Hurricane Sandy

[johnpitts01]

It's kicking up pretty good here in Southern New Jersey.
This is gonna be a major storm with significant damage.
I've lived in this area my entire 57 years and never seen anything quite like this.

A positive is that the emergency services and utilities seem very well prepared.

 

[merchant]

johnpitts01, our thoughts and prayers go out to you and all in the path of this monster. I hope you're on the way to higher ground. Keep safe.

 

[johnpitts01]

Sandy is going to be a significant storm and will cause quite a bit of damage.

I went to the seaside on Sunday to make some preparations at a house I have @ 4 miles from the ocean and 300 yards from the bay and to have a look at the ocean. See the photo attached. The high water mark you see is the foot of some protective dunes. Normal high tide is @ 40 yards further out. The photo was taken at high tide with the storm still 400 miles away.
Current storm track has the storm making landfall @ 50 miles south of where the photo was taken and the landfall will occur almost exactly at high tide tonight. Which means the worst high tides will be experienced at nearly the exact spot where the photo was taken.
I have a home @ 4 miles inland from the photo location. We get some flooding in the streets near my home on full moon high tides. I expect the water will cause a fair amount of damage to the house.

I’ve lived in the area my entire life. Never seen anything quite like this storm. We had a siginificant event in 1962 that caused quite a bit of damage in the ocean front areas. I expect this one could be worse.

All the ships in the ports made to sea overnight and early this morning and are headed east to escape the storm. New Jersey and Pennsylvania are under a State of Emergency. Already have more than 200,000 people without power.

I am @ 70 miles away from the photo location, just outside of Philly.

 

[Camshft]

The eye passed directly over our beach house in the Bahamas last Thursday night at about 8:00 p.m. It's located at Bennett's Harbour, Cat Island, Bahamas. Unfortunately the death toll in the Caribbean is 50+.

Apparently Sandy was kind to Cat Island, unlike Hurricane Irene last year which pounded both Cat Island and Eleuthera.

Looking forward to heading back down and helping all of our Bahamian friends......good luck to our American friends as well. Hang in there...

 

[GrahamD]

Been watching this one for a while.

Stay safe folks. All the best for you guys up there.

Cheers
Graham

 

[thfraser]

I've been listening to the winds howl on this one. The worst for us is supposed to be between 8pm and 2pm. But the winds have really picked up. Power is still on, so that is the good news!

 

[Dirt_Dad]

So far my wind gauge has not registered over 40 MPH. The news is saying it should be over 60 MPH in a couple of hours. I checked to make sure I had some 2-stroke oil ready to go. I suspect we'll be chainsawing our way out to the main road tomorrow.

Not expecting the worst of it here. Good luck to those of you getting the full furry of Sandy.

 

[spklbuk]

Wee bit of a blizzard going on here in WVs eastern mtns. Total white out. From 78* last Thurs to 20 inches of white sky dooley on Mon night...??? Fun times.

Keep your heads down & your chin up storm dwellers.

 

[phplemel]

It's at times like this that I realize that I have it pretty good living inland and far-far north.
Our thoughts & prayers go out to those in harms way. Stay hunkerd down, safe & dry.
Pat

 

[~TABASCO~]

Wee bit of a blizzard going on here in WVs eastern mtns. Total white out. From 78* last Thurs to 20 inches of white sky dooley on Mon night...??? Fun times.

Keep your heads down & your chin up storm dwellers.

Post pictures, brudda !

 

[mcbrien]

I thought the weather was clearing but now I see I'm in the eye ???
Lost power for a few hours last night but all is well . Back to the garage
for some quality tenere time .

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Post pictures, brudda !

I suspect he's out of power. There are reports from entire counties in WV that have no power. They really got nailed.

 

[NittanyXT]

Let's go down and ride that stuff now! ???

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Let's go down and ride that stuff now! ???

I do draw the line at snow and ice.

 

[spklbuk]

Jaxon, you should know better than to ask me for pictures. ;D

We got off easy compared to many. Furloughed from work today. Power back on. State snow plow just went by. Wind subsiding but snow still coming. Only got a foot here at the farm, but the high country really got dumped on. It seems the dericho back at the end of June cleared many of the problem trees, so in the immediate vicinity at least the mess is less than predicted. Hopefully the storm is winding down. Golly it's been fun!

Speckled Buck Farm is a winter wonderland today...

Alegany nestled in her stall with umbilical cord to battery tender attached

View from the stall out

Around the farm

I'm concerned we will get cold

Shadow Girl checking out the rabbitat

After plowing snow all night, my neighbor, a well meaning kind ol' soul decides he will plow my driveway as he swings back by his house to refill his thermos. He gets the front end over too far and into the drainage swale he goes. I holler for him to wait until I get my key and I will pull him out with my truck. Pulling him was quite doable when I went back in the house, but by the time I get back, he had really managed to get stuck, is nearly against a fence, the undercarriage is packed with heavy wet snow and the rear wheels are a good 8 feet off the driveway.

I get my truck cleaned off, jump in, commence to back up and I manage to get my front end over in the same swale and there I sat. : The wet foot deep snow was like trying to drive in snot. We are shoveling out under both trucks and another neighbor, passing by and seeing our plight, tries to rescue us. His pickup will not even make it up where the plow truck is wedged. My neighbor calls his plowing buddy who comes over and we spend the next three hours hooking, pulling, shoveling and as we are about to call for a big farm tractor, one last tug finally frees his truck as it misses the gate post by mere inches. Mine only took about another half hour and only 3 or 4 rounds of hooking and rehooking to extracate. We decided that between the two of us, we highly qualify as experts screwups! ::024::

Here is the aftermath:
What used to be my front mudflap in the foreground

By far and away the best thing to come out of this storm is my made from scratch with garden ingredients chili. Um Ummm good! We all had a great time eating a big bowl to celebrate the extractions!!

Nittany, mount your studded tires and chains before heading down!!!

 

[spklbuk]

Spkldoe just called to tell me she would be late getting home from work. She is a dispatcher for the Dep't of Highways and it seems getting snow plows hung up is a theme for the day. She said plows were in the ditch all over this end of the county. Makes me feel a little better.

 

[NittanyXT]

Sounds like you had a fun afternoon! As far as studs go i think I'll pass. That chili does look good though!

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I am so not ready for winter. Sorry you've had such an early (and large) dose of it. Stay warm.

 

[johnpitts01]

I have a home @ 300 yards from the bay and @ 3 miles from the ocean in Brick, NJ. The area where the home is was evacuated on Sunday. The town banned vehicle traffic beginning @ 4pm on Sunday. I was hoping to go there tonight to inspect but I've been told to stay away. I fear it is pretty bad.

 

[spklbuk]

I have a home @ 300 yards from the bay and @ 3 miles from the ocean in Brick, NJ. The area where the home is was evacuated on Sunday. The town banned vehicle traffic beginning @ 4pm on Sunday. I was hoping to go there tonight to inspect but I've been told to stay away. I fear it is pretty bad.

Here's hoping you find things better than you anticipate. Good luck.