Sandy Starting to Wreak Havoc in NYC Tri state
 

Was on a conference cal with colleagues (office is closed today and tomorrow - all are working from home) and so far have lost 3 callers:

One colleague (NJ) has just lost all power
Another in NJ had a large branch fall through a back bed room
Another in Westchester - not near the sound - has rising water in the basement

In the bigger picture:

A huge construction boom being used to construct a high rise (in the 70s floor now) is disintegrating (a resident of the area who can see it says it was NOT secured - as required by the city) and it is anticipated it will fall at some point. Residents in nearby buildings are being moved to areas away from the crane and more may need to be evacuated. The area near 57th St and 6/8th avenues is closed and that may expand. (If this proves to be the case the construction company is in serious legal trouble - based on damage so far - never mind potential damage to nearby luxury hotels and co-ops.)

Con Ed (power company) is announcing that they will probably have to shut down power to all areas below midtown (34th St) to prevent rising water from entering below street power line/generator areas and causing fires. And the water is still rising - and probably will be all night. It is hoped that areas above 34th St will keep power since they are primarily higher ground.

Wind gusts are 70 to 80 mph with sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph - and water may rise more than 10 feet above usual high tides.

Here at the Jersey Shore (luckily not on a barrier island) we are still with power but the storm has intensified into a nor'easter. Supposedly it has sped up and will be coming ashore at 6 PM. High tide is around 8.
I have a tree behind my garage that has split and now laying against it. Think it is braced and not cause any damage.

All the MAJOR highways in the Philadelphia (and suburbs) area are closing between 7 PM abd 2 AM. This is serious. I am very nervous watching the BIG trees behind my house being blown around like they are little twigs.
I have friends who work in offices that never closed and they were closed today and will also be closed tomorrow.
Of course all schools are closed.
The New Jersey shore towns have been flooded. Atlantic City even lost part of its boarkwalk.
This is not a pretty picture!

Stay safe, all of you, and check in when you're able.

Lee Ann

It is a STORM...just like the nasty one we had in the DC area last June...it is going to be serious..what is new about this?

In NYC all of the major river bridges have been closed as have the tunnels under the Hudson and I believe Queens midtown and Brooklyn Battery. The Triborough was open for a while - but may also now be closed.

Current surge at the Battery is almost 9 feet (double that of previous storms) and at 14th Street the Hudson river has breached it's banks and water is more than 4 blocks inland.

And in Queesn - what everyone had feared - the ocean has broken through into Jamaica Bay - and the the question is - will this be permanent - changing the ecology of the whole area?

Hundreds of thousands who elected to stay in their homes in Zone A (mandatory evacuation zones) are now stranded there - and when bridges/roads will be reopened is unknown.

Water has risen so high that it's a risk to Penn Station tunnels and gigantic water-filled berms are being placed by transit workers to try to keep the water out.

Also the major highways in the city - FDR and West Side Highway and lower Henry Hudson are totally flooded. Apparently water from the East River has reached as far inland as First Ave on 96th St. Incredible!

First responders (police and fire) are working straight through. Sanitation workers will be working 12 hours on/12 off to clear the many hundreds of trees that have been downed to try to clear the way for power workers. And transit workers are sleeping/being fed in emergency centers in higher lying areas so they are 1)safe and 2) ready to start working on the system as soon as they can pump out the water.

So far, we have power (we are on the upper west side and have never lost power except when the entire NE grid went down) - but I'm glad we live on a lower floor and are more sheltered from the worst of the gusts versus people in higher floors.

The difference in the storm in DC is that NYC is right on the harbor - and the whole force of the ocean is pushing into the harbor and up the rivers around Manhattan.

This is not just a lot of rain and wind knocking down trees. Large areas of the city are seriously flooded including much of the transit system and the electrical underpinnings - which are underground in NYC.

The MTA carries more than 8 million people per day - and is now nonexistent.

Oh - and when we turn the TV off we can here the sound of trees breaking and falling in central park.

And there are now more than 3 million households without power.

New announcement from the Gov of CT - that the surge in the western portion of LI Sound may be as much as 18 feet. There are thousands of people now cut off from dry land in what he is calling a "Katrina-like situation". They cannot be rescued and he is advising them to climb to the highest point of their homes - including the roof if necessary. Since this is the sound the tide is later and water will continue to rise for the next several hours.

When asked how this could happen he insisted that the only thing that mattered was for people in this situation to stay in their homes now - rather than trying to swim, walk or drive through the dark in water of unknown depth. He said after the waters recede the problem will be re-examined, but it appears that this is simply a case of people who refused to leave their homes despite mandatory evacuation orders.

The water is still rising in Manhattan and power is out as far north as 42nd St. I thought we were safe - living on top of a hill and so far north - and the water won't come near us - but now I think we may well lose power unless the water stops rising.

Thanks for the updates. Thoughts and prayers to those living with this. Be safe...and keep us posted if you can!

Have been hearing from family, colleagues and friends. Many have no power. Some (Manhattan) have seriously flooded streets and it looks like out office (42St) may not have power for a couple of days.

It seems the high tide (highest on record) has stopped rising - but no one knows how far it will recede before the next high tide in the am.

Not only a couple of the road tunnels but the train tunnels have flooded. We may not have transit back until Friday.

We were lucky. No trees came down on our house although many trees did come down!
We only lost power for about 15 hours which was not bad at all. So happy it's all over.
A lot of people were not as lucky as we were. Let's all keep them in our prayers.

Hope everyone stays safe.

We have 3 offices in the East, 2 of them will be opened tomorrow with "skeleton" staff. People are told to come to work only if it's safe to do so.