Hello from Long Island (Part 1)

[Renew Deal]

I've been mostly off the radar because I've been busy and then the storm hit. Here is a braindump of my thoughts and experience over the last few days.

I've been in NY for every big storm since Gloria except Bob (traveling). This includes Floyd, Irene, Perfect Storm, several Nor'easters and blizzards. Landfalling hurricanes are rare for this area. We've had two in the last year and three destructive storms in the last four years.

In terms of destruction I'd rank them:
1. Gloria
2. Sandy
3. 2009 March Nor'Easter
4. Irene
5. the rest

Sandy may well be more destructive than Gloria, but I remember lots of stuctural damage from Gloria.

I've seen very little structural damage from Sandy's winds. Mostly I've seen awnings tossed and homes damaged from trees falling on them.

Some of the trees that have fallen are very old and large. Someone counted rings on a massive tree that feel near me and they said they counted 130 rings.

The gas lines are outrageous. There are 30 car long lines for gas. If a station has gas, it has a line. Power outages are widespread and this means fewer open gas stations. I saw one person pushing his car along the gas line.

Credit cards don't work in many places. Cash is king.

People on the south shore of Long Island have seen flooding like they've never seen before. I've heard that people that have never seen a flood before experienced flood waters with this storm.

Mass transit is out of the question. This makes it extremely difficult to get into Manhattan. You either have to commute overnight or get stuck in traffic forever.

Long Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Island Park took a beating. I heard that the boardwalk was mostly wiped out. Long Beach doesn't have running water, power, or anything else on top of the flood damage. It's unlivable. I've heard that boats and cars were picked up and slammed into houses.

Unlike most hurricanes, the weather is cold now after the storm. Not only are people without power, hot water, and phones, but they have no heat. This is a huge problem.

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Lessons from Sandy

Cash is King. Get some before the storm. Once the power and phone lines go down, so do many of the ATM's and credit card machines.

If you have power, you will have refugees. They will hang around. I'm happy to have them, but this is a fact.

Fill up your gas tank AS SOON AS there is chance the storm will come to your area and every day until the storm comes. It's better than waiting on endless gas lines.

Charge your devices before the storm. If your power, phone, and internet go down, the cell phone based internet may work (and work well).

Get your Spam early. I went to the supermarket the night before the storm (not looking for spam) and there were only 2-3 cans of spam left. Spam is good survival food. It is meat that does not to be cooked. It can be eaten as is or in a sandwich.

[spooky3]

1. Glad things are getting better for you and that you could post here.

I'm in another area hit less hard by Sandy than LI. We did a lot of the things you suggested, but it is still hard to cope with the power outages especially in the cold.

Hope your power stays on.

Here's advice I'd add to your list:

Never buy a house with an electric range and water heater. You can cope with electricity outages a little better if you can at least cook with natural gas and take a hot shower.

Start charging all of your rechargeable batteries as soon as the weather forecasters start talking about the storm.

If you can afford a hotel or have friends you could stay with if you are hit worse than they are, pack a bag well before the storm hits, in case you have to grab it quickly and leave (especially at night).

[treestar]

2. Good advice

So it is true about the cash - I had read that and took care of that. I filled up the tub with water and made large ice packs. Pro-cooked some stuff. Had a full gas tank.


turned out lucky we didn't need it at all and never even lost power. Better safe than sorry.

Some of my relatives living near water were evacuated. Didn't turn out to be necessary, but again better safe than sorry.

[Renew Deal]

4. Yes, that last trips to the super market should be for stuff that doesn't need to be refrigerated

Unless/especially if you have a gas stove. There's no point to getting milk and eggs. It's just going to go bad.

[HipChick]

3. Great sound advice

[glowing]

5. I do believe that had anyone read posts from

Us people down in red state; normal hurricane path, we have said to do these things before a storm comes. But nobody thought this storm would so much.. More like last time with Irene... So, people don't listen, and people die and sit in long lines for gas, and wait for power or govt hand outs to come to te rescue...

Btw, next time someone asks if we should rebuild in te southeast because of storm conditions; remember how much this cat 1 storm did in damage! And remember that it's the storm surge and flooding that often does some of the most damage and causes the most death.

For me, we r all Americans. We all get different weather or hazardous conditions. We help each other out. We rebuild, hopefully smarter with each devastation, but it's never the same. Expect PTSD moments. Expect frustration. Expect that your old home lot may house u in a trailer while a home is rebuilt or if a family decides to move completely.

I think reality is that we need to tax those that have money a lot more and we need to be preparing our infrastructure for the changing climate conditions. It's happening. And it's costly. And it hurts.

Hopefully, another time people will take heed and evacuate and prepare properly.