Sandy, aka here we go again...

[Trek420]

It is "of this magnitude." 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.

[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.

[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/20...w-meaning?lite

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

[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.