Hurricane Sandy Status Report

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As One Has Been Saying

Picture shows the Eastside through mid-town starting at 39th street (Kips Bay) which has been without power in most areas since Monday. You can see NYU-Langone Hospital (evacuated due to failure of back-up generators), and other landmarks familiar to many especially those of us who live in NYC, or at least the view from the FDR.

It is not required nor common for office and or residential buildings in NYC to have back-up power sources. There is a huge cost both to installing and maintaining such systems versus the odds of major power outages lasting days. That is not to say many such buildings do not have generator power, indeed after a string of summer blackouts that lasted days a few years back more than a few buildings both commercial and residential installed them, but it was by no means a mad rush.

Leaving aside natural disasters New York City's power system is quite stable. Other than severe stresses on the grid such as during peak summer usage, the occasional failure of equipment or some such the power rarely goes out. After the thrashing Con Edison took several years ago after parts of Queens were in the dark for weeks they've spent millions upgrading, adding capacity and redundancies.
 
Reply #87

<span style="font-size: medium;">Mrs Bucket, or whomever you are today,  if you can possibly find the time to reread posts #39 and #72, it clearly states what areas I can see that are blacked out. This is what I am referring to. I never inferred "*all*" of Manhattan was blacked out. I am merely giving a mostly personal account of what is happening, not simply regurgitating information I read online or see on TV.  </span>

 

<span style="font-size: medium;">My humblest apologies if my posts may have caused you any discomfort. </span>

 

<span style="font-size: medium;">Louis E. Nieves</span>

[this post was last edited: 11/1/2012-02:00]
 
"It is not required nor common for office and or residential buildings in NYC to have back-up power sources. There is a huge cost both to installing and maintaining such systems versus the odds of major power outages lasting days. That is not to say many such buildings do not have generator power, indeed after a string of summer blackouts that lasted days a few years back more than a few buildings both commercial and residential installed them, but it was by no means a mad rush."

Back up power is required in Chicago, but only for Emergency systems, i.e. elevator recall, stair lights and fire pumps (few buildings have rooftop tanks, which I think are still required in NY code).

I see that the darkness restaurant has been doing a groupon deal, though candlelight suppers are much more enjoyable with full power in kitchens with Angel Gabriel Blue work surfaces.
 
Rich spoke w/ BrianL last evening and they're OK, but w/o power. If I'm not duplicating info here, Steve (Toggleswitch) was w/o power but OK; not sure if he has power back.

We were very lucky and didn't have more than some flickers throughout. There are some areas of our town that just got power back yesterday afternoon and a couple that are still out. Considering what a lot of other people went/are going through, we're counting our blessings.

Our (I speak for Rich on this as well) thoughts go out to all those still dealing with this.

Chuck
 
Could have been far worse.

A cat 1 storm, even a large cat 1 like Sandy, is a pussycat compared to cat 2-5 storms. A stronger storm on the same track would have been catastrophic. Do an after action review and consider what you would do better or altogether differently in preparation for the next go round. A Coleman lantern and single burner stove that runs on unleaded gasoline take up little space and could be a real lifesaver in the event that juice is down for an extended period. Pack in 40 or 50 gallons of gas as the storm nears. If it doesn't get used, run it in your car. It won't go to waste. Friends can pool resources and hunker down in the most solidly built , highest , driest, safest location. If you can't board up the outside, keep plywood sheets, hammer, nails, tarps and rope inside. If a window blows out you have to close the hole as best you can to stay dry and keep the wind and debris from beating the hell out of you. Down here in Louisiana, nearly everyone owns a small generator, chainsaw, firearms and many own boats. A small genny won't run everything , but running it a few hours a day will keep your perishables frozen and charge batteries etc. I've been through Beulah, Andrew, Lilly, Gustav and numerous weaker storms that I can't remember the names of. Just some things to think about. because y'all dodged the bullet....this time.

Glad to hear everyone made it!

FEster
 
Law and order prevail.

No eletricity for upwards of 81% of Long Island. Therefore no heat and no hot water for many. Hard to find gasoline, batteries, flashlights, lanterns.

No one who works in my office has power at home. (We all reside in Nassau County, Long Island).

We are all eating the crap out of our freezers as it defrosts and it does make for some strange meals! LOL I found a truck selling bricks of dry ice, so
I am hoping the meats that are about to go bad can be staved off for another day or two.

My office on Long Island has power so it's really nice to have something to do in a heated office that has a cafeteria in the basement!

I lost per on Monday 29-Oct- 2012 around 3pm and they predict say about two weeks to get it back.

I'm still smiling!

Stay warm everyone!

P.S. Anyone want a cuddle buddy/ shower buddy?
And/or want to do my laundry?

Email me at [email protected]

HUGS!!!!!!
 
Its like a curse....I was down here all prepared with food, water, and a generator....barely lost power for a few hours, and despite my generator going out....

it figures, you guys up North would be the ones without power for weeks...

Toggles....you think this would have been good week for a Wash-In?.....we could have gotten you a shower and clean clothes...of all the luck!
 
"Loads of Hope"

WAIT!!!......

where the HELL is the TIDE BigRig Trailer Washer/Dryers with the "Loads of Hope" we all bought bottles, Tshirts, and caps for, that donated money for such a cause.....

we should all put calls into the company....must have ben a gimmick for them to raise money for a cause they had no interest in helping with....
 
Wonder How Businesses In Power Outage Affected Areas Of Manh

Are going to deal with employees in terms of lost work/wages. From supermarkets to restaurants and everything else once you pass about 36th Street it is like no-man's land down there.

Office workers and or those employed by large to mid-sized companies may be alright but service workers probably are another story. Then there are the self employed such as hairdressers, nail salons, etc..

Car rental companies have mostly closed in the affected areas because not only do they lack power to run the systems required to complete the transaction, without electric power garages cannot bring up cars.

On a healthcare note NYU-Langone, Bellevue and Coney Island hospitals have all been evacuated.
 
Local news this evening

Said there are multiple workers and trucks from the 3 power companies in Maine, Red Cross and FEMA voluntiers already on the way to the worst areas to help in any way they can to get everything up and running again. We certainly did appreciate the help we got from the Mid Atlantic states and Canada when we experienced the Ice Storm of January 1998. It was over 2 weeks without power then for us but help from outside made all the difference.
 
Touching on reply #96

<span style="font-size: medium;">Very true Davey, they are not required to have emergency generators,  but they should be.  Our building were the few actually built with back up generators, not whole building generators, just enough to keep 2 elevators (out of 4) working, operating the water pumps to keep the roof top tanks full, and a few lights in the common areas operational. In the blackout of '03 they all failed, (lack of maintenance). As far as I know, they have never bothered to repair them (Corrupt management and COOP board). All the lights in the common areas have been retrofitted to operate with batteries now, probably give us a few hours at most. In the next COOP meeting, I'm bringing up those generators. We were lucky this time, but it's seems these storms are going to more of the norm now. These morons better wake up and smell the seawater. </span>

 

<span style="font-size: medium;">On a brighter note, One World Trade Center is all lit up tonight, although the surrounding areas remain dark. </span>

 

<span style="font-size: medium;">
</span>

[this post was last edited: 11/1/2012-20:29]
 
It's going to be a long and slow recovery for people who lost their homes or suffered severe damage to their homes.

From what I have seen here during hurricanes there really is no one to help you out. These people are on their own. They'll have to contact their insurance companies, FEMA, etc. and wait and wait and wait. Eventually their insurance companies will start to respond, usually with a low ball offer. Then they'll have to fight with their insurance companies in the court room to try to get the insurance companies to make things right.

We had Hurricane Ike in 2008. Currently Houston courtrooms are clogged with cases of homeowners suing their insurance companies for low ball offers. And these homeowners are winning big time.

A friend of ours had a large home in Galveston that suffered about $300K damage during Ike. Their insurance company offered them a $180,000 "take it or leave it" settlement. So they left it. Last year they finally got to court where the judge awarded them the original $180K, plus the missing $120K plus $40K in punitive damages. And all day long this courtroom heard cases against the same insurance company and each case had similar endings.

Our friends took out a loan of their own and completed repairs in about 18 months.
With the settlement they'll pay those loans off. But what about people who can't get those kinds of loans?

I saw on the television tonight a lot of people who lost everything were retired.
What are they going to do? They'll probably have to relocate out of the area.

And a lot of these areas won't have any trees left because the salt water from the storm surge kills trees. Galveston now has a massive project going to re-arbor the island.
 
South Cape May County

Cape May is just about back to normal. Some roof damage on a beach front hotel. Just up the coast is a very different situation. It seems that Sandy made landfall at Ventnor. As of the time of this message, Atlantic City is still closed. I am not sure about the other barrier islands but I do believe that they remain closed. Some were allowing residents back yesterday but required ID. The Atlantic City Press reports looting in AC. It will be a long cleanup in many places.

Harry
 
Looting In AC

Saw on the news this morning several homes, businesses and even a church in the AC area have been looted. Same thing happened after Irene and was one of the reasons many gave, including those who later perished during Sandy and or are missing, for not evacuating.

I say people put up signs like many did after Katrina; "looters will be shot",or some such then load up with salt buckshot.
 
Well, I hear more & more and am definitely sending my every thought & prayer out to our East Coast to those of you who are members here & the many who are not!

I hope everything goes well & you pull through... Very sad times when stuff like this hits no matter where it hits, and people take advantage of things enough that they resort to looting & swiping peoples' things left out in the open (as if that is not already a problem when we don't have those kinds of conditions & things should be under a better watch)...!

So stay strong, be brave & remember most importantly, when what took years building gets destroyed like that in one critical & crucial moment: REBUILD!

-- Dave
 
Yesterday I sent an e-mail to P&G to see if they will be sending the Tide "Loads of Hope" truck to the east coast. Here is the response I received:

As we work with the American Red Cross to assess the situation as a result of Superstorm Sandy, we have learned that we will most likely not have a true understanding of the situation as it relates to Tide Loads of Hope for the next couple of days.

We will be continuing to say close to the American Red Cross to so we are able to make a decision on Tide Loads of Hope deployment and what will be most beneficial to those affected.

For the most up-to-date Loads of Hope location information, watch our Facebook status and follow us on Twitter @TideloadsofHope.
 
Hey, watch it Mr. Ultramtic disgruntled shareholder, co-op board president here!

*grin*

(seriously, I am president of my co-op board)

Our building isn't tall enough to require a generator, but the upper floors would lose water in a blackout, Chicago is a 2 & 3 story city, so they get good water pressure w/o supplemental pumps & tanks, but over 4 it's shaky (I'm at roof level of the 3 story buildings around and when our pump died I couldn't flush toilets [flushometers], but had enough water to drink). My parents live way higher up in a taller building and my late 80's dad has been known to walk up and down!

I hope reconstruction on the barrier islands is discouraged, heartless as it sounds, to prevent this level of destruction from happening again. Barrier islands move naturally and rebuild themselves eventually - they really saved a lot of lives and property in '38 as I understand it.

How much more of the subway system is back up? As Launderess said, a lot of people depend upon their paychecks week to week....
 
NYC Transit

Buses are either running limited or full service depending upon part of the City.

Subway service came back yesterday limited in Manhattan with the Westside lines running from the Bronx to 34th Street and on the Eastside to 42nd Street.

With no power below West 27th Street on the Westside and about the low 30's or high 20's on the East there isn't much for workers employed downtown to rush to, unless the building has generator power things are closed. The NYSE is amoung some of the few things open down there.

Last one heard the MTA is saying there *may* be limited subway service by this weekend downtown. Meanwhile ConEdison is saying lights in the blacked out areas of Manhattan *may* also be on fully or in limited ways by this weekend.

This is all from memory of watching early morning local news programs before work. Haven't watched evening news and may give it a miss in full or part. Am growing wearing of the 24/7 coverage.

It really is a tale of two cities for Manhattan. Life is pretty much normal for the Upper East and Westsides of Manhattan. Once you get above say 34th Street you'd be hard pressed to know there was even a hurricane. UPS and USPS are making deliveries, stores and other businesses for the most part are open, life pretty much is going on as usual. Thursday many shops/supermarkets were short of food/stock but most seemed to be restocking last night and or today.

http://www.ny1.com/
 
*Breaking News* - NYC Marathon Cancelled For This Sunday

Amid huge outrage from the NYPD unions down to average NY'ers, the media, those in affected areas including Staten Island where the race begins Mayor Bloomberg has annouced that this Sunday's marathon will not take place.

Am willing to bet the man is cursing under his breath about this one.
 

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