Hurricane Sandy OBS (Part ii)

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We have small-ish bushes outside my house which is 2 blocks from the Channel in the Westholme area. The water got to the top of those bushes, and up about to the top of a metal fence that surrounds part of the house. I'd estimate that's about 4ft high, and the water line into the house was about 2.5-3ft high (there's a small step before you walk into my house). FEMA's inspecting tomorrow, hoping for the best. Lots and lots of work that needs to be done.

I remember seeing a lot of posts pooh-poohing the storm in the hours before the eye and surge came in, and I said that people 6 hours from then would be singing a far different tune. Had no idea how right I would be. The speed at which the water rose was just incredible. The timing close to high tide undoubtedly made it worse. It's hard for me to imagine how long it will take for Long Beach to recover after some of the destruction I saw. The bottom floors of just about every apartment building and condo near the beach literally got ripped out and filled with sand/debris. The cars picked up and moved was also an amazing sight. I remember hearing car alarms going off all through that night along with the roaring wind and I knew what a horrific scene was unfolding.

Hopefully, the rebuilding process will be a steady one and your place returns to a semblance of normalcy as soon

as it is possible for it to happen. I have a friend near the channel in the Westholme area and he lost everything

on his first floor. He is still tearing out all the sheetrock and hopes to be done before the mold gets too bad.

My heart pretty much broke when I came back into town and saw all the destruction that occurred. The piles

of peoples belongings that line the curbs as far as the eye can see is a very sad sight. Long Beach

will eventually bounce back.

This was one of the scariest videos that was posted on Facebook showing the inundation of the Westholme

area:

http://www.facebook....151080660686524

[jm1220]

Im not even near the water and I had 7 feet in my basement, but still I was lucky compared to those closer to the water. Places near the canal in Howard Beach had water up to and in some cases into the 2nd floor of homes. The surge was close to 9 feet on the north end of Jamaica Bay.

One good thing is that Long Beach is rallying behind this and there are numerous spots all over town where people are serving hot food/drinks/clothing etc, and FEMA is sending reimbursements out fairly quickly, but people who have lived here for 50+ years say they have never seen close to this level of destruction here. The water came at least several feet higher than Irene in town I'd say. The water lines on homes in the West End show that water may have been 5 feet high along some of the buildings, and every shop/store is ruined from water damage.

The real warning signal to me that we were going to get devastated was when the high tide on the morning of the 29th came up almost to where Irene came, a full 12 hours before the main surge, and the low tide levels still flooded parts of town. I knew we were in real, serious trouble then. The surge hit at just about the worst possible time too (surge came in between 6:30 and 7pm as the tide was really coming in, and water took many hours to recede), although it was so high that even low tide would have flooded most of town. The dunes which in some cases were present for decades were just annihilated. No one was really spared anywhere, unless your house was raised very high up and you had no basement/garage.

[Dsnowx53]

One good thing is that Long Beach is rallying behind this and there are numerous spots all over town where people are serving hot food/drinks/clothing etc, and FEMA is sending reimbursements out fairly quickly, but people who have lived here for 50+ years say they have never seen close to this level of destruction here. The water came at least several feet higher than Irene in town I'd say. The water lines on homes in the West End show that water may have been 5 feet high along some of the buildings, and every shop/store is ruined from water damage.

The real warning signal to me that we were going to get devastated was when the high tide on the morning of the 29th came up almost to where Irene came, a full 12 hours before the main surge, and the low tide levels still flooded parts of town. I knew we were in real, serious trouble then. The surge hit at just about the worst possible time too (surge came in between 6:30 and 7pm as the tide was really coming in, and water took many hours to recede), although it was so high that even low tide would have flooded most of town. The dunes which in some cases were present for decades were just annihilated. No one was really spared anywhere, unless your house was raised very high up and you had no basement/garage.

The storm speeding up was also the worst case scenario. It allowed for the strongest SE winds to coincide with a rising high tide, as opposed to a waning one.

[jm1220]

The storm speeding up was also the worst case scenario. It allowed for the strongest SE winds to coincide with a rising high tide, as opposed to a waning one.

I agree-the winds really kicked up after the surge came in. The power was out, but I could tell audibly that the winds grew a good bit stronger. We likely had some gusts up to 90-95 if airports inland like Islip reported those kind of winds.

[WEATHER53]

Man it is still a mess. Generally no reports of the horrid civil conduct that came out of New Orleans. The fact that it sped up did further the mess north of Atlantic City but probably saved Ocean City, MD as thier 8pm high tide had nw winds instead of what had been ene-ne. After going thru something like this I imagine one's enthusiasm for "getting the big one right in my backyard" gets either tempered or satisfied.

[famartin]

Man it is still a mess. Generally no reports of the horrid civil conduct that came out of New Orleans. The fact that it sped up did further the mess north of Atlantic City but probably saved Ocean City, MD as thier 8pm high tide had nw winds instead of what had been ene-ne. After going thru something like this I imagine one's enthusiasm for "getting the big one right in my backyard" gets either tempered or satisfied.

Well, this was the big one for NYC. No reason to hope for something that already happened. Unless you want it to happen again. No one who lived through it will want that, though.

[jm1220]

Man it is still a mess. Generally no reports of the horrid civil conduct that came out of New Orleans. The fact that it sped up did further the mess north of Atlantic City but probably saved Ocean City, MD as thier 8pm high tide had nw winds instead of what had been ene-ne. After going thru something like this I imagine one's enthusiasm for "getting the big one right in my backyard" gets either tempered or satisfied.

Had the gas shortages lasted another few days, I have a feeling violence and/or unrest would have occurred on a larger scale. Judging from people's tempers at the 2-3+ hour gas lines, people were at the end of their rope. I think after this that laws will be enacted to have emergency generators installed at most gas stations.

[MJO812]

FEMA is all over my area. A lot of people are mad because FEMA isn't giving them enough money. That is really bull****.

[earthlight]

I suggest everybody turn on Nat Geo

[billgwx]

Well, this was the big one for NYC. No reason to hope for something that already happened. Unless you want it to happen again. No one who lived through it will want that, though.

I would be very careful when saying that...Long Island Sound locations really dodged a bullet here. If the strongest winds had come only 3 hours later and coincided with high tide, total water levels in the westernmost Sound (east Bronx and northern Queens) could have been up to 20 feet above mean sea level!

[FPizz]

I would be very careful when saying that...Long Island Sound locations really dodged a bullet here. If the strongest winds had come only 3 hours later and coincided with high tide, total water levels in the westernmost Sound (east Bronx and northern Queens) could have been up to 20 feet above mean sea level!

That, plus if everyone was to have gotten 10"+ of rain to go along with all of this, it would have been even worse. Locations would have had a ton of flooding, with the loss of power, probably 100s of millions more damage would have been done due to flooding basements/houses, etc.

[famartin]

That, plus if everyone was to have gotten 10"+ of rain to go along with all of this, it would have been even worse. Locations would have had a ton of flooding, with the loss of power, probably 100s of millions more damage would have been done due to flooding basements/houses, etc.

I think that scenario is very nearly impossible. The strong onshore flow areas which get the worst surge are normally to the right of the track, while the heaviest rain is normally to the left. That happened with Sandy too, but its track was what made all the difference in the wind and surge.

[famartin]

I would be very careful when saying that...Long Island Sound locations really dodged a bullet here. If the strongest winds had come only 3 hours later and coincided with high tide, total water levels in the westernmost Sound (east Bronx and northern Queens) could have been up to 20 feet above mean sea level!

Perhaps, but Sandy itself was a "once in a lifetime" track and intensity, so if I ever see another Sandy take place... well, I expect to be over 100

[WEATHER53]

I know it is hard to quantify but any idea of what percentage of Jersey Beaches are so destroyed that they just will not be rebuilt/re-duned?

[Brian5671]

I know it is hard to quantify but any idea of what percentage of Jersey Beaches are so destroyed that they just will not be rebuilt/re-duned?

just my 2 cents, but I think that's a low number...most areas will rebuild--make take awhile but they likely will come back.

[Brian5671]

I think that scenario is very nearly impossible. The strong onshore flow areas which get the worst surge are normally to the right of the track, while the heaviest rain is normally to the left. That happened with Sandy too, but its track was what made all the difference in the wind and surge.

Agree. However-most locales were lucky to have been fairly dry in the weeks before Sanday-If I recall correctly, the weeks before Irene were very wet which probably led to more damage...

[famartin]

Agree. However-most locales were lucky to have been fairly dry in the weeks before Sanday-If I recall correctly, the weeks before Irene were very wet which probably led to more damage...

The inland flooding in some areas was truly epic with Irene. And yes, the epic wetness which led up to it was a big part of that.

[billgwx]

Perhaps, but Sandy itself was a "once in a lifetime" track and intensity, so if I ever see another Sandy take place... well, I expect to be over 100

I hope you are right. The atmosphere has become awfully good at spitting out once-in-a-lifetime events the past 10-15 years or so! Or maybe we just have a bigger view of them from the hot seat.

[famartin]

I hope you are right.

Believe me, so do I.

[JERSEYSNOWROB]

I know it is hard to quantify but any idea of what percentage of Jersey Beaches are so destroyed that they just will not be rebuilt/re-duned?

0%. Jersey will rebuild 100% along the entire coastline once again. H*ll even in those areas where new inlets were created they filled them back in already! ha ha ha

[Nikolai]

Bad decision-making. Extreme events are increasing in frequency and I do think NYC will see a storm as bad or worse than Sandy within a few decades. Combined with rising sea levels, it's time to turn places that were devastated (like the Rockaways) into park-lands & build sea barriers around Manhattan.

Perhaps coincidence but we literally had a hurricane one week and a snowstorm the next. It's a crazy occurrence representative of our climate state as a whole--quite turbulent at the moment, as the planet continues to warm.

[famartin]

Bad decision-making. Extreme events are increasing in frequency and I do think NYC will see a storm as bad or worse than Sandy within a few decades. Combined with rising sea levels, it's time to turn places that were devastated (like the Rockaways) into park-lands & build sea barriers around Manhattan.

Perhaps coincidence but we literally had a hurricane one week and a snowstorm the next. It's a crazy occurrence representative of our climate state as a whole--quite turbulent at the moment, as the planet continues to warm.

I wouldn't chalk up the occurrance of Sandy followed by a snowstorm a week later as indicative of our climate state. Sandy in and of itself, yes she was nuts. The snowstorm that followed... unusual but not unprecedented. Hell, fact is NYC was due for a November snowstorm.

[Guest Pamela]

Perhaps, but Sandy itself was a "once in a lifetime" track and intensity, so if I ever see another Sandy take place... well, I expect to be over 100

Saying it won't happen again because it just happened is the same flawed logic as believing it is "due" to happen soon just beause it hasn't happened in a long time...

[famartin]

Saying it won't happen again because it just happened is the same flawed logic as believing it is "due" to happen soon just beause it hasn't happened in a long time...

The odds are the same whether it just happened or didn't. The odds of a November snowstorm are much higher than the odds of another Sandy.

[ict1523]

I wouldn't chalk up the occurrance of Sandy followed by a snowstorm a week later as indicative of our climate state. Sandy in and of itself, yes she was nuts. The snowstorm that followed... unusual but not unprecedented. Hell, fact is NYC was due for a November snowstorm.

i agree the snowstorm was less unprecendented than Sandy but let's not forget it was the earliest such snowstorm by a large margin, werent all the other 4"+ November snowstorms in like the last week?

[famartin]

i agree the snowstorm was less unprecendented than Sandy but let's not forget it was the earliest such snowstorm by a large margin, werent all the other 4"+ November snowstorms in like the last week?

Yes... I guess I was thinking more in Philly terms, they had 8.8" of snow on 11/6-7/1953.

[MJO812]

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/megastorm.htm#mkcpgn=fbdsc17dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/megastorm.htm#mkcpgn=fbdsc17

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[MJO812]

This is from News 12 Brooklyn

"New York City Public Schools officials say school days lost due to Sandy will be made up Feb. 20-22 and June 4. The February days were supposed to be mid-winter break while June 4 was supposed to be a clerical half-day."