US East Coast weather fun ahead

[Ghambit]

These are MTA confirmed except for the Plaza Shop one, which came from Cuomo's instagram:

Staten Island Railway's Clifton Shop After Sandy by MTAPhotos, on Flickr


MNR Croton Harmon Station by MTAPhotos, on Flickr


Boat On Tracks At Ossining by MTAPhotos, on Flickr

Plaza Shops underwater.

In other news, I caught Christie's first interview and as expected he was a lot more transparent and hands-on than billionaire Bloomberg.  Christie basically said, "whatever you're expecting to see of the aftermath at the Jersey Shore, it's a fuckton worse."  Well maybe not said exactly like that.  Anyways, by the end of the day we'll have some aerial shots.

I expect the lower-lying areas of the shoreline (AC is actually fairly protected) to be pretty Galveston-like.  Near total devastation; homes ripped off foundation et. al.  The few photos of Cape May I've seen arent encouraging (restaurants I've been at were 4ft underwater), and that's the weak side of the storm where surge likely came in from the Bay side.

Overall not a lot of info. coming out of the Jersey shore tbh.  And that's never a good sign.

[Ghambit]

Think the cabs can take up the MTA's slack?  Think again.

[Ghambit]

So that little trickle of water at the tunnel I showed you earlier?  This is now.


Posted by TIME Magazine.  Will obviously make the article.

[Soln]

But is her beach house safe?  (reference)









don't care if her beach house is safe

[WayAbvPar]

So where are all the rats? You know those fuckers didn't drown, so now they are above ground and running loose. 

[Samwise]

Plaza Shops underwater.

I had dinner there last time I was in NYC.  Picturing the entire place being flooded now... that's nuts.   

So where are all the rats? You know those fuckers didn't drown, so now they are above ground and running loose. 

I'd bet they evacuated before the people did.

[Merusk]

So where are all the rats? You know those fuckers didn't drown, so now they are above ground and running loose. 

Coworker and I discussed that this morning.  Our bet is they're now in the Bronx taking up new residence in places that didn't have a problem before.  They'll expand rather than leave when the waters recede.  Ditto with the roaches.

[luckton]

Beck was talking this morning about the potential number of people living in the subway tunnels and underground areas dying from the flooding.

My first reaction was "When the hell did conservatives start giving a fuck about the poor?" 

[Lantyssa]

When they have to smell them.

[Surlyboi]

Yeah, the rats will be all over the Upper East Side and the drier parts of Manhattan as well as the North Bronx and central Brooklyn and Queens.

I just walked ten blocks to get a good espresso and had to deal with some bitch returning her cappuccino three times because it wasn't hot enough. Some rats stay right where they are.

[Sjofn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRAdgh9VH0o

Turn down your sound unless you love the sound of helicopter blades.

[Ingmar]

Well they got the sand part of Sandy right for sure.

[Tale]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRAdgh9VH0o

Turn down your sound unless you love the sound of helicopter blades.

Another one - a bit shakycam, but lots of OMG - lots more damage and a burnt-out smoking ruined area: Another one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLZ7DgeyHug

(edit - fixed link)

[Surlyboi]

And the unexpected/unassuming star of all of this, Bloomberg's ASL interpreter Lydia Callis.

[Zephyr]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRAdgh9VH0o

Turn down your sound unless you love the sound of helicopter blades.

I think I see my old apartment.  When Hurricane Bonnie skirted up the coast in '98, it was close enough to cause the bay to rise up and meet the ocean down the middle of the island.  I moved to Bound Brook the next year and got flooded by Floyd.  Now I just have to worry about snow storms.

[Trippy]

And the unexpected/unassuming star of all of this, Bloomberg's ASL interpreter Lydia Callis.

She looks like the sister of that JW ASL interpreter whose "remix" video was making the rounds earlier.

[Ironwood]

Um, any reason ?

[Signe]

Maybe she spelled something wrong? 

[luckton]

There are people that sign, and then there are people that sign, as in signing as though they were actually having a verbal conversation with you.  Ms. Callis would be the latter.   

[Surlyboi]

There are people that sign, and then there are people that sign, as in signing as though they were actually having a verbal conversation with you.  Ms. Callis would be the latter.  

That. From the facial expressions to the body language, she's kind of mesmerizing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvaEV_5FJRs&feature=youtu.be

[Strazos]

That's actually pretty awesome, how she's giving physical expressions to the speakers' tones - they're conveying the same things, but she's acting it out more.

[Lantyssa]

Really awesome.  My ears suck, and so does my ability to process speech, so expressive people are a lot easier for me to 'read'.

[Surlyboi]

New York this morning is a tale of three cities.

There's Manhattan above 40th street, where business is pretty much as usual, with the exception of everybody being antsy from being pent up in their homes for the last two days. Every open coffee shop, restaurant and bar made money hand-over-fist last night and will probably do so today as well. Subways are still not working but busses are running in a somewhat limited fashion. Most of central Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx are in similar shape.

Then, there's Manhattan below 40th. Still large swathes of it without power. Some of my people are dying for a hot shower. Places with their own generators are up and running in places and of course, the NYSE has power, because that kind of money gets your shit fixed quick.

Lastly, there's Staten Island and the waterside bits of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Some serious devastation. Breezy Point, the place in the picture I posted yesterday lost something like 100 houses in the fire that was spread for over a mile by the hurricane winds. Rockaway beach is trashed, there's a layer of ship fuel floating on top of the Arthur Kill, a tanker has run aground and will need to be pulled back into the water or scuttled.

We've got a lot of cleaning up to do, but like others have said, we're not run by backwards shitheels, so we'll get it fixed.

I think I'm gonna walk in to the office today.

[Signe]

I'm glad you're okay.  I hope everyone is.  No one here died, right?  Or lost a cat?  Or an eye?  If you did, don't tell me.  I don't want to know.  I'm sorry I said anything.  But you're all okay, right?  Shh!

[JWIV]

I'm glad you're okay.  I hope everyone is.  No one here died, right?  Or lost a cat?  Or an eye?  If you did, don't tell me.  I don't want to know.  I'm sorry I said anything.  But you're all okay, right?  Shh!

My inlaws in Long Beach reported they're okay, as is their cat.  The area though is pretty devastated.

[Ghambit]

Surly, I daresay you'll be walkin' for a while my friend.
MTA Photostream

Most of those photos you can see how high the water actually got by spotting the wall staining.  Really, the transit system is shot in NYC.  I fail to see how merely pumping out water == repair.  You can't dump that much seawater into a system like that and expect it to function for very long even if you get it working short-term.  Corrosion, electrolysis, and shorting will eat the circuits indefinitely until replaced.  Wow... the logistics involved with that just blow my mind.  I'd say they'll have to bandaid it (distilled water and mineral spirit baths, etc.) and then repair/replace as needed over time - which will cause periodic breakdowns of the system for quite a while.

4 days for the system to be back up???  

In other news, I just sat and watched a live aerial feed out of Philly for the Jersey Shore.  Yah... gone.  If your house hasnt been splintered or bounced like a toy then it got inundated by water and sand.  Most of the entire shoreline is basically a write-off cept Atlantic City proper (the back bay areas of A.C. are fucked up though).  Most of the low-lying barrier islands had the beaches essentially pushed all the way back into the bay.

My friend in Hoboken finally just said fuck it and moved out.  Half that town was flooded.

The news hasnt got a realistic grasp of the economic loss.  Their initial estimates dont even include flood damage, let alone loss of business.  I dont think it'll eclipse Andrew but it'll come close in the end.

[Ghambit]

Got a report from Long Island that about 90% of it is w/o power.  My uncle rode it out on the coast; havent heard from him.
http://www.lipower.org/stormcenter/outagemap.html

From an amateur met down there.

I finally found spot were I can a connection. 90 % of Lobg Island has no power.I have been staying at my girlfriends house in west Babylon. Have not had power since about 7 pm Monday. Have not seen the news to see the destruction. But in the area I am lots  of trees down, still can not get down to the beaches. drove to southshore towns here. Went down as far as I could. Dont even want to think about what is is going to look like when I can get down there. I seen furniture on peoples front lawn. this is by far the worse storm I have been in. still won't be able to post much as it is hard to find location were I can connect.

Anyone have any other news from down there?

[Sjofn]

[Sheepherder]

You see 100mph?  kiss your northern-coded OSHA roof goodbye.

OSHA is Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

AlmostShouldBeInPolitics: Apparently Chris Christie's heart grew three sizes this day, October 31st.

EDIT:

Massive explosion believed to be a transformer at the Con Ed Plant, E14th and FDR. This is what took out the power.

Looking at the video looks like it was an explosion followed by a ridiculously bright arc flash.  Or possibly highly reactive metals burning.

EDIT2:  Generators in hospitals: Forget it, Lantyssa already got this.

[Ghambit]

Any contracted work on pretty much ANYTHING in this country goes through OSHA.  They have their "codes" and cities have their own, but regardless OSHA minimums have to be maintained.   Even for silly stuff like proper ladders 'n such.  Have you ever built a house?

Part of the issue with rebuilding is redtape from agencies enforcing OSHA codes, but hopefully that'll be minimal (as the president has asked).  

Anyways, I guess no one gives a phuck anymore because politics is more important to the media right now.     Like they've actually run out of stuff to report.

edit: my uncle got power back on the island.  He says pretty much every boat marina he's been to is completely destroyed.  And many of the boats are strewn all over the roads.  Says it reminded him of Andrew.

[Sheepherder]

Contracted work has to go through OSHA because it's work.  As far as I'm aware OSHA doesn't give a fuck if the end result is 50 storeys of scabbed together plywood so long as nobody set foot in it while they were building it.

Then again, I'm Canadian, so what I know about OSHA mostly comes from NFPA and IFSTA firefighting manuals.

And now for a moment of levity:

1926.701(d)
Riding concrete buckets. No employee shall be permitted to ride concrete buckets.

[Ingmar]

Building codes are state or local laws in the US, they have nothing to do with OSHA (other than the fact that the people building it have to follow OSHA regulations about their own safety while they work on it.)

[Trippy]

Sandy timelapse from the Northside Piers Towers in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Time period is early morning Oct 29 until Oct 30.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyohW9rYEKc

[Venkman]

Anyone have any other news from down there?

Inlaws out near Port Jeff lost power for two days and a big ass oak. But they got it back and the oak was hauled away half by the town (to clear the street) and half by a neighbor who wanted firewood.

Uncle in Mastik Beach, yea, that's all gone. Friends in Jersey had a pipe burst just to add insult to their finished basement flooding and lack of power and about a month's worth of traveling coming up (he does those massive holiday displays in Malls). Parents down south determined to come back to their winter home right on the border between Nassau and Suffolk. I keep telling them not to bother. My father's favorite route (Battery Tunnel, oh wait, whothefuckis Hugh L Cary* Tunnel) won't open again until God-knows-when. Their house might see power again in 10 days, and that's be aggressive estimates). Their neighbors are all heading out. Friends in towns east of them (but west of Port Jeff) are all in the same boat. No loss of life nor pets (you're welcome Signe  ), but they're going to feel this for awhile.

And shit, half my childhood just got washed away from the Rockaways and the Jersey shore.

Forget Irene, Andrew or Gloria. I feel like this became the tri-state areas Katrina. Vastly different infrastructure and capability to fix. But also vastly more expensive and complicated, technology, politically and legally. We're probably talking recovery that lasts through the next Presidential election.

* Yes I know. Internet.

[Tale]

Vast amounts of stuff has been ruined in a key area of the world. It's not going to be fixed anytime soon. There will be consequences as people realise the significance of this. I think it's being underappreciated.