Reporting live from Center City Philadelphia
 

Hello BFP--

I live about 8 blocks away from city hall (for perspective)--and so far it has not been too bad--fingers crossed. We still have power and although the rain has been pretty steady all day, it has been light at times. The wind is noteworthy for the intermittent gusts which come up in seconds out of nowhere--really quite impressive and at times a bit alarming.

I did witness the death of my neighbor's BBQ grill, which plunged off the balcony to it's death in his garden.

I think I'll stay up until about 2AM which is when they say the initial brunt will have moved through--although there are reports that the storm may hover over the Delaware Valley for about 24 hours and further discussion it could bring snow.

In fact, the reporter was practically glib when he mentioned "some areas are already under blizzard warnings and these regions will have no problem seeing 4 feet of snow"...blase' motherfucker.

That's all I got for now, be well all.

South Jersey
 

I hope you hear from your friend soon! I can only speak for myself, but our power is on, cells and texts are all working (three different cell services), and landline is still working. I'm in Baltimore city.

Upstate NY check in
Pretty mellow here. It's windy, maybe 25-30 mph and raining, but nothing too crazy. Supposed to peak overnight and last through noon tomorrow.
Thankful this is what it is...
Thinking of everyone who is getting slammed right now.

Status quo here. Level 2 ban continues with essential personnel only on the roads.

My building just shook from top to bottom the way it did when we had that earthquake....I can't imagine what caused the shaking, the lights flickered, but so far things are okay.

More inlikely it's the wind. You'd be amazed at how strong the bands of gusts that come off a hurricane can be. Stay inside and safe.


Just woke up from a nap and been reading online how bad NYC and surrounding areas getting hit. Y'all please stay safe and inside if you can.


Keeping Y'all In Thoughts,
Brute.

Just FYI,

While I was on I 80 yesterday and today, I saw at least eight caravans of electric companies from as far away as Arkansas all heading east on I 80 so those without power, please just hang on. Help is on the way and has been for days now. That made me feel good to see all those folks coming from far away to help if needed.


Brute.

response to Sherrie's post
 

Geez, Ridge Riding Sherrie ... shuddering buildings are not a good thing. :(

I wish you had packed up and left!

I have the u.s.p.s. ticket but cannot pick up the surprise box tomorrow because I am downtown in a Microsoft conference all day ... it is being held in the State Capitol building auditorium. If I leave to go to the post office, won't get back in time. Plus ... parking spaces will be a high commodity.

Here is a (f) for you.
Hang in there.
Hugs from Kelly, Kevin and I!
Brock

Geez, I wish you had left there for a few days!

To offer some idea of the expanse of this storm...

Predictions tomorrow in Chicago for this "weather event" (so dubbed by local meteorologists) call for 20-25' waves at the shoreline of Lake Michigan along Lake Shore Drive (fueled by 60mph winds). As of this evening the lakefront trail has been closed to joggers, bikers, etc..

What I can't understand is why nobody is mentioning the possibility of a storm seiche.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiche

I experienced a seiche firsthand in 1981 while on a large sailboat tied up to a dock (we purposefully tied it off to protect the boat, and it worked) -- the water rose and fell 7-10+ feet or so in 20 minutes due to the wind pushing water from E to W across the lake. Which is the sort of wind that is predicted from hurricane Sandy.

:blink:

Wishing the best to anyone being effected by this,,,

My neighbors were just over for a couple hours. We watched TV and snacked and they brought their white English bulldog, what a love. One of them is from North Carolina and knows hurricanes well. She said the loud gurgling of my kitchen sink pink is normal, as is the lapping of the water in the toilet, and how low that water level is. The subways are out tomorrow too, and I won't be going to work tomorrow. The wind is really, really loud. There's an occasional siren and unbelievable lightning, but I'm among the lucky ones who haven't lost power. The wind is so loud I can barely hear the TV at times.

and there goes the power

Power went out here for first time since I've been parked early this afternoon. Back on now though but lordy did it feel like a Green Lanten moment when sky went green from a transformer blowing. Lol.



Brute.

God bless all the first responders and the people helping their neighbors and just all the people in the cold and the dark. I hope tomorrow doesn't reveal too bad a scene.

I came across one downed tree on the way home...with power lines etal attached..they had blocked off the road on the OTHER side of the downed tree... Once I got past it I had to go through cones to get to where I was going....brilliant....
When I got home we had no power....but Teddy and I were outside enjoying the moon coming through the clouds and talking about our days when the lights suddenly came on :) Our power guys didn't mess around this time. Last year at this time we went an entire week without lights. Fun times...it was like indoor camping...lol

well, its a work from home day no power at the office ..just heavy rains and winds for me here.. kept power and cable all night.. I am currently watching the news of NY and NJ.. I hope everyone is safe and people keep checking in thru the day..

God bless all.

LeftWriteFemme is okay for now
 

Heads Up Everyone!

Hey Gang,
LeftWriteFemme is ok. I had contact with her a few minutes ago. Her power and Internet connection are both off. Sherrie asked me to post this message for her here at BFP to let everyone know she is alright.

THANK THE GOOD SPIRIT!
Brock

Has anyone heard from ocean ..nyfemmbbw stargazing ??

Just worried about the peeps..

I hope all our eastcoast friends and family have made it though the worst!!!!! Hang in there friends help is on the way!!!! I watched a news cast this morning showing Oklahoma is sending hundreds of trucks and equipment and volunteers to restore power and remove trees and debris, and help access the damage. It showed a big convoy of elec co. and gas and tree trimming trucks heading your way. It also showed trucks stocked with fresh water and donated non pershiable foods and clothes .The news clip said many other states not effected by the storms are doing the same.
You are in my thoughts and prayers!!!

HI EVERYONE >> i just got my electricity back .. only a few homes did .. I want to thank all of u for your concern and ((((((((((( strong )))))))))) ty for all your support ..... there r trees and live wires down everywhere where I am.. the storm whipped arpund Bostons Bay and it snacked us . w/ 82 mph wind gusts .. the beach below me haslost its walls and the ocean is pouring into teh streets .. again TY :))))) strong i adore u ..

((((((( island ))))))))) be safe grl .. i'm very worried about u . plz keep us updated if u can .. if u need help plz ask .. message me ..

hurricane sandy

great phenomenal power
itty bitty impact at my house

my sincere thanks to the powers that be for that fact - especially since there were storm surges to 9 ft just 90 minutes south of here.

All appears to be well in Western MA: isolated communities with power outages, but despite the high winds we never lost ours. Isolated trees down. No flash flooding here. **huge sigh of relief**

Sending lots of love to all those still battling through this; stay safe! Especially those of you on/near the shore and those in the lower east side -- wishing you all a speedy recovery, don't go out if you don't have to.

Glad to hear you are ok :)

you know w. NY: s devastation there will be a movie ..

Thank you for asking.. I am here... and I am very lucky.

Just went outside to check out the damage. This summer I had a new fence installed around my pool; fortunately that is fine. The rest of the fence around my house is gone... I can see part of it on the ground and I can't figure out where part of it went. House is okay. I can see trees down in the street, dangling power lines.

Last year in Hurricane Irene, a cluster of my neighbors and I lost power for over a week. Everyone else got theirs back on 5 days before we did because we had a special transformer that blew and the power company couldn't get to it. Well, this time, the cluster and I barely lost power, and I can hear several generators running in the neighborhood around me. I really lucked out this time. Just checked on some neighbors and offered them all the extra ice I made and storage space in my fridge/freezer.

I am a mile from the ocean here, and I can walk to the beach. I know there are houses over there under water. If we hadn't lost so many trees already last year between Hurricane Irene and the Halloween snowstorm, this would have been way worse. And the electric companies here were under such scrutiny from last year's storms that there's no way they were going to drop the ball this time.

Coastal RI/MA is an absolute disaster. NY/NJ was nailed. I'm seeing the Facebook posts/photos from friends, not good.

It is going to continue to rain/thunderstorm here today but the worst regarding the winds is over. My work is open so I've gotta get up and get going.

I swear there was a note under my car windshield that said- "After what I did to you last year, I figured you deserved a break this year. -The Hurricane Guy"

Mucho Love from Florida
 

I went to check on everyone (the dogs and structure) at 2:30am. The wind was unreal and I'm in southern VA. I can't even imagine how awful it was for my friends in Jersey. I have one friend who has horses right where there was impact and have not heard from her yet.

A lot of people don't have power and it may be days before we hear from them.

And don't think of me as shallow/single minded when I say this- it comes from being a part of the racing community and of course we are not overlooking the loss of life and property damage from this one--

The New York City Marathon is this coming Sunday. It goes through the 5 boroughs and ends in Central Park. It's one of the three most elite marathons in the nation (Boston and Chicago being the others). Between the damage, the canceled flights, the disruption of public transportation... if they pull this off it will be one of the crowning examples of recovery and I hope it will give a lot of NY residents a sense of hope and strength. Over 30,000 people would be traveling in for this race, and there are typically over a million spectators.