Topic: Frankinstorm

[kermi3]

It was a cat 1, but it was physically large and hit an area that was completely unprepared.  By the numbers it wasn't too bad.  Winds weren't too fast, not too much rain, and the storm surge wasn't too high by southern standards, and THANK GOD it sped up at the end...but it's not the south, it was high tide and hit an area that was totally unprotected and unprepared. 

Obes - Please tell your cousin that we're all thinking of them.  The whole city is - and tell her that It Gets Better.  It really does.  I know the feeling like everything around you is washed away (and thank god I never had unrepairable damange to my homes) - but it really does get better.  People really do rebuild.  It. Will. Happen.

[Mike]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it a Category 1?

It's amazing how much damage was caused by a Category 1, by the pix I'd expect something along the lines of Katrina.

Even in Japan, I went through aroudn 4 typhoons, the strongest being Cat 2 and it just seemed like a strong thunderstorm that lasted about 4 hours.  Most damage I saw was 1 downed tree, although there were reports of landslides and the trains being affected for like 2 days.

Part of that is topography but a large part of that is that Japan actually constructed shit to handle those storms.  When Bart came through in '99 it was a Cat 5 and it did a ton of damage but not to the extent that Sandy did to the north east.

For what I understand this one was the 1 in x storm so that plays a big part.  That said, it seems like the whole eastern US doesn't actually build or prepare for hurricanes even though they come yearly.

[Jake]

[ober]

Obes - Please tell your cousin that we're all thinking of them.  The whole city is - and tell her that It Gets Better.  It really does.  I know the feeling like everything around you is washed away (and thank god I never had unrepairable damange to my homes) - but it really does get better.  People really do rebuild.  It. Will. Happen.

Will do.

That said, it seems like the whole eastern US doesn't actually build or prepare for hurricanes even though they come yearly.

The thing you don't really understand is that although hurricanes do happen yearly, they rarely hit land in the north east.  They usually hit Florida or the Carolinas.  The last major hurricane of this scale was back in the 80's in terms of damage and such.  They roll through almost yearly but by the time they get that far north, it's usually not much to write home about.

[KnuckleBuckett]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it a Category 1?

It's amazing how much damage was caused by a Category 1, by the pix I'd expect something along the lines of Katrina.

Even in Japan, I went through aroudn 4 typhoons, the strongest being Cat 2 and it just seemed like a strong thunderstorm that lasted about 4 hours.  Most damage I saw was 1 downed tree, although there were reports of landslides and the trains being affected for like 2 days.

Part of that is topography but a large part of that is that Japan actually constructed shit to handle those storms.  When Bart came through in '99 it was a Cat 5 and it did a ton of damage but not to the extent that Sandy did to the north east.

For what I understand this one was the 1 in x storm so that plays a big part.  That said, it seems like the whole eastern US doesn't actually build or prepare for hurricanes even though they come yearly.

Most of our power, highway, and communications infrastructure isn't and never has been designed for typical natural disaster.  Housing and industry vary dramatically from bad to decent.  Very very few structures in the US are designed for abuses caused by quakes and storms.   The US constantly displays habitual lack of planning for anything that isn't in the immediate or near term.  Capitalism at its best I suppose.

[KnuckleBuckett]

Obes - Please tell your cousin that we're all thinking of them.  The whole city is - and tell her that It Gets Better.  It really does.  I know the feeling like everything around you is washed away (and thank god I never had unrepairable damange to my homes) - but it really does get better.  People really do rebuild.  It. Will. Happen.

Will do.

That said, it seems like the whole eastern US doesn't actually build or prepare for hurricanes even though they come yearly.

The thing you don't really understand is that although hurricanes do happen yearly, they rarely hit land in the north east.  They usually hit Florida or the Carolinas.  The last major hurricane of this scale was back in the 80's in terms of damage and such.  They roll through almost yearly but by the time they get that far north, it's usually not much to write home about.

True, that said we do get regularly abused by ice, snow, wind, etc.  Still, look around...see all those phone and power lines in the air.  Yup.  Great.

[Mike]

I was including Florida and the Carolinas in the "whole eastern US".  BTW, if http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_York_hurricanes is to believed there was a Cat 1 in NY just last year.  Not as strong as Sandy of course.

Don't get me wrong, I know this is a storm outside of the norm.  Just commenting on the ill preparation the US takes to hurricanes (with regards to infrastructure and home building).

[Steve]

Keeping in mind also that it was a Cat1 that most people did not take seriously. Understandable since in my lifetime I have heard the hype dozens of time only to see a ran storm, even when storms "hit".

[jkim]

Christie announced rationing of gas today. Lines for gas are literally miles long.

Also, there's a chance for a winter storm Wednesday. Poo.

[Steve]

Christie announced rationing of gas today. Lines for gas are literally miles long.

Also, there's a chance for a winter storm Wednesday. Poo.

Is that just for central / north NJ? I ask because a bunch of my friends are racing in an Enduro this weekend in my hometown and they were posting on FB that in some places you can't even get to the pump but in our little town you can pull right up and gas up two trucks and sixteen dirtbikes without issue.

[Perspective]

Disaster aside, mother nature is freaking amazing. Largest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCexDJs4CFg

[ober]

Side note on the damage I reported to my own house due to the storm... the insurance agent came out this morning and took a look around.  Cut me a check right on the spot.  I love home owner's insurance!

[jkim]

Meanwhile, snow is sticking on the ground now...

[KnuckleBuckett]

Meanwhile, snow is sticking on the ground now...