors until the storm is over.

[cranfordrd]

I'm on LI but more worried about DD who is at UDEL in path of the storm
, wishing she had driven home when they told them school was closing and they should go home...

[ny biker]

I'm on LI but more worried about DD who is at UDEL in path of the storm
, wishing she had driven home when they told them school was closing and they should go home...

I hope she's okay. I have nephews at Univ of New Haven and SUNY Farmingdale, and both are home with their parents on Long Island because their schools were closed. The UNH nephew is a volunteer fireman so I imagine he will be at the firehouse for the next few days to be ready for whatever happens.

My parents are in Bayville, where the storm surge will be bad. Once again I'm glad my grandfather chose to build the house up on a hill instead of near the beach.

[Serendipity]

Hope everyone is safe and that the Mammoth Storm turns out to be less than predicted.....!

[withm]

I saw on the internet this morning that streets within 3/4 mile of my house have water up to the tops of the fire hydrants and the bulk of the storm won't even be there until tonight. It's a pretty safe bet that my house will have some water incursion. I only brought clothes for 4-5 days and Rx for a week. I'll be spending the next few days contemplating alternate housing arrangements, and starting an inventory list for insurance purposes. Finding a place to live that hasn't been damaged from the storm is not going to be easy and of course there will be a LOT of competition for whatever properties are available. So far I'm safe and staying with a friend 100 miles away, but the storm is going to hit here too.

[Crankin]

OK, I did go to my office and am back home, round trip of 51 miles or so. It's rainy, not bad, but with gusts of wind. Not more than a regular nor'easter, maybe less at this point. It is supposed to pick up and be the worst here between 3 and 9 PM. Clients all cancelled or said they didn't want me to come this morning, so I have a free study day, yippee! At least until the power goes out, which I hope doesn't happen. There's plenty of people out and about, although we have a state of emergency, schools all are closed, and the public transportation system is shutting down at 1 or 2, I think. They are already having issues in the coastal towns.

[Catrin]

Everyone be safe! This seems so late in the season for a storm of this magnitude, but obviously it isn't too late...

[indysteel]

Everyone be safe! This seems so late in the season for a storm of this magnitude, but obviously it isn't too late...

It's not the hurricane itself that is "of this magnitude." Sandy will wreak havoc because she is colliding with two other winter storm systems and being forced to turn inland, rather than back out toward sea, as she likely otherwise would. It's also a slow moving storm, which is going to increase flooding.

[OakLeaf]

It's not the hurricane itself that is "of this magnitude." Sandy will wreak havoc because she is colliding with two other winter storm systems and being forced to turn inland, rather than back out toward sea, as she likely otherwise would. It's also a slow moving storm, which is going to increase flooding.

It is "of this magnitude (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sandy-vs-katrina-and-irene)." It's record-breaking large and record-breaking strong. Plus the rest of what you said. Plus what-all's in the path of it. Scary stuff.

[Catrin]

It is "of this magnitude (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sandy-vs-katrina-and-irene)." It's record-breaking large and record-breaking strong. Plus the rest of what you said. Plus what-all's in the path of it. Scary stuff.

Thanks Oak, I thought that I had misunderstood something. Regardless, this is indeed scary stuff and I hope that all in the path are/stay safe.

[rocknrollgirl]

We are on the mainland of long beach island nj,right in the thick of things. We have had a stressful day. Most of our concerns have been the winds which have bèen gusting over 90 mph since early afternoon. We are in the woods and surrounded by big trees. We lost power for a while and I am waiting for it to go out again. I have lots of friends and students that live on the island. They are all evacuated but I would imagine the lsland is currently under water.

Go away Sandy

[Trek420]

It is "of this magnitude (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sandy-vs-katrina-and-irene)." It's record-breaking large and record-breaking strong. Plus the rest of what you said. Plus what-all's in the path of it. Scary stuff.

Yes it is. Be safe everyone. :eek:

[Crankin]

Power just came on after 4.5 hours of being out. Sitting here alone, with just flashlights, was not fun. My friends checked in on me and my driveway neighbor did, too, but I had fun texting DH as he sat eating a delicious dinner in Torino, Italy. Our battery operated radio that worked Saturday when I checked it, did not work. I changed the batteries, still didn't work. I ended up downloading streaming video from a local TV station onto my I Phone to get periodic updates and hoped I wouldn't have to go outside to charge my phone in the car. It's still raining badly here, with wind gusts that are diminishing, though. I think the storm has hit us harder than expected. The coastal communities are wrecked and I've seen lots of pictures of trees down and crashed through houses. Power still out in the neighboring towns that rely on National Grid.

[ny biker]

The flooding in NYC is freaking me out. Salt water in subway tunnels, car tunnels, subway stations. I think I read there is 3 feet of water on the floor of the stock exchange.

And the wind -- that broken crane on top of the building on 57th St. Just unbelievable.

And has there ever been a hurricane AND a blizzard from the same storm??

Just amazing.

[WindingRoad]

Glad to hear those in NY, DE and NJ are all good. Sandy is blasting us here in Philly with wind. I've had two trees fall behind my apartment and the sound scared me half to death. Lights keep on flickering but somehow they have managed to stay on. The exploding transformers all over the city makes it look like fireworks. This is a long night!

[OakLeaf]

The wind in frickin' central Ohio is incredible. Not super strong yet - they're calling for high winds overnight - and very little damage so far, thanks to the June storm shaking everything out - but nonstop. This is definitely hurricane bands. It's one thing to read about that 520 mile radius, another thing to experience it.

Stay safe, everyone.

[ny biker]

Update, the stock exchange did not flood. Though there is plenty of street flooding in lower Manhattan and along the edges, e.g., the FDR Drive. Con Ed turned off power to some neighborhoods. NYU Hospital lost power and their generators failed so it's being evacuated. All county roads in Nassau County are closed, and the parkways on Long Island are also closed.

I read early this afternoon that Atlantic City was pretty much completely flooded. I think there's lots of damage along the shore in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.

And there is 14 inches of snow in Davis, WV.

I think the worst is pretty much done in the DC area now, though winds will be slow to decrease.

There are relatively few without power in the DC area, but something like 1.5 million lost power in NY state. My parents and my sister lost power around lunch time today.

On the other hand, I was able to work from home all day long and was able to be very productive. I was remotely connected to my pc at work, which rebooted several times but I was able to reconnect each time. And I had real-time weather information from NYC and Long Island on Twitter. Technology can be pretty great.

[Crankin]

New York looks terrible. We have pretty bad damage along the shoreline here, the usual tree damage, and power outages. It's too early for me to contact my friends and my son who live in different towns/cities, but I suspect I may be one of the few with power. I was supposed to see a new client at her school today, and school there is cancelled, so I am waiting to see if my professional development seminar in our office in the same city as that school is open. I suspect not. I really don't want to be out and driving today. I just heard there's a severe thunderstorm alert out for New England today; we just finished a really torrential downpour about 20 minutes ago.

[Catrin]

Be safe Crankin, and everyone out there. Please continue to keep us posted as you are able to. This is the first time in a long time that I've regretted not having some form of cable tv...

[Crankin]

Spoke to my son. They did not lose power, which is amazing. He had a huge tree come down in the empty lot next to his house (the lot is part of his property). He was happy, as he wanted to get rid of it. My DH is now raring to go over there and wield his chain saw, to cut it up. I haven't been outside, but the only thing i see amiss is that the cover flew off of the grill on my deck. I am glad I took my canoe off of the stand we have it bungeed to. It would have flown off and been damaged. Ugh, it's raining again.
Going to get on the treadmill.

[SheFly]

Crankin - glad you are ok and have power. We ALWAYS lose power in these storms, and went out last year after Irene and bought a generator, had the house wired and were all set. Of course, it figures - we didn't lose power in this storm, though the outage tracker showed that about 42% of town was out at one point last night. We lost one big limb from a shared tree (it's on the line between us and the neighbor) that took out the neighbor's fence. Otherwise, all is good here.

Hope others faired ok also!

SheFly

[Shellyrides]

I am so glad those who have checked in are ok.

[Trek420]

There are relatively few without power in the DC area, but something like 1.5 million lost power in NY state. My parents and my sister lost power around lunch time today.

2.4 million without power in New Jersey alone.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/30/14802492-giving-politics-at-waters-edge-new-meaning?lite

As our TE gals and guys check in ok my thoughts go to those who can't. Stay safe, East Coast.

[IBrakeforPastry]

I hope she's okay. I have nephews at Univ of New Haven and SUNY Farmingdale, and both are home with their parents on Long Island because their schools were closed. The UNH nephew is a volunteer fireman so I imagine he will be at the firehouse for the next few days to be ready for whatever happens.

My parents are in Bayville, where the storm surge will be bad. Once again I'm glad my grandfather chose to build the house up on a hill instead of near the beach.

Did you grow up in Bayville? I'm from a few miles from there. My friend lives there now, and they always evacuate during big storms. I just read that Bayville Ave has partially washed away. I hope your parents aren't stranded! I'm pretty sure the rest of my family on the north shore is just without power, although there is always concern for the big old trees.

[Eden]

Be safe Crankin, and everyone out there. Please continue to keep us posted as you are able to. This is the first time in a long time that I've regretted not having some form of cable tv...

You can probably get most of the news clips on the web these days. They tend to get them up pretty quick and even at times have live streaming. NBC specifically mentioned the live streaming, that they said they were doing for their viewers who were without power (I guess cell service must have been relatively unaffected?)

[OakLeaf]

Most news and iconic photos go up on Twitter these days before the broadcast media ever get them.

This next week or two is going to be rough for a whole lot of people. Prayers that all stay safe and warm.

[Koronin]

Glad to hear all of you are doing alright. I have a friend who lives on the New Jersey coast (one of the small islands). She posted this morning that they made it through alright and the part of the home they built is structurally sound. The old part may or may not be and the houses on both sides of her are destroyed. She didn't evacuate due to the number of cats she has. She had no where to go with them, so she stayed, but they are all ok.

[emily_in_nc]

Amazing storm. Have been watching TWC and getting lots of updates on Facebook as well. Ironic that I am down here in Belize and the mid-Atlantic and northeast US is being hit by this one. Hope everyone in the HUGE area affected by the storm here on TE is safe and sound. Been through multi-day power outages from tropical and winter systems in NC, and it's not fun, but much less bad than flooding and some of the other horrible impacts of this monster storm. Stay safe, everyone.

[jyyanks]

We made it through. My entire town does not have power and there are downed power lines and trees all over the place. I had my neighbor's tree fall in my yard but thankfully, missed my house. I'm temporarily at my inlaws as we don't anticipate getting power back any time soon. My husband works in Finance and I know they are frantically preparing for the markets to open tomorrow. He has been working for the past 2 days behind the scenes even though the stock exchange is closed.

Some of my coworkers did not fare so well. One lost all 4 of her cars (not sure why she has 4) from a downed tree which fell on her driveway. AT least it did not harm her or her family. Another coworker in Hoboken had her building completely flooded and had to be evacuated by the National Guard . It's very crazy here but I consider myself lucky as my friends and family are safe.

[ny biker]

Did you grow up in Bayville? I'm from a few miles from there. My friend lives there now, and they always evacuate during big storms. I just read that Bayville Ave has partially washed away. I hope your parents aren't stranded! I'm pretty sure the rest of my family on the north shore is just without power, although there is always concern for the big old trees.


I hope your friend's house was not damaged.

I did grow up in Bayville. I think it was West Shore Rd in Mill Neck that partially collapsed. But the Bayville Bridge is closed because Shore Rd is closed. For a time during the storm Bayville Ave was flooded at the other end of town so everyone was cut off, but that road is open now so it's possible to get in and out of town through Locust Valley. I did read that the causeway was blocked and there's no access to Center Island.

And I've seen photos of shrimp floating in flood waters on the roads. I had no idea there was shrimp in Oyster Bay until today.

I spent a fair amount of time this afternoon searching news sites for information about storm damage. I even registered for Newsday's website using my parents' subscription. My sister has to work tomorrow (she's a nurse) so I was checking road conditions for her commute since she has no electricity or internet. She also needed to know if one son's college was open tomorrow (it's not) and if the other would be able to drive back to his school in New Haven (looks like he can since they re-opened the bridges). I was also texting information about closed roads to my parents, for when they want to try to leave the house.

Everyone in my family that was affected by the storm is safe, though some cousins had some problems -- two had houses on the south shore of LI that flooded, and the restaurant where one worked was damaged by fire. But for the most part the news has been good.

I also had some sad non-storm news today -- there was a fire in one of the condos in my neighborhood and one man died. I knew him, and I'm friends with the women who lives in the unit below his. She's now displaced due to damage to her home.

I've been working from home but I had to take a long break this afternoon. Between the anxiety from the storm and the awful news about my neighbors I was just tired. So I wound up working until 10 pm to make up for the break.

I'm glad everyone so far is okay. I'm concerned about Pam and her dog, though. I hope she's just muddling through the power outage and we'll hear from her soon.

[Selkie]

We lost power for 37 hours, just restored late this morning. No damage to the house, cars, etc. Since we are surrounded by tall, old oaks, we were concerned about falling trees/limbs. The house got progressively colder, the longer we were without power, so I ended up swimming two hours this morning. Took a long hot shower at the pool and was loathe to return to the cold house.

Two blocks east, a big old oak fell on a house, Pretty much destroyed it.

Hope everyone else impacted by Sandy is doing ok, particularly those in NJ and NY.

[bluebug32]

Finally checking in from New Jersey. We live about an hour from the coast and our are was hit really hard. We just got our power back, but many roads are impassible with trees uprooted everywhere. One of the biggest problems for us right now if finding gas. When one station gets a delivery, hundreds instantly line up.

[PamNY]

We're surviving in Manhattan. No damage to my building. We don't have power, water or heat and probably won't for a while. I'm not evacuating because I have a very old bulldog and don't know if he could handle the stairs (I live on the 26th floor). Inconvenient, but we are better off than a lot of people.

Best wishes to everyone who is coping with this mess.

Pam

[emily_in_nc]

Pam, that sounds rough...how are you handling your dog not being able to go "out"?

So sorry for you and everyone going through hardships right now. We were out of power for three days in both Hurricane Fran and in a freak ice storm a few years after that, but in both cases we could at least get our dogs outside. And in Fran we did have water, and it was warm. In the ice storm we were on a well so couldn't use water b/c of the well pump, but we were able to melt ice/snow from outside by our woodstove to occasionally flush the toilet.

[WindingRoad]

Fortunately I have power at my apartment but my school is still closed because of no power. At first I thought it was kinda cool but now after realizing how much more my next month is gonna suck... I'm no longer stoked. Went to Whole Foods this evening after spin class for dinner and the computers kept going down so I was standing in a huge line of people just buying food to eat bc so many are still without power. Anyone in line with platters or ready made food they let leave without paying for the food. That was very cool of them and made my crappy schedule seem a little less crappy. Take care of each other out there everyone.

[Trek420]

Glad to see people checking in.

Good article here as NYC helps cyclists use our bikes to get around:

http://www.streetsblog.org/2012/10/31/avoid-the-post-sandy-gridlock-bike-tomorrows-commute/

[WindingRoad]

Nice article and shows people new ways of looking at all of this. I don't know about everyone else but all of the destruction, misery and loss incurred in the last few days has really made me depressed. I keep hearing of everyone struggling to get back to some kind of normal and it is so easy to get sucked in to the negative side of it all. Articles like the one Trek put up make me feel better to see people turning a bad situation into a much more palatable one :-)

[rocknrollgirl]

Greetings from the Jersey Shore, or what is left of it. I am in Manahawkin, the mainland to Long Beach Island. About a mile from the beach as the crow flies. Needless to say we got pounded. The Island is still closed. Many of my friends and my students do not know if they have a home to return to. We had huge trees down all over the place, but my house is still standing. No school for the rest of the week and we had off for fall break next week anyway, so that will be a blessing.

I do not scare easily and I was scared. I would never ride out any storm stronger than that. Yikes.

We did not have power for a few days and it was shocking to finally get the news and see the aftermath. It is breaking my heart.

[OakLeaf]

Thanks for checking in, all. Keeping the good thoughts flowing to the region....

[Serendipity]

Watched the television coverage last night, particularly of the evacuation of Bellevue Hospital. So hard to fathom the massive devastation. I get that (as they say) people will get through this but in the meantime, my heart goes out to everyone trying to cope with it all and get their 'normal' back. Beyond comprehension!

[Trek420]

It's horrifying. I can't imagine. How can we help?

Here are more cyclists pitching in: http://grist.org/news/post-sandy-bike-generators-bring-joy-to-nyc-in-the-form-of-charged-gadgets/#.UJHLkXlpx5Y.reddit

[PamNY]

We just got power back -- ironically I'm at my friend's house in Brooklyn to charge various devices and take a shower. We won't have heat or hot water for a while I'm told, but internet service is working.

It wasn't pleasant -- I hated ignoring the dog's pleas to go outside, but he is very old and I feared he would get injured going down 26 floors. We could have gone to stay with friends, but I felt keeping him safe was more important.

I've only had radio for news, so like everyone else I'm slowly absorbing the scale of destruction brought by Sandy.

I saw a lot of cyclists in Manhattan and Brooklyn -- clearly bikes saved the day for some commuters. Alas, I couldn't get my bike down all those stairs, but I do have my Xootr.

[OakLeaf]

How can we help?

Since no one in the affected region has chimed in on that ...

my general feeling is that the organizations in the best position to do disaster relief are the ones who were on the ground before it happened. Here's New York Magazine's annual list (http://nymag.com/urban/articles/charityguide/toppicks.htm) of best charities in the city. I couldn't find anything similar for New Jersey, but as always, when considering giving to a charity you're not familiar with, research it on Charity Navigator, Guidestar, and if it's a smaller organization, on their state regulatory agency's website.

And don't forget the devastation in the Caribbean islands, either. The usual suspects are at work there: Mercy Corps, Doctors without Borders, International Red Cross, Partners in Health are among the organizations at the top of my list.

[Fredwina]

Sandy was bust here in Albany.
Professionally , however....
I'm a computer programmer for NYS' Office of Temporary and Disablity Assitance. I work excuslivey with NYC's Human Resources Authority(HRA),
Things have been a mess. Right now, we going to issue emergency Food Stamp money to 350,000 folks, with more to come. Since I did the emergency money for Irene, I've gotten tasked with this again. We're alsi supposed to sending some money out, and I'm writining some code for that, which should be ready for Tuesday. Needless to say, not much bike riding this weekend. Probably will head to work as soon as I read the Times Union.

[withm]

I was able to return home Wed. when the flood waters receeded. I had water to about 24" -36" throughout the neighborhood, maybe a little higher. I have not yet measured the high water mark, but it was about 2" below the top of my crawl space access hatch. The crawl space was flooded, but the water is mostly gone. There is nothing in there but wiring and ductwork hanging from the ceiling of the crawl so as long as there are no tears in the ductwork, I should be ok. I still need to slither under there and check things out but I'm waiting for it to dry out a little more.

Still there are puddles of deep water here and there. My pilel of firewood is scattered all over the yard, tree limbs, branches, and a few trashcans worth of pine cones and pine needles are everywhere, but it's still too wet to go out and clean up. There is a tree down behind my house, but it's not my tree, and it didn't hit any houses. My office mate lost 5 trees. I was lucky, no water entered my house, and the windows and sliding door are intact.

The highway that runs along the coast has been closed since Sunday due first to deeop water on the road, and then millions of pounds of sand. About 1/2 mile of dune was lost and relocated on the highway. They do not expect it to be cleared, inspected, and ready to reopen until Monday. This affects the residents of all the neighboring towns because there is a 20 mile detour to go around. My normal route to work is 13 miles, now it's 32 slow agonizing miles in bumper to bumper traffic for 20 miles of 2 lane road with lots of traffic lights. Last night it took me almost 2 hours to get home from work!

Many homes nearby, but not in my neighborhood, were not so lucky - 2-3' of water inside. Fortunately it's a resort community, most of these houses are 2nd homes, but still it's a terrible loss to go through this. My heart really goes out to those who have lost everything. Having lost an entire house and contents to fire a few years ago, I have some experience with this. I've had many scuba diving trips off of Long Beach Island - I really feel for all of those people who have lost their homes. Well everywhere. I had one friend whose car was flooded (totaled), and siding ripped off her house, but is otherwise OK. We lost power where I was staying for about 18 hours, but don't seem to have lost any power at my own house; some clocks were blinking, but my kitchen clock radio, and stove clocks had the correct time. I have had some brief DSL outages but they seemed to be measured in minutes, not hours.

LOL - my biggest inconvenience is that I ordered a new Kindle Fire, and it's been delayed by the storm, but it might show up today. :)

[withm]

I was able to return home Wed. when the flood waters receeded. I had water to about 24" -36" throughout the neighborhood, maybe a little higher. I have not yet measured the high water mark at my house, but it was about 2" below the top of my crawl space access hatch. The crawl space was flooded, but the water is mostly gone. There is nothing in there but wiring and ductwork hanging from the ceiling of the crawl so as long as there are no tears in the ductwork, I should be ok. I still need to slither under there and check things out but I'm waiting for it to dry out a little more.

Still there are puddles of deep water here and there. My pile of firewood is scattered all over the yard, tree limbs, branches, and a few trashcans worth of pine cones and pine needles are everywhere, but it's still too wet to go out and clean up. There is a tree down behind my house, but it's not my tree, and it didn't hit any houses. My office mate lost 5 trees. I was lucky, no water entered my house, and the windows and sliding door are intact.

The highway that runs along the coast has been closed since Sunday due first to deeop water on the road, and then millions of pounds of sand - up to 5' deep! About 1/2 mile of dune was lost and relocated on the highway. They do not expect it to be cleared, inspected, and ready to reopen until Monday. This affects the residents of all the neighboring towns because there is a 20 mile detour to go around. My normal route to work is 13 miles, now it's 32 slow agonizing miles in bumper to bumper traffic for 20 miles of 2 lane road with lots of traffic lights. Last night it took me almost 2 hours to get home from work!

Many homes nearby, but not in my neighborhood, were not so lucky with 2-3' of water inside. Fortunately it's a resort community, most of these houses are 2nd homes, but still it's a terrible loss to go through this. My heart really goes out to those who have lost everything. Having lost an entire house and contents to fire a few years ago, I have some experience with this. I've had many scuba diving trips off of Long Beach Island - I really feel for all of those people who have lost their homes. Well everywhere. I had one friend whose car was flooded (totaled), and siding ripped off her house, but is otherwise OK. We lost power where I was staying for about 18 hours, but don't seem to have lost any power at my own house; some clocks were blinking, but my kitchen clock radio, and stove clocks had the correct time. I have had some brief DSL outages but they seemed to be measured in minutes, not hours.

LOL - my biggest inconvenience is that I ordered a new Kindle Fire, and it's been delayed by the storm, but it might show up today. :)

[Catrin]

I was surprised to hear that a couple of electrical crews from the southern US were turned away from a town they were sent to help out...because the visiting volunteer crew weren't union members! I am sorry, I don't get that. They found another location to help out, but I was floored that they were actually turned away from an area that needed help!

Withim, PamNY and everyone else in the affected areas, hang in there and please keep us posted as you have been. So glad to hear that no TE members have been hurt!

[OakLeaf]

Not true .... http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57544237/ala-utilities-our-crews-not-turned-away-from-n.j/

[Catrin]

Not true .... http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57544237/ala-utilities-our-crews-not-turned-away-from-n.j/

This is good to know, they had it on our local morning news yesterday morning and my jaw dropped. For some reason your link isn't loading for me, but I am glad to learn the story wasn't true!

[PamNY]

For anyone wishing to donate, City Harvest (http://www.cityharvest.org/) in NYC has a good reputation, and good ratings on Guidestar and Charity Navigator. I don't have personal experience with them, but I have seen their trucks picking up food surplus from restaurants and farmer's markets for years.

According to their website, they responded to hurricane-related needs very quickly.

I'm looking into volunteer opportunities, though I may take another day or two to rest. I have a slight backache from hoisting heavy water containers, and climbing stairs didn't agree with my feet. My legs are plenty strong thanks to cycling! Sadly, I expect the need for volunteers and donations will continue for quite a while.

[Trek420]

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2012/11/any-portage-in-storm-you-cant-go-home.html

[OakLeaf]

How is everyone doing? The news cycle moves on so quickly while people are still suffering (even when there doesn't happen to be some other huge news event going on...) - how is everyone coping with the new storm? Is access to heat a problem? Keeping the good thoughts coming...

[PamNY]

I got heat and hot water back last night. Overall, Manhattan is in good shape though some buildings are still evacuated because of damage to equipment in the basements. Subways came back faster than I though possible.

The nor'easter didn't amount to much where I am, but other areas were hit hard.

Many people are still without power, heat and even homes, especially in coastal areas.

[ny biker]

Some of my family members on Long Island had power restored on Monday, a week after the storm. Others got it back on Wednesday. One friend got electricity back yesterday but is still waiting for the gas to be turned back on, and her heat won't work until then. I think a couple of friends in New Jersey are still waiting in the dark.

The County Executive for Nassau County (western Long Island) wants the military to take over management of LIPA, the electric company. I have to say, LIPA is actually worse at handling storms than PEPCO in DC and Maryland. I didn't think anyone could be worse than PEPCO.

NYC and LI started rationing gasoline today. Gas stations either have no gas or no electricty for the pumps.