Dominion Strategy Forum

Miscellaneous => General Discussion => Topic started by: theory on October 27, 2012, 10:03:10 pm

Title: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: theory on October 27, 2012, 10:03:10 pm
How are you East Coast f.ds'ers planning around Sandy?

Personally, I see it as a great excuse to get in some boardgaming :-)
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: jonts26 on October 27, 2012, 11:55:30 pm
I'm going to be travelling from Long Island back to Ithaca tomorrow. I am dreading NYC traffic. Once I get back it's going to be tea, baseball, and grading terrible lab reports.

And if the lab reports are really terrible, that tea might be scotch instead.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: sparky5856 on October 28, 2012, 12:09:19 am
I'm going to wing it.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: () | (_) ^/ on October 28, 2012, 12:59:42 am
.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Captain_Frisk on October 28, 2012, 01:20:55 am
No special plans other than actually hooking up my generator (vs. just purchasing it)
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Robz888 on October 28, 2012, 01:41:12 pm
As some on the forums know, I just moved to DC from Detroit. As such, I've never in my life paid attention to hurricanes. Now everyone here is panicking. Don't these things just, like, hit Miami or something? I have no idea why everybody is so scared, or what's about to happen.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Cuzz on October 28, 2012, 02:19:56 pm
Sometimes they stay in the southeast. Sometimes they crawl up the entire coast. Irene managed to flood basically the entire state of Vermont last summer.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: jonts26 on October 28, 2012, 02:50:28 pm
As some on the forums know, I just moved to DC from Detroit. As such, I've never in my life paid attention to hurricanes. Now everyone here is panicking. Don't these things just, like, hit Miami or something? I have no idea why everybody is so scared, or what's about to happen.

One of the problems is that we rarely get big storms in this part of the country. As such, we really don't have the infrastructure to deal with them. Irene didn't even hit that hard, but my brother was without power for 5 days and there were floods everywhere. And by most indications, sandy should hit here even harder.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Ozle on October 28, 2012, 04:05:24 pm
Good luck guys!
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Davio on October 28, 2012, 04:51:23 pm
Just make sure you live in a house made of bricks, not straw or sticks or anything like that.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: cherdano on October 28, 2012, 06:41:46 pm
Just make sure you live in a house made of bricks, not straw or sticks or anything like that.
I would have appreciated if the power lines hadn't been built of straws and sticks. I used to live in CT until recently. We had two days without power - i think that put us in the 80% percentile in our town, i.e. we were among the lucky and privileged.
(And if you haven't lived in the US countryside: no electricity means no running water. Which doesn't sounds so bad until you remember you use it for more than drinking and cooking and washing dishes...)

I hope all of you in the NY region will be fine.

Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: theory on October 29, 2012, 04:36:10 pm
I'm watching the East River right now and it is getting nuts.  Waves are starting to overflow some of the piers and the wind is insane.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: theory on October 29, 2012, 04:45:37 pm
Also there is a giant crane in Midtown that has been ripped off the building and is now hanging precariously in the air.

Incidentally the crane is busy constructing what looks like a penthouse fit only for Tony Stark (http://pursuitist.com/house/110-million-one57-penthouse-new-york/).
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: rrenaud on October 29, 2012, 04:46:35 pm
Pics of the crane!

The hudson, at least from what I can see, seems so tame.  It hasn't even manage to flood the pier.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: theory on October 29, 2012, 04:47:32 pm
Pic: http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/10/29/one57_crane_collapses_with_big_boom_in_midtown.php

The piers here aren't submerged.  But every once in a while a wave overflows onto it.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Ozle on October 29, 2012, 05:36:06 pm
Were you not supposed to have evacuated?
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Captain_Frisk on October 29, 2012, 05:37:48 pm
Generator is hooked up and ready to go, but no need to use it yet.  Watching my trees sway back and forth in the wind. 
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: greatexpectations on October 29, 2012, 05:53:23 pm
not much action here up in troy ny. storm surge has the hudson sitting real high and already about to flood some of the lower lying areas though.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: theory on October 29, 2012, 06:12:37 pm
Were you not supposed to have evacuated?

Yes, but I'm right on the border of the evacuation zone and high up enough to not worry about flooding. 
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: rrenaud on October 29, 2012, 07:56:45 pm
The hudson now touches my building.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Archetype on October 29, 2012, 08:06:30 pm
Wow, from what I've heard, this seems horrible! I hope all those on the East Coast are staying dry and safe!

So glad Hurricanes don't occur up here in the north-west.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Captain_Frisk on October 29, 2012, 08:54:09 pm
Power now out in my house, and most of ct from what I can tell.  I have to assume priority will be the coastline though, where there are real problems other than fallen trees
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: sparky5856 on October 29, 2012, 08:59:42 pm
This HUGE branch almost damaged my house and barely missed the window. Winds are atrocious right now.

(http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9395/p1030587h.jpg)

I still have power here in NJ, dunno how long that'll last though.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: theory on October 29, 2012, 09:26:49 pm
I saw the Lower East Side just totally lose power.  Before:
(http://i.imgur.com/ubIg5h.jpgp)
After:
(http://i.imgur.com/vzmy2h.jpg)

Flooding in my neighborhood so far: (http://i.imgur.com/WJJLh.jpg)
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Davio on October 30, 2012, 03:34:31 am
I heard there were millions of people with no power.

So, drink all the milk, it's going to go bad anyway and hold on people!

It's kind of cool though to get pics from people who are actually there.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: cayvie on October 30, 2012, 06:20:38 am
yet another reason i moved to minnesota
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Ozle on October 30, 2012, 06:27:49 am
It must be cool seeing it all happen.....tempered by the fact it is actually happening of course
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Ozle on October 30, 2012, 09:34:53 am
The broken crane made the front page of the Metro today (London freenewspaper they give out on the tube)
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Kirian on October 30, 2012, 09:50:37 am
As some on the forums know, I just moved to DC from Detroit. As such, I've never in my life paid attention to hurricanes. Now everyone here is panicking. Don't these things just, like, hit Miami or something? I have no idea why everybody is so scared, or what's about to happen.

Amusingly, I think Detroit is getting worse weather from this than DC did, because of the conglomeration with the cold front coming down from Canadia.  Here in Toledo we have 35 mph winds and somewhat heavy rain.  Nothing like what they have in NYC, but we have a better chance of power outages than DC.

(This is because the southwest side of a hurricane (which hit NOVA) is the least powerful, and the northeast side (hitting NYC/NJ/CT) is most powerful.

Stay safe, East coasters.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Ozle on October 30, 2012, 10:05:23 am


(This is because the southwest side of a hurricane (which hit NOVA) is the least powerful, and the northeast side (hitting NYC/NJ/CT) is most powerful.

Stay safe, East coasters.

Is this always true?
If so, whats the reason for this?
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: greatexpectations on October 30, 2012, 10:26:09 am
Is this always true?
If so, whats the reason for this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane#Mechanics


The rotation of the Earth causes the system to spin, an effect known as the Coriolis effect, giving it a cyclonic characteristic and affecting the trajectory of the storm.[20][21][22] In the Northern Hemisphere, where the cyclone's wind flow is counterclockwise, the fastest winds relative to the surface of the Earth occur on the eastern side of a northward-moving storm and on the northern side of a westward-moving one; the opposite occurs in the Southern Hemisphere, where the wind flow is clockwise.[23]
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: werothegreat on October 30, 2012, 10:28:14 am
I'm in Virginia.  All we got was a little rain.  I bought a crate of bottled water for nothing.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Ozle on October 30, 2012, 10:29:09 am
Is this always true?
If so, whats the reason for this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane#Mechanics

I try to stay away from Wikipedia while at work or my productivity goes waaaaaaay down!
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: Kirian on October 30, 2012, 11:50:22 am
Is this always true?
If so, whats the reason for this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane#Mechanics

I try to stay away from Wikipedia while at work or my productivity goes waaaaaaay down!

Hehe.  I'll try to give an oversimplified explanation.  In the northern hemisphere, large storms always circulate counterclockwise due to the Coriolis effect and the low pressure--air rising up pulls air in from the surrounding areas, and that happens while the Earth turns underneath it.  You can see this just looking at satellite pictures, though this is cool too:

http://hint.fm/wind/

Fair weather systems are associated with clockwise wind movements, for the record.  See New Orleans on the map I linked there.

Now, in a North Atlantic hurricane, two factors make the northeastern part worse than the southwestern.  First, energy is being drawn from warm tropical water, which is always to the south and east of the storm.  The north and west of the storm is always over cooler water.  Due to the circulation, the southeastern and northeastern parts have higher energy--and therefore more wind/rain/etc--and the northwestern and southwestern parts have lower energy.

Second, the most destructive portion of a hurricane is often not the rain and wind, but the storm surge.  This is basically giant waves driven by wind, which pushes cubic kilometers of water onto shore.  Of course, that only happens where the wind happens to be blowing toward the shore... which is of course also on the northeast side of the eye of the storm.  So the northeastern side of the storm gets a double-whammy.  The eyewall is nastiest for wind/rain/lightning, so the absolute worst place to be is just east or just northeast of the eyewall.

Besides the actual size and intensity of the storm, this is why Katrina destroyed NOLA so thoroughly.  Katrina made landfall with the eastern eyewall just east of the city... which is exactly where the levees are.

In this case, NYC/NJ is getting hammered while, as noted, VA/DC are getting (relatively) spared.  The northeastern eyewall hit land in Jersey.

In the southern hemisphere, of course, all of this is reversed.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: jonts26 on October 30, 2012, 12:07:51 pm
My folks on Long Island, and actually most of the island in general has been without power since yesterday evening. Tons of downed trees and power lines. It's going to take days, maybe a week, to fully restore power. Also tons of property damage, though not for anyone I know. My brother's neighbor has a tree sticking out of his roof.
Title: Re: Hurricane Sandy (aka the Frankenstorm aka the Snoreastercane)
Post by: DStu on October 30, 2012, 12:45:52 pm
Is this always true?
If so, whats the reason for this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane#Mechanics

I try to stay away from Wikipedia while at work or my productivity goes waaaaaaay down!
Stays away from wikipedia to keep productivity up
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browses f.ds.com