How is Sandy affecting our readers?
I was expecting a lot of wind and rain in Burlington, Vermont. When I woke up, the sun was out and the trees were still. It appears that the clouds are bunching up again, but nothing too alarming. Our friends to the south, particlarly in New York and New Jersey did not fare as well.
From Washington Post:
New York and New Jersey awoke Tuesday to devastating flooding, power outages and scattered fires left in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which cast broad swaths of the Northeast into darkness as it barreled ashore overnight and left at least 18 dead from Connecticut to North Carolina. The powerful storm’s torrential rains and howling winds transformed the streets of Atlantic City into rushing rivers and inundated parts of Lower Manhattan. Swirling water formed white-capped cascades in the Ground Zero construction zone and swamped New York’s financial district. A 13-foot surge of seawater flooded streets, tunnels, parking garages and parts of the electrical system that powers Lower Manhattan, leaving a portion of the city’s storied skyline dark. Seven tunnels and several bridges leading to Manhattan were closed, the city’s crucial subway system was shut down, and a fire destroyed 80 to 100 houses in the flooded Rockaway peninsula of Queens, forcing the rescue of about 25 people from an upstairs apartment. Firefighters were still battling the blazes Tuesday morning.
Glad you are okay.. the aftermath is really the worst time after a major storm like this…trust me on this I live in New Orleans and we do this annually.
Keep safe everyone and pay attention to what the instructions and updates from your local governments are.
Just a lot of wind and rain here in MA (15 miles west of Boston). Branches, trees, wires, standing water. Neighbor’s big pine tree came down on their garage and crunched a gutter, but everyone okay. Our power went out just before 4:00 yesterday afternoon, and still not back on – which meant that I didn’t get the “no school today” call and showed up at my building. No one was there… HUGE oak tree came down on the school’s front lawn and is lying halfway into the street. I’m sitting at a Starbucks charging up phone and iPods and thinking that an emergency generator might be a really good idea…
NJ was devastated as you all know. Huge downed trees and lines everywhere. I still don’t have electricity and am using the internet over my mom’s house. The night of the storm was hellish. After the power went off it was pitch black outside so all you could hear was the rushing wind which sounded like a freight train passing that never ended. All you could feel was the house shaking and hear things crashing and banging outside. I sat in the dark with a few candles and read my nook. We were luckier than many, a neighbor’s large oak tree fell over and just missed hitting my car; though it was blocked in the driveway. The next day a neighbor was kind enough to use a chain saw to cut it away so i could get out
Yesterday there was a line of cars down the street waiting to get into the 7-11 to get hot coffee and the restaurants that are open are jammed with people who just want something hot it a warm lighted building. My partner and I went to a restaurant over in PA and had to wait over an hour to get seated. You don’t realize how fragile and interdependent we all are until something like this happens. Best of luck to all of you.