Hurricane Preparedness

"...Don’t be fooled by Irene’s downgrade to a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday. This is not a typical hurricane — it has invested its energy into growing large in size at the expense of an intense inner core. As a result, it’s twice as large as normal, with hurricane force winds extending about 40 miles to the west and 80 miles to the east. Tropical storm-force winds extend 140 miles to the west and 250 miles to the east.

Everyone in Greater New York will feel this storm, with rain falling on us all. This storm is likely to drop between 6 and 12 inches of torrential rainfall, starting on Saturday morning and continuing until Sunday evening. Some spots may receive up to 15 inches.

In general, rainfall amounts should increase from east to west, with northern New Jersey receiving the brunt. Significant freshwater flooding will occur is places — and you won’t have to be on the coast to be affected by Irene.

Most importantly, because of its large size, the intense central pressure of the storm is more typical of a Category 2 or 3 hurricane. An experimental product from the National Hurricane Center has rated Irene at 5.0 on a 6.0-point scale for its potential to create damaging storm surge and waves. These are values seen more typically in Category 4 hurricanes, meaning Irene is extremely dangerous..."

http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/08/27/hurricane-irene-new-york-new-jersey-forecast-what-to-expect-for-landfall/

From the same article: "anhattan: Rain beginning Saturday afternoon, peaking overnight and continuing through Sunday afternoon. Winds peaking between 50 70 mph, with gusts to 80 mph between midnight Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Winds over 100 mph possible on higher floors of tall buildings. Storm surge between 7 and 15 feet in “Zone A,” especially in Battery Park and along the East Side. Overview: Those living above the 10th floor in skyscrapers may want to find shelter in lower floors. Winds increase with height in a hurricane and could be significantly stronger than on ground level. Be cautious about sleeping near a window on Saturday night. Do not walk outside on Sunday, as there could be significant amounts of airborne debris flying around."

That does not sound like a typical Thunderstorm, RIversider.

walk the dog, riversider.

walk the dog.

YOu told him to walk the dog at midnight. Did you forget what you had just said?

http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/tracker

I can't believe the hysteria around this storm. It's not even going to be technically a hurricane when it reaches New York.

The big storms of the past that caused all the damage? They were Category 3 or 4 hurricanes. Irene is going to diminish to sub-hurricane strength by the time it arrives in the city.

It's bringing a lot of rain, yes, and New Jersey is going to get a lot of flooding. But you know what? New Jersey always gets severely flooded in storms, half the frigging state is at or below sea level. It's insane that we allow so much development in low-lying places like Hoboken and Jersey City. You would think that insurers would stop writing policies on buildings in those places.

But New York? New York is not going to get walloped by this storm. It's not a New York hurricane. Shutting down the subway was nuts, and the media is flat-out irresponsible and sowing hysteria.

I'm glad you're not in charge.

Graffiti , the benefit of hindsight is just wonderful.
Let's face it, the mayor would be damned if he did and damned if he didn't.
Right, the storm petered out, but what if it hadn't ?
Why does anybody want to be mayor of NY?

>Why does anybody want to be mayor of NY?

Ego.
But not sure what posessed him to have a third term.

Hype-icane Irene! It's all speculation until it passes over north carolina, and as many expected, this one fizzled. Of course you wouldn't know that if you're watching the weather channel. They're still hyping it. Too bad, when the next actual dangerous storm hits, nobody will listen.

As of 5;30 a.m. it was a category 2 mist.

NYT headline: "New York Wakes to Hurricane's Fury." More hype! How about Hurricane's Fizzle!

What happened...it's not even that windy...i thought i would hear the wind's fury but nothing..it feels like a lot of rain...whew...i am so glad.

As many predicted, it's about to be downgraded to a tropical storm. The guys interviewing the weather aren't even wearing rain coats now.

I bet Ph41 didn't lose a single leaf never mind a whole plant.

I just had to turn off CNN. Anderson Cooper is not even wearing a baseball cap. In battery Park the reporter is tapping her foot in a puddle to demonstrate the sea-wall getting breached. You'd think the networks would at least have the decency to fake some wind and rain. Where are the buckets of water and wind machines?

typical media and political bs. Tons of people were still outside past midnight and there plenty of people and car on the road. I think the heavy rain that we had few days ago was worse than this.

At least during the earthquake a lawn chair got knocked over

http://www.feministe.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DC-Quake-300x193.jpg

well, the storm proof that least that when the MTA shuts down, nobody dies. useful for next round of union negotiations

I agree Bloomberg had the unenviable position of a damn if you do, damn if you don't regarding the hurricane. Evacuation of zone A areas in the city was the right call. Not exactly sure about shutting down the subway though. Again damn if you do - damn if you don't....

I had my wife and kid fly out of the city on Saturday morning, but I stayed behind. Wife was nervous and worried while I did not believe the severity of the hype. I guess I would have been more worried if the hurricane had started out as a cat 3 or 4, instead of a cat 2. At least they got a pleasant 3-4 retreat from the city.

>Not exactly sure about shutting down the subway though.

What's the big deal? With the weather like it is, where does everyone need to go today? And tomorrow, the last Monday of August, is it such a big deal?

If zone A flooded, the subways would be flooded too.

I didn't get down to the Riverside Park promenade at high tide, but here's a picture of the Battery Park promenade after the water came over: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/08/30/us/30hurricane511-chameleon/30hurricane511-chameleon-custom17.jpg

Anyone else leave the city or send some members of their family away from NYC and the storm?

The truth is that the dire warning beforehand suited both politicians and journalists. Just as with the minor earthquake that shook the east coast last week causing no loss of life and virtually no damage, Irene became a huge story because it was where the media lived.

For politicians, Irene was a chance to either make amends or appear in control. The White House sent out 25 Irene emails to the press on Saturday alone.

There were photographs of President Barack Obama touring disaster centres and footage of him asking sombre, pertinent questions. With his poll ratings plummeting, Obama needed to project an aura of seriousness and command. He was all too aware that the political fortunes of his predecessor George W. Bush never recovered after the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005.

The press mostly reported the message the White House had carefully crafted: “Obama takes charge” read the headline of one wire service story.

At the state level, Irene was a chance for political redemption. Christie had been lambasted around the start of the year for taking a holiday during one of the worst snow storms in New Jersey history.

Bloomberg, who ordered a mandatory evacuation of residents in low-lying areas during Irene that thousands ignored, had been widely criticised for inadequate clean-up plans during the same blizzards.

There was some loss of life during Irene, though significantly less than during dozens of other weather events across the US this year.

Preparation for the worst-case scenario makes sense and could have saved hundreds during Katrina. But the worst-case scenario was largely portrayed as inevitable. Some of the footage of television reporters putting themselves in the most extreme position possible just to get the best “stand-up” live shot was beyond parody.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100102355/perfect-storm-of-hype-politicians-the-media-and-the-hurricane-irene-apocalypse-that-never-was/

I think the media and politicians did everything right.

Riversider, if you disagree, what do you think they should have done instead?

Less...

Great analysis, Riversider!

I was not arguing that no precautions should be taken. But they said on the news by midday on Saturday that the storm would weaken to below-hurricane level by the time it hit NYC. They didn't focus on that, natch -- instead they focused on a bunch of made-up worst-case scenarios.

Also, there is a pattern to these storms, and we lived through much the same thing last year with Hurricane Earl. Remember Hurriczne Earl? Probably not, because it fizzled out by the time it left sub-tropical climes and arrived in NY.

But the media went wild with hype on that one, too. We were already at our beach rental on Fire Island when Earl hit, so everybody had to pay attn to the news.

They were painting such horrifying "what-if" pictures -- true scare-mongering -- but the conditions simply were not in place to allow any of that to happen.

I have to say, Hurricane Irene was much the same. The media knew at least 12 hours before the storm got here that it would no longer be hurricane strength, but still they did their best to incite panic and sensationalize it.

Shame on them. They truly misled the public as to the possible consequences of that storm. As for the pols, Riversider is right -- they used the storm to their own benefit, just as shamelessly as the media.

Riversider, how much less? Can you be more specific?

GraffitiGrammarian, you knew the exact path of the hurricane a day of two ago? The exact level of flooding in the transit system / zone A area in advance?

How about the exact amount of rainfall?

Guess what, there were flooding in some zone A areas and part of the transit system. Would you have know which part of zone A not to evacuate? Which train line would not be effected by a fallen tree or flooding?

Shit happens. President in command central? Every network covering. Media had stories of a category 3 hurricane when there were apparently many experts saying no way(the ocean was just not that warm). Maybe , just maybe we should've treated this as a tropical storm. Forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical, but for several days, we got to see a President in command and a media focusing on interviewing the weather instead of discussing the economy.

We need to take potential disasters seriously, but we also shouldn't over-hype them.

How much less Riversider???

What ever the experts suggest for category 1/Tropical storm.

What exactly is that? Guess what, different "experts" have different opinions. Also, you think the mayors and governors made the decisions on their own instead of asking experts?

Very true... It's also true that politicians are opportunistic. Irene clealry presented certain "opportunities". Some of the media shots in and around Manhattan were laughable.

What was the opportunity for bloomberg?

"It's also true that politicians are opportunistic. Irene clealry presented certain "opportunities". Some of the media shots in and around Manhattan were laughable."

That is also all true, but that does not change the fact that they did exactly what they should have done.

A category 5 hurricane woud have been great due to the stimulative effect on the economy from the re-construction since it would require tons of money to be spent. Oh shoot, did I just say that out loud?

They don't want to talk about it, so I will: Natural disasters can be good for politicians. For every New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who melts down under the pressure of dealing with Hurricane Katrina, there is a Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who stays frosty and works his White House connections to get more and more federal aid. There's an Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, who goes from being locked in a primary with Roy "Ten Commandments" Moore to basking in credit and sympathy and making his opponent totally irrelevent.

How does this work? If the governor or mayor or whoever in charge of disaster response is not incompetent, he gets to become the most visible figure in the state/city until the crisis is over. He gives commands. He shows up, khaki-clad, to disaster centers. He's the voice of authority. Just as importantly, there's no other news about his political opponents. In 2004, George W. Bush surged in Florida polls because the state was battered by four hurricanes that made Jeb Bush into a temporary warrior-king with a 2-1 approval/disapproval rating.

There aren't many elections happening on the east coast soon, but here's who stands to win if he doesn't completely screw up this weekend, in descending order of helpfulness.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/08/26/disasters_can_be_good_for_you.html

And Rudy thought 9/11 would put him in the White House...

Might have. He forgot about Judy Nathan

Typical Socialist. Everyone else's misery is an opportunity for the union.

Fortunately, the recent PA toll hikes have exposed the unions for their greed and attitude against the average New York citizen. No wonder the Verizon unions and the Connecticut unions had to cave. People are cancelling their home phones in increasing numbers just to save a few bucks and move to more convenient cell phones, yet Verizon workers think they should be held harmless and get more and more healthcare paid for by someone else.

yes Socialist, you said it out loud. Not that the secret hasn't been exposed plenty already.

Cable channels, which had been running nonstop coverage of reporters on storm-blown beaches in states further south, where there was far more damage, had their own postmortems. “It never got its eye back and it never got its mojo back,” said Chad Myers, CNN’s “weather anchor”. He sounded slightly disappointed when asked by Anderson Cooper, the CNN presenter who made his name with hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, why Irene had been less powerful than feared. It was mid-morning and Mr Cooper stood on dry land in Battery Park City in Manhattan as the wind died away.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f40723c8-d196-11e0-89c0-00144feab49a.html#axzz1WMnWyA52

Where was Governor Cuomo...I saw NJ, MD, MA governors but never saw Governor Cuomo...it was like Mayor bloomberg was running the show and the state...I think he should have been out front on what could have been a really bad storm.

Heil Huntersburg.

And if you turn on CNBC or Bloomberg TV or Fox Business, they talk about business and the stock market. And if you turn on ESPN, guess what? And if you turn on MSNBC you get nonstop liberal politics.

and if you turn on StreetEasy, you get all Huntersburg all the time.

and if you turn on StreetEasy, you get all columbiacounty all the time.

>Where was Governor Cuomo

Cuomo's ratings are so high right now he doesn't need to play Hurricane. He left this as a gift to Mayor Bloomberg and Steve Levy out here in Suffolk.

its like playing tennis with a ball machine

yes

will his ratings stay high if New Yorkers don't see him in a leadership role...was he on vacation?

Heil Huntersburg.

Why would they go down if there was no actual problem coming out of the hurricane?

huntersburg
about 1 hour ago
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oh I see. Ignore me.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/27766-sp-downgrades-us-to-aa?page=2
columbiacounty
3 days ago
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Sieg heil.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/27963-carving-out-small-bedroom
columbiacounty
2 days ago
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sieg heil.

Cuomo's been out on LI checking out the damage.

of course.

pay no mind to hunters burg using his julia identity.

pay no mind to the fact that columbiacounty isn't one of New York City's 5 counties.

julia, Cuomo was at places that were much more impacted by the storm. He was on TV and everything, but perhaps you didn't pay attention because he was not standing next to Bloomberg in your neighborhood.

julia is huntersburg.

aka hfscomm1

I'm huntersburg

Sunday...good point

julia, are you me?

So, has this storm made people more wary about nyc real estate due to the potential danger of major hurricanes?

So we lost 6-7 trees all up from their roots. It was ugly. So even though most areas weren't hit that hard the property here was a mess. I actually did not find the media overdoing it. They said very early this wasn't going to be a wind event but a water event. I was watching primarily cbs. So the guy was right. Tons of water and wind in some places - obviously since what happened here. I have some shots. We apparently live in some kind of wind vortex because of the way the buildings were built. BTW a physicist told us this. Now if the trees had fallen in the opposite direction the damage would have been much worse because they would have fallen into our building. Luckily they did not. Anyway, I think this was a little test of how the city can do an evac etc. Glad it was a lesser hurricane and that not too many people got hurt. No big deal sitting in for a night or 2. Really.

"Anyone else leave the city or send some members of their family away from NYC and the storm?"

my sister in law and i watched too much tv and freaked out and decided she and her kids better come out to our house in nj, i picked them up at the train station on saturday morning. they just went back, we had a grea few days together and all the kids had a blast at their big sleepover. her husband said we're all nuts and stayed behind in brooklyn. he spent sat night drinking beer and playing online video games with my husband, occasionally sending out a round a taunting texts to us and his parents who also urged him leave the city. things like "this is the end, pray for me" and "remember me as a good son husband and father, that's all i ask" and perhaps his personal best of the evening "tell my children i love them and i died fighting to defend their sh*t from looters". whatever, if ther WAS a real hurricane followed by looting he would be dead. dead i tellya!

truthseeker - Hope your trees/deck/railings made it undamaged through the storm.

What exactly is a "fucktard"?

it's a word invented by about ready.

OK,
so what have we learned?

North Carolina had a real problem and needed to prepare
Vermont had a real problem but it's far from clear that preparing one way or another mattered
NY raised lots of bells and whistles and we got a mist
Obama went on TV a lot , scored some points and controlled an agenda that did not include the economy
Every reporter on CNN wanted to become the next Anderson Cooper

jason...why so angry? you're right, i have friends in westfield who still didn't have power today and anyone who lives near a river out here got crazy flooded. we didn't because that was one of me big points when looking for a place out here, not being in a flood danger zone. a ha! let it never be said that ALL forms of paranoia are useless. sometimes it's a good thing.

Did you read riversiders post just above yours? He is the tard in question.

NYC got more than a mist if you lived outside of Manhattan, but he won't acknowledge this. Nor will he mention the apoplectic response of Chris Christie, which far outdid anything Obama did. I find him (RS) to an complete a-hole on this topic.

is there a topic on which riversider is not a complete asshole?

good one

If I'm not mistaken, "'tard" was popularized from commentators on "curbed" before the site jumped the shark back before 2008:

- sh*ttard, f*(ktard, b&tchtard, a$$tard, c*%ttard, s&cktard, d&cktard, and ad nauseam.

I don't like the projected path for "Tropical Depression Twelve." It could mean trouble for the east coast in a couple of weeks.

Her name will be Katia (replacement for Katrina) and move up along the east coast like Irene.

How did Curbed jump the shark?

Wbottom's comments on Jason are rather amusing. There is nothing balanced about Jason.

The above article has been modified by the NYT. So NEW YORK did suffer, a lot. More than NC. Just not Manhattan.

"More than five million homes and businesses remained without power across the Eastern Seaboard on Monday, with upstate New York and Vermont hardest hit by the devastation of river flooding..."

See within also the interactive map with "Power Failures, Rainfall and Damage From Hurricane Irene"

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/27/us/preparations-for-hurricane-irene-and-reports-of-damage.html

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/08/29/what-did-we-learn-from-irene?hp

"AUGUST 30, 2011

Irene's Floods Prove Deadly as Water Continues to Rise

Hurricane Irene never packed the catastrophic winds of more famous tropical storms, but by the time its remnants finally blew into Canada Monday, it had proved to be a slow killer, leaving behind a vast swath of shattered communities and dozens of fatalities.

After churning up the Eastern seaboard and then pounding the suburbs of New York City, where the storm made landfall as a weakening hurricane Sunday morning, Irene unleashed torrential rains in Vermont. Rivers overflowed their banks, washed out roads and bridges in every county of the state and isolated thousands of residents. Three people were known to have died in floodwaters, and another was missing...."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904332804576538111620272104.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

So MANHATTAN, again, was lucky. Most journalists are here (and myopic.) But the storm WAS bad, and IS BAD EVEN TODAY, per the Murdoch-owned WSJ in an article FROM TODAY.

Ergo, Riversider is an a-hole.

From the WSJ. AS OF TODAY:

"By early Tuesday, at least 46 deaths had been attributed to the storm, stretching from North Carolina to Vermont. The rising death toll puts Irene among the 30 deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history.More than half a million residents remained without electricity in New Jersey, where river levels continued to rise in some areas. At least 20 communities had no running water or had ordered residents to boil all drinking water.

Close to a million people had no power in New York state, and flooding in the Hudson River valley threatened significant new destruction. Hundreds of thousands more residents in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island were also without power. Companies warned customers to be ready for outages lasting up to several weeks, though on Monday some utilities in North Carolina and New Jersey signaled they could deal with the majority of the outages by next weekend..."

ph41
Yes, every leaf unscathed. Didnt even have a single gust of wind until the storm passed, post 5pm.

Jason
I find throughout the years, manhattan is often lucky, and wonder if a substancial factor is a combination of geological placement along with the skyscrapers.

"we got a mist"???

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marianne_oleary/6088648267/in/set-72157627537706028

tis but a flash swoon

TRUTHSKR!!!!!!!! that's hilarious! seriously spit out my iced coffee

"Hurricane Toll Could Rank With Nation’s Costliest
By MICHAEL COOPER

Hurricane Irene will most likely prove to be one of the 10 costliest catastrophes in United States history..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/us/31floods.html?_r=1&hp

"...Governors of N.Y., N.J. ask feds to expedite disaster assistance
With roads and bridges closed, wells and sewer systems damaged, rail service still suspended in some areas and thousands without electricity after Hurricane Irene, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have asked for expedited assistance from the federal government. "Hurricane Irene was a catastrophe of enormous severity and magnitude," Christie said...." - Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/30/us-irene-newyork-disaster-idUSTRE77T6BS20110830

Waiting for Riversider to recant...

You mean the guy who has been calling for imminent hyperinflation for the last three years? Good luck with that.

"...New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie said nearly 16,000 people in the state were forced to seek shelter in 16 counties there, while more than 700,000 residents were hit with power outages.

"Hurricane Irene was a catastrophe of enormous severity and magnitude, Christie said, adding: "Torrential rains have caused significant flooding in areas across the state, impacting residences, major and local roads, and necessitating highway closures and a suspension of rail services..."

real time on the ground reporting. friend's husband's office in warren is still without power, he is working from home today, again. some roads around us are flooded, so traffic has been a pain because everyone has to take one street to where they need to go. some businesses are closed along passaic river, but it literally varies from building to building. if the parking lot is flooded, they're closed, next door is open.

Day 4 and still no power at my home in northern Fairfield County.

The 10 things I have learned about losing power post Irene:

1) No moon, no ambient lights = incredibly dark
2) A toilet flush, set to "manual" is a stinky, disgusting mess
3) Generators, particularly your neighbor's at 2 am, are annoyingly loud
4) When you go to bed at 8:30 pm, you wake up at 4:30 begging for the sun to get to business
5) D batteries without the appropriate flashlight, are over rated
6) Two diaper wipes, shower to shower, and a stick of chewing gum do not qualify as a shower
7) Curdled milk, drunk in absolute darkness, is not so bad
8) The loss of phone, internet, and TV are not necessarily bad things
9) When clearing out a fridge, it is amazing how many bottles of salad dressing are in the door
10) "Blackout Sex" is a myth.

#10 is probably impacted by #6

"A Map of Readers' Photos of Hurricane Irene"

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/28/nyregion/map-of-readers-photos-of-hurricane-irene.html

A LOT of pictures all over NYC itself (including Manhattan) and the metro area showing all the damage Riversider insists did not in fact happen.

Do they have hurricanes on the west coast?

http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/downloads/pdf/hurricane_brochure_english.pdf