Thursday, October 25, 2012

This looks bad - Sandy is on the way

Hurricane Sandy's eye might hit us right on....

The good news is that we have never been as prepared for a hurricane before.  Water, generator, food, firewood, sump pump, batteries, gasoline, peanut butter cups, water hoses for emptying the flooded basement, clean paths, and so on... (OK, some things will be done on Saturday).  Canned tomato sauce, and corned beef in the fridge, and a stove with gas, independent on electricity.   But imagine if we get the snow they predict, (up to 12 inches) then another thousand trees will fall, just like last years storm on Halloween. And that will be bad, no internet, no electricity, and no way to leave our house for days.  But we have lived through it before. I just feel bad about the plants in the garden, and worry about water in our basement. And the useless gutters that the gutter people haven't been here to fix.

Some of our former storms we have endured, ah! memories:
October snowstorm last year
Hurricane Irene last year
Icestorm in February
Another icestorm (or maybe the same?)

PS.  It is true what they say - everything is bigger in America.  Especially the weather.

4 comments:

EH said...

We had a windy night and woke up to some small snowflakes on the ground. When I drove home yesterday the yellow autumn leaves were blown off the trees like confetti!
Sandy looks bad, I hope this won´t hit you as bad as they predict.

It´s probably true that America is bigger, at least in your area. We have the Gulf stream passing close to us with warm water. Luckily the say that the Gulf stream would stop is more of an myth than fact. See more here, at Columbia university http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/res/div/ocp/gs/

LS said...

EH - Not a myth, just a unsupported scenario in the near future. The gulf stream has changed before, back in past geological ages and can do it again :) But let's hope the Gulf Stream doesn't stop heating up Europe for another 1000 years at least.

The problem with these climate changes is that right now things are changing more drastically and faster than the models predicted, especially when it comes to droughts, rainfall, snow, ice free Arctic Sea, and severe weather. It is scary, indeed.

EH said...

Following the news of Sandy from our secure shore here on the other side of the pond. I do hope you don´t get too bad hit by this storm, it really looks bad. You can be sure my thoughts are with you when it comes down on you. Good that you have prepared yourself, and the house. Keep safe!

LS said...

We are still waiting for the worst of Sandy - should be around midafternoon. So far just rain and some heavy winds, but nothing major. We still have power too!

Some select quotes from the internet:
"4:00 a.m. EDT: Clouds from Sandy extend from Bermuda to Detroit, and from North Carolina to the Arctic Circle. This storm is huge."

"8:00 a.m. EDT Monday: Sandy has started to turn to the northwest toward the mid-Atlantic Coast, picking up forward speed. The storm is currently 260 miles southeast of Atlantic City, N.J. Maximum sustained winds are still 85 mph."

"Damaging wind gusts will reach from Boston to Washington, D.C., and inland to the central Appalachians. Sandy will not be your typical hurricane when it moves in from the southeast. Hurricanes are small and compact.

Sandy will be more like a large nor'easter on steroids. It could have the impact of a Category 2 hurricane. Tropical storm wind gusts will extend out hundreds of miles from the center, so focusing on the center alone in terms of the severity for wind and rain is not recommended.

A extended period of wind gusts between 40 and 60 mph is forecast for two days, which will take its toll on structures, trees and power lines."