Hurricane Sandy

[Zuljin]

Thing is, two things.

Thing one. Weatherism. It's like terrorism using weather reporting. Many news outlets really hyped this to the 9s. It's nothing new. They do it damn near every time it so much as rains. The hype is built up so much bigger than the actual situation that when it doesn't play out as bad, some folks are like, 'Pscht. That was nuthin'. Or, 'That wasn't as bad as they said', and somehow that translates to it wasn't bad, at all. It was still bad.

Thing two. If they don't instill a sense or urgency or emergency in people, a good many may blow it off. If that happens, the reporters and weathermen get booed again for not telling people how bad it was going to be.

Either way, they take flak for how they portray things. I think the answer is to use less adjectives and less grandiose adjectives. Just tell it like it is. Knock off all the hype. Concentrate on the facts.

48 dead (edit)
80 homes burned down
The NY subway system is flooded out
8,000,000+ without power
NYU Medical Center evaced. 200 patients
New York University Langone Medical Center evaced
Levee was breach in Bergen County, N.J.
It may be days to weeks before everyone can return home, if they have a home.
The NY stock exchange will open tomorrow

 

[zman]

Thing is, two things.

Thing one. Weatherism. It's like terrorism using weather reporting. Many news outlets really hyped this to the 9s. It's nothing new. They do it damn near every time it so much as rains. The hype is built up so much bigger than the actual situation that when it doesn't play out as bad, some folks are like, 'Pscht. That was nuthin'. Or, 'That wasn't as bad as they said', and somehow that translates to it wasn't bad, at all. It was still bad.

Thing two. If they don't instill a sense or urgency or emergency in people, a good many may blow it off. If that happens, the reporters and weathermen get booed again for not telling people how bad it was going to be.

Either way, they take flak for how they portray things. I think the answer is to use less adjectives and less grandiose adjectives. Just tell it like it is. Knock off all the hype. Concentrate on the facts.

48 dead (edit)
80 homes burned down
The NY subway system is flooded out
8,000,000+ without power
NYU Medical Center evaced. 200 patients
New York University Langone Medical Center evaced
Levee was breach in Bergen County, N.J.
It may be days to weeks before everyone can return home, if they have a home.
The NY stock exchange will open tomorrow

the thing about your second point is true but with a good explanation. I lived in Rockaway until I moved to Denver in 98. Hurricanes are 2x a season and it was usually the case that the time that it hit the North East it was a whole lotta rain and not much else. Flooding was a foot or two at most on the beach blocks and I had not seen that level of flooding since I was a kid. My parents and many others stayed thinking it would be the same. Last year Bloomberg made a hurricane out to be the catastrophe that wasn't. This time it was and it is an awful situation but one that happens all the time to "other people". This time the east coast are "those people". On the upside of natural disasters (Katrina) Flood insurance became mandatory in the low lying areas in NYS.

I will never look at those flood zone road signs on 878 the same way ever again

 

[kroach01]

Things were OK here in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. Branches all over the road this morning, lots of wind and rain but nothing too serious. Brewed a hurricane stout, in fact. There were a few power surges but nothing serious happened. Had a few friends in Rockaways lose their apartments and one in downtown Manhattan have his building lobby flood.
Wasn't able to make it to work in the hospital because MTA shut down. If anyone in the boroughs needs help let me know, I have a couch and plenty of space.
And lots of homebrew.

 

[Airborneguy]

Still alive. Back and work. Staten Island is a disaster zone. Whole neighborhoods gone. I'm so lucky I didn't take damage. Just missing my kids at this point. Going to be awhile before I see them. They're in jersey with power though thankfully.

 

[Zuljin]

Glad yallr okay.

I saw some pics of the neighborhood flooding. Looks bad.

 

[2BeerSpeer]

Well I'm packed and headed to Allentown Pa...they'll dispatch us from there.

 

[bottlebomber]

Glad yallr okay.

I saw some pics of the neighborhood flooding. Looks bad.

Yep, there's some crazy ones going around. What a mess.

 

[iaefebs]

Got this image in my head of thousands of rats fleeing the incoming water. Shouldn't have watched the Titanic movie

 

[Bulls Beers]

Yep, there's some crazy ones going around. What a mess.

That's unbelievable. I was just watching some video of a bunch of cars piled up in front of a tunnel. So bad...

 

[2BeerSpeer]

well i'm packed and headed to allentown pa...they'll dispatch us from there.

 

[Airplanedoc]

You must not be planning on staying long, or you are planning to be hooking up with some other home brewers along the way.

 

[2BeerSpeer]

We'll be working 20+ hr shifts with only 8 hr breaks so after a shower and dinner it don't leave much time to drink....plus 1 growler is a 9.8% IIPA! I would like to score some Pa homebrew tho....

 

[Airborneguy]

I heard I may have gotten power back. If that's true, I'll post some pictures when I get home.

 

[Airborneguy]

A few blocks from the East River, under the Manhattan Bridge. This was about 8 pm when the flooding really started picking up.

 

[Airborneguy]

#1: FDR Drive at Houston Street. The water was almost up to the overpass. When I took this picture, the wind was blowing so hard I had to lean forward to walk.

#2: This is Delancey Street, about 1/4 mile from the East River. There were waves breaking here at one point. Around this time, the whole sky exploded twice when the power plant blew up.

#3: Williamsburg Bridge. Somehow, Brooklyn maintained power the whole time. The Brooklyn side of the bridge must be hooked up to their grid. Crazy right? This was right after the water receded and we were able to make it into FDR Park to survey the damage. There was a broken up beehive on the promenade of the park, one of the weirdest things I've ever seen.

 

[Airborneguy]

1: Damned plane crashed into my house!

2: This lake is where my softball fields used to be, across the street from the beach. I can't describe the devastation down there. Where I took this, I had just passed a crime scene where about 50 cops were still looking for 2 kids washed out of their mother's car during the storm.

3. My little league, destroyed. They will probably rebuild, but little leagues don't usually have a lot of money.

 

[Airborneguy]

The whole shoreline of Staten Island is demolished. There's definitely more bodies to be found. Whole neighborhoods are wiped out. As crazy as it is working in Manhattan with no power all night, coming home was 100 times worse. The only experiences I've ever had like this were in Bosnia. Even during Katrina I was more inland, so I never got to see what a shoreline area looks like after such a powerful storm. New Orleans was damaged more by the flooding when the levees broke, this is all from actual ocean surge. The power of the water is just insane.

 

[Yooper]

The whole shoreline of Staten Island is demolished. There's definitely more bodies to be found. Whole neighborhoods are wiped out. As crazy as it is working in Manhattan with no power all night, coming home was 100 times worse. The only experiences I've ever had like this were in Bosnia. Even during Katrina I was more inland, so I never got to see what a shoreline area looks like after such a powerful storm. New Orleans was damaged more by the flooding when the levees broke, this is all from actual ocean surge. The power of the water is just insane.

Oh, my heart bleeds for the families in your city. I'm so thankful that you and your wife and kids are safe.

I wish you hadn't told us about the kids swept away from their mother's car (but I'm glad you did).

 

[Bensiff]

The whole shoreline of Staten Island is demolished. There's definitely more bodies to be found. Whole neighborhoods are wiped out. As crazy as it is working in Manhattan with no power all night, coming home was 100 times worse. The only experiences I've ever had like this were in Bosnia. Even during Katrina I was more inland, so I never got to see what a shoreline area looks like after such a powerful storm. New Orleans was damaged more by the flooding when the levees broke, this is all from actual ocean surge. The power of the water is just insane.

Good to know you are ok, get plenty of rest between those long shifts man...nothing will get you in trouble like exhaustion out there.

 

[hercher]

Golddiggie, you should have stopped typing before the BTW. In NH, you were far enough away from the confluence of the three weather systems that you weren't affected too badly. Similarly, in NEPA, we didn't get hit too hard, though some folks lost trees & power, and an 8 year old boy lost his life. Your house isn't underwater. Your block didn't burn down.

You also need to understand that this system hit the biggest city in the country, and arguably the most important city in the world. Needless to say, the media coverage is going to be, at the very least, thorough.

 

[SharonaZamboni]

Sounds really awful. Stay safe Airborneguy, and thanks for your service.

 

[StainlessBrewing]

I've been following this thread along with a couple others and wish everyone for a fast recovery.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I haven't seen any stories about it so I assume lady liberty is still holding down her post, yes?

 

[Jayhem]

I haven't seen any stories about it so I assume lady liberty is still holding down her post, yes?

Well, She showed fear early but I hear she is standing tall today!

 

[zman]

Still alive. Back and work. Staten Island is a disaster zone. Whole neighborhoods gone. I'm so lucky I didn't take damage. Just missing my kids at this point. Going to be awhile before I see them. They're in jersey with power though thankfully.

I am thankful that my parents and my block just have flood damage (as far as I know since there is no cell service/power in Rockaway at the moment). My dad just got anew car last weekend and had the forethought to take it to a parking garage in Flatbush. I am dreading hearing more about this. I can't confirm it yet but I am sure that many of my friends lost their homes in Breezy, Roxbury and Rockaway

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

A couple of useful links for info and news updates for the nyc area (just saw an update on wifi hotspots open):

https://data.cityofnewyork.us/

http://google.org/crisismap/2012-sandy

 

[HoppyDaze]

My portfolio is now three feet under water...but at least I didn't lose anyone or my home like a lot folks over east. Hang in there guys; on my way to donate blood ...

 

[OhReally]

All in all we lucked out here in NOVA. Lost power 5pm Sunday, got it back 8:45 this morning. Other than that, no damage. The only slight inconvenience was my three primaries dropping from 70ish to 63 for those days, but really, that's nothing to complain about in the gran scheme of things.

I ended up brewing Sunday morning, creating "Sandy Wheat" with various wheats, some 60L, etc. that I had laying around. We'll see how it tastes. Could be decent, could be horrible, we'll just have to see.

Cheers, and hope everyone is safe and gets up and brewin' again quick.

 

[bottlebomber]

I was thinking about Golddiggie's comment and am guessing that he probably didn't mean to sound like as much of a d!ck as he did. And I wish he would just come forward and issue a retraction statement/apology for those who have suffered and lost family to this, so we can move on from this. Otherwise this will be his defining moment for a long, long time.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

He won't last long. If he's just moved up to New England wait until he's glued to the TV watching Blizzard of '13 coverage. It will drive you insane when the littlest storm is 24 hr news worthy. This storm was news worthy.

The thing is I was driving in the middle of the storm because we lost power and was heading to a friends house. There was a couple out experiencing the storm while they were walking a dog in the middle of the street. There were trees everywhere. They could have been killed by me rounding the corner in my car or a branch landing on their head. I could have been killed just by being in my car. Nothing should be taken lightly. People survive doing stupid things while innocent others are permanently impacted by no means of their own. You never know when you're numbers up. I think that was the core of his statement. Although he did rocket through the ********* stratosphere. What a way to go out in a bang