How-To Geek

No accounting for 'Mother Nature' Thinking of you all.

It looks really scary. It must be really bad when they start evacuating 375.000 people!
Keep safe everyone!

Howard, be safe and go to high ground.
Lenox Hill would be my choice (but seriously, take care).

@ Scott -

Thank you very much for your concern.

We're up in the northeast Bronx, in an area designated as a "Zone C"- which indicates we're least likely to experience flooding (as opposed to those who live in zones A or B).

On our street, the more likely danger comes in form of large trees falling onto cars and rooftops of the 3-family homes here. In the last two years, at least five trees on our block have been blown over in high-wind conditions, including the one which used to be directly in front of our home.

In a city where parking space is at a premium, there are many empty spots up and down our block this evening as car owners try to avoid parking near a tree. We put our car in the back garage - something we rarely do because it's an old house with a very narrow driveway and takes some tricky maneuvering to get the car into the garage.

My wife has already received an email from her employer that they will be closed tomorrow.

We have plenty of food, and I think we'll be okay here.

Again - I appreciate the kind thoughts, and will check back in as things progess.

Right now, as of 10:30 PM Eastern Time, all is calm.

More later...

Scott,

My wife is a "weather maven" and has been tracking this storm for the past few days. She already had a suspicion the storm could be trouble even before the news media picked up on it.

We're in Pelham-Bay, right at the east end of Pelham Parkway. We're more concerned for the folks on City Island, but so far there's no indication they've been told to evacuate. I'm hoping that if the bay overflows, it will wash onto the Bruckner Expressway, which runs about thirty feet below street level.

There are people stuck at various places in the city - miles from their homes - who did not hear about the mass-transit shutdown and we're caught off guard trying to get a subway or bus back to their home after 7:00 PM this evening. With taxi cabs being the only alternative, many of those people will need to rely on the kindness of friends, or end up spending the night in one of the shelters set up by the city specifically for the storm.

We still have yet to see a drop of rain, or feel a gust of wind - but the storm has already disrupted the lives of many New Yorkers. At least they're saying that the storm will not bring any snow - which is probably good news for you folks up in Vermont.

We'll keep you posted.

- Howard

From Mike's link:

It is now 4:16 PM Eastern Time here in New York City and the storm is making its entrance.

Many of our coastal areas and waterways are already flooding, with streets and roadways experiencing flooding.

We have a 50+ story building still under construction in midtown Manhattan - in the vicinity of Carnegie Hall - with a massive rooftop crane that has been mangled by the high winds, resulting in the enforced evacuation of entire city blocks, as emergency engineers try to avoid a major disaster in the midst of wind gusts up to 100 miles per hour at that altitude.

The governor or New York State, along with local officials, have mandated the closing of almost all major bridges, tunnels and highways by 7:00 PM Eastern Time this evening.

Tens of thousands of people are already without power - especially in the suburban areas with trees, which are falling and taking down power lines with them.

The storm is expected to make landfall at Atlantic City, New Jersey in a few hours. Residents of Atlantic City were ordered to evacuate yesterday, and all the casinos and hotels were ordered shut down at 4:00 PM yesterday as well.

So far, here in the Bronx, we are experiencing some hefty gusts of wind, along with a driving light rain. Oddly enough, the temperature is a balmy 62 degrees Fahrenheit.

I will keep posting throughout the evening, as long as we have power.

My sincerest best hopes to those who are also in the path of the storm for the health and safety of you, your families, friends and loved ones.

- Howard

Whatever you're looking for, you'll find it here;
http://www.noaa.gov/ or http://www.weather.gov/