After the recent thread about how many highway geeks are also wx geeks I'm kinda surprised this thread hasn't already been created.
In terms of its track, this thing is looking a LOT like the infamous Long Island Express of 1938, a cat 3 that plowed through New England via Long Island that year, and was itself the first major hurricane to strike the area since a short time after the Civil War. The '38 hurricane tracked a bit farther east, enough to spare the Bahamas and Carolinas a direct hit, but other that this one looks much the same.
Anybody in the potentially affected areas getting ready for an evacuation yet? I can tell you from experience that power can go out hundreds of miles inland, and for a week or more (my place had no power for almost a full week after Katrina, and I'm 250 miles north of New Orleans). Even if you live within 400 miles, I'd say you should at least get your pantry well stocked and set aside lots of clean water.
Well the day this hurricane is going to hit New England is the day we leave from New Hampshire and back down to Philadelphia. Should be an interesting ride home!
The Weather Channel is now saying that Irene is looking more and more like it's headed for landfall in New England, possibly in Maine after a near-direct hit on Long Island.
The major difference between now and 1938, of course, being that then they didn't know the magnitude of what was coming.
That said, I just checked weather.com for the first time today, and they've shifted the cone of uncertainty farther east than it was yesterday; Philadelphia's (for now) toward the western side of it. Which I guess means - someone correct me if I'm wrong - we'll probably be on the weak side. Lots of rain, some wind.
Best of luck to anybody in the path of this monster!
I'm scheduled to fly into Richmond via Charlotte Sunday evening. I know neither city is exactly coastal, but is there a chance those airports will be affected?
Probably; Eastern Seaboard is one of the biggest hubs so it wouldn't surprise me if a domino effect happens. Looking at the current models/trend it looks like it could skirt the NJ coast and make a landfall around the Long Island area, as previously mentioned, which would definitely affect NYC/PHL which could lead to delays up and down the seaboard depending on how many flights. But models can only be taken at face value, really nothing more...better handle on the situation when its 48hrs out from landfall.
Agreed about Irene looking a lot like the Long Island Express, but it also seems to be tracking like the 1944 New England Hurricane and Hurricane Bob from about 20 years ago. I think Long Island, Connecticut, and Rhode Island need to watch this one very carefully.
Quote from: Michael in Philly on August 24, 2011, 02:53:53 PM
The major difference between now and 1938, of course, being that then they didn't know the magnitude of what was coming.
That said, I just checked weather.com for the first time today, and they've shifted the cone of uncertainty farther east than it was yesterday; Philadelphia's (for now) toward the western side of it. Which I guess means - someone correct me if I'm wrong - we'll probably be on the weak side. Lots of rain, some wind.
IIRC, you are right. It's the NE quadrant that has the biggest punch. Philly should be much better off than say Providence, RI.
I'm Expecting the rain and wind from Irene. Myrtle Beach is out of the projected path cone for now.
Well, I'm certainly watching...
We're planning on just hunkering down if it hits us. It'll be a hell of a storm but we're not in a low-lying area so we're not at the highest risk. Certainly, if everyone around here tried to run away from this storm, no one would get away.
We plan on going around and making sure anything the wind might kick up is tied down or put away. Power outages are something we're no stranger to so we're prepared for that already.
The biggest issue in my mind is that if the storm hits us, there's no way in hell I'm going to make it into work on Monday. And with no power I won't be working from home, either. Fortunately, there's personal time for this sort of thing...
Fellow south Florida residents like myself are quite pleased that Hurricane Irene has decided to spin away further to the east. Our friends in the Bahamas currently are not doing well. Let's hope this storm stays way out in the Atlantic Ocean and passes well away from the USA.
Current models have Irene tracking across Long Island, and one of them is a direct hit on NYC.
http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at201109_model.html?MR=1
Following the discussions, it appears that everything the NHC has east of the Rockies is being employed to get a good handle on where Irene is going. They're even launching weather balloons every 6 hours in Montana.
Just turned the TV back on after a couple hours, and the predicted track is looking more and more like the Long Island Express. Now, about half the models are showing it going into Long Island and then tracking straight into Connecticut.
Oddly enough, I haven't heard anyone point out these similarities on the Wx Channel. At least not yet.
Quote from: berberry on August 25, 2011, 01:55:59 AM
Oddly enough, I haven't heard anyone point out these similarities on the Wx Channel. At least not yet.
Probably because most of their viewership has no idea what the Long Island Express was.
I have been following it extensively since it was Invest97L. A friend of mine runs hardcoreweather.com (http://www.hardcoreweather.com/) and I generally get all of my tropics info from there. It is crazy how a week or so ago the models had it going into the Eastern Gulf. Then as the storm developed and progressed westwards, the model shifted to SW Florida, then the GA/FL border, then the Carolinas, then eastern NC, then eastern Mass. ala Hurricane Bob and now back to eastern NC on a Hurricane Gloria type track.
We're driving down to Richmond and back on Saturday to go to a museum. Unfortunately, we had to buy tickets. Might be an interesting trip.
I'm starting to think it might be a nice weekend to go to, say, Cleveland....
Quote from: Scott5114 on August 25, 2011, 09:53:16 AM
Quote from: berberry on August 25, 2011, 01:55:59 AM
Oddly enough, I haven't heard anyone point out these similarities on the Wx Channel. At least not yet.
Probably because most of their viewership has no idea what the Long Island Express was.
Most folks don't look at their own local history. Of course, if it happened before the boomers were born, it doesn't really matter. :ded:
I'm heading east to Boston.
(But WHY??)
Well, saying goodbye to a friend who's moving from there, and then, on Sunday, I either want to be far west or right smack in Boston. (Top winds are well under 50 mph.) Anything between Boston and NJ is going to be a mess until after midnight. So wherever I stay, may as well stay til the wee hours of Monday, so doesn't really matter. So Boston it is.
The entire state of Delaware is under a hurricane watch. Might be a wild weekend for a place unaccustomed to such a storm. Hurricane Gloria in 1985 was the last to have a type of impact they are forecasting. I remember that one well as everything in Wilmington was shut down. We even got out of school that day (9-27).
Quote from: Brandon on August 25, 2011, 08:13:10 PM
Most folks don't look at their own local history.
No, they don't; good point. But the Wx Channel used to make more historical references than they do now; maybe they did some research and found it to be a tune-out factor. But I remember the '04 and '05 seasons when Florida kept getting hammered by one tropical system after another, and it wasn't uncommon for the Wx anchors to make comparisons to historical storms like the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, or the Lake Okechobee (sp?) storm of about a decade earlier.
Back to the current storm, they're saying Irene is over 400 miles wide. That's very bad news if it remains strong. Katrina, another very wide storm, caused extensive damage across
very wide swaths of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, hundreds of miles inland. Irene doesn't look like it will be as strong as Katrina, which should be good news for folks inland, but it might not matter much along the NE coastal areas. The geographic differences between the coasts up there and the ones down here are, from what I hear, enough to make a cat 1 up there look like a 2 or 3 down here.
I dunno if that's true or not, but it's what they're saying on the teevee.
Quote from: cabiness42 on August 24, 2011, 03:40:04 PM
I'm scheduled to fly into Richmond via Charlotte Sunday evening. I know neither city is exactly coastal, but is there a chance those airports will be affected?
My guess is that you might be OK with Charlotte, as it's farther away from the projected path. Richmond? I guess it depends on how close Irene gets to the capitol city.
Quote from: Alex on August 25, 2011, 09:49:10 PM
The entire state of Delaware is under a hurricane watch. Might be a wild weekend for a place unaccustomed to such a storm. Hurricane Gloria in 1985 was the last to have a type of impact they are forecasting. I remember that one well as everything in Wilmington was shut down. We even got out of school that day (9-27).
It's a warning now. I remember getting off for Gloria - my mother had to drive from Newark to Strasburg to get my father since he couldn't fly in to Philadelphia, and that's as far as the shuttle would go from Harrisburg.
Wonder why none of the cable news / weather channels are talking about the dams and levees in the affected areas? Are there any structures that are vulnerable to the type of failure we saw in New Orleans?
One anecdote I remember hearing about - I think - the '38 hurricane concerned a beaver dam in New Jersey that under ordinary circumstances would have been a nuisance, but as it happened saved the lives of a lot of folks by protecting a heavily-populated area from flooding. Apparently, the beavers worked like little soldiers right through the blow, keeping their dam in place.
Quote from: berberry on August 26, 2011, 12:20:37 PM
Wonder why none of the cable news / weather channels are talking about the dams and levees in the affected areas? Are there any structures that are vulnerable to the type of failure we saw in New Orleans?
One anecdote I remember hearing about - I think - the '38 hurricane concerned a beaver dam in New Jersey that under ordinary circumstances would have been a nuisance, but as it happened saved the lives of a lot of folks by protecting a heavily-populated area from flooding. Apparently, the beavers worked like little soldiers right through the blow, keeping their dam in place.
Well, I'm pretty sure there's no place that has the particular vulnerability New Orleans does, that of being below sea level. Low enough to be affected by a 10- or 15-foot storm surge is another story.
And of course reservoirs have dams. Enough rain in a reservoir with a week dam could cause major trouble: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_Flood
Quote from: Michael in Philly on August 26, 2011, 01:13:24 PMAnd of course reservoirs have dams. Enough rain in a reservoir with a week dam could cause major trouble: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_Flood
I can't imagine we're going to see anything like Johnstown, but something like New Orleans would seem possible. I've heard, although I don't know for sure, that parts of Boston are below sea level. The question I meant to ask was whether anyone knows of any particular vulnerabilities in critical structures that exist in the predicted path of this storm. Are there any danger areas we should watch for as the hurricane moves through, like the failure of a particular levee, dam, lock, bridge, etc?
We knew about the vulnerability in New Orleans ahead of time, at least here in this region of the country. That specific failure had been predicted decades ago. I'm just wondering if there's anything even remotely comparable in the forecast area?
I spotted this article from Popular Mechanics http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/natural-disasters/what-happens-when-a-super-storm-strikes-new-york-6323032?click=pm_news via the Skyscraperpage forum http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=5391455&postcount=12 it show a map of NYC with possible flooding areas depending of the category.
People are saying this will be a "historical storm". It might be historical in that it will cover the most densely populated area of the nation.....from the VA coast to the NH coast, including the Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston areas. More people will be affected from this storm than any other storm we've seen. Let's be glad the winds remain less than 100 MPH making it a moderate hurricane in strength.
The Carolinas, esp. the Cape Fear/Hatteras and Outer Banks regions, feels Irene's wrath tonight...expect Irene to make another landfall on the Jersey shore (there will be serious storm surge in Delaware-Maryland and Virginia), then head into Long Island not far from New York city and finally a weak category 1 storm in Connecticut, already on land near Boston. The real concerns from Hurricane Irene are 10-15 feet storm surge on sea level, esp. the barrier islands consist of beach sand is entirely unsafe during a hurricane. Also to report the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial statute was expected to open in washington DC this weekend, now cancelled by stormy weather to a later date.
This guy is streaming from Morehead City, NC right now:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-severe-weather-webcam#utm_campaign=synclickback&source=http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1903&page=1#commenttop&medium=4301091
Quote from: jgb191 on August 26, 2011, 11:13:10 PM
People are saying this will be a "historical storm". It might be historical in that it will cover the most densely populated area of the nation.....from the VA coast to the NH coast, including the Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston areas. More people will be affected from this storm than any other storm we've seen. Let's be glad the winds remain less than 100 MPH making it a moderate hurricane in strength.
In a hurricane this size, the winds matter far less than the storm surge. A hurricane this big will have a surge a full 2 categories above its wind speed. Remember Ike back in 2008? Or Katrina in 2005? Each had far higher surges due to their sheer size. Irene is going to be just as bad when it comes to the storm surge.
Today in Columbia, SC, it was a bit breezier than normal, temp was a little bit lower, and clouds picked up later in the day. Not a drop of rain. Local weather folks said rain was only expected east of I-95. Myrtle Beach had high winds and tall waves, but they will probably be over with sometime tomorrow.
Yeah the North Carolina coast is going to feel the worst of that storm surge, which could be 20-25 foot high surge, but the cold waters and land will keep it's intensity in check along it's track along the East coast....maybe a category one. By the time it gets to NYC and New England areas, rainfall will be the biggest issue.
A point of information, and a vent:
The point of information: Channel 6 in Philadelphia (I watched the 11:00 news) is calling for a second landfall - after the storm passes over eastern North Carolina and goes back out to sea - at Atlantic City, I forget what time - either in the middle of the night Saturday/Sunday or early Sunday morning. No idea how good that forecast is.
The vent, albeit a small one: It's been a little frustrating figuring out what to expect in my neighborhood, and hence whether to stay put or to take an inland road trip. National media are focusing on coastal areas and New York City. (Which I completely understand.) Which is why I watched the local news - I rarely do that.
I'm in a ground-floor rear apartment, so I have the patio/garden. My floor's well above the patio level, so I'm not worried about flooding indoors. And as a tenant, the basement's not my problem (assuming I can get my laundry done before the storm!) But I'm three blocks from the Schuylkill River, which it doesn't take much to flood, and they're confidently predicting flooding. We've already had a lot of rain this month - the rainiest month here on record, in fact - so they keep emphasizing that the ground's saturated and any rain at all will turn into flood water. But does that affect me in Center City, where the surface is mostly buildings, pavement and the like (my "garden" is actually a brick-walled brick patio)?
I'm concerned about a tree or branch falling on my car, and a power outage - the power lines are actually above ground in this neighborhood - would be a pain in the butt. So hang out and hope the power stays on, or hit the Turnpike and spend tomorrow night in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Niagara Falls (which would require finding my passport - well, it wouldn't require it obviously, but might as well set foot in Ontario while I was up there)? But flooding would peak Sunday night or Monday, and if the power goes out it might still be out when I came back....
Just thinking out loud, I guess, but any reactions are welcome....
I'm following weather.gov and assuming that, like Carmageddon, they're broadcasting the worst to get people out of there so that when it's not as bad as they say, the actual damage will be even more minimized and we can just go on living.
Governor Corbett has declared a state of emergency (http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/document/1105208/governor_tom_corbett_declares_state_of_emergency_ahead_of_hurricane_irene) for all 67 counties of Pennsylvania. For counties west of the Appalachians, it is to put emergency workers and utility crews on stand-by in case they are needed in the east.
For those with DIRECTV, they have created the Hurricane Irene informational channel which is broadcasting on 259, 325, and 349 and carries coverage from local stations in the path.
If (and it's a big "if") an hurricane of a impact bigger then planned happens. I wonder if a dam of a similar kind like the one at St.Petersbourg in Russia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg_Dam might be useful to reduce the impact?
They turned the MD 528 at 65th Street traffic cam in Ocean City, MD to face the Atlantic:
http://www.chart.state.md.us/video/video.asp?feed=e0002c470097007b00488436cf235d0a
Quote from: Steve on August 27, 2011, 12:44:04 AM
I'm following weather.gov and assuming that, like Carmageddon, they're broadcasting the worst to get people out of there so that when it's not as bad as they say, the actual damage will be even more minimized and we can just go on living.
Or more like they're just covering their asses. Nobody wants to be the next Bush after Katrina.
Especially in New York, where the city got blindsided by a huge blizzard this past Christmas, they don't want to repeat that mistake.
MTA is shutting down the
entire subway system and communter rail lines.
@Brandon: Katrina's storm surge was huge not because of the size of the storm, but because it had been a Cat 5 the day before landfall. Your claim that "a hurricane this big will have a surge a full 2 categories above its wind speed" is a misnomer. It depends not just on the size of the fetch area (i.e. storm size), but the winds. A wind of 90MPH isn't going to generate as big a surge as a 110MPH wind over the same area, no matter how large the storm.
I've long suspected, and am now certain, that the media (CNN and TWC in particular) have been overhyping this storm FAR MORE than is necessary. Yes, some damage and some flooding will occur (some has already occurred in Virginia Beach). But the predictions of gloom-and-doom coming to naught are going to turn a lot of people off to future warnings from future storms which might actually bear out.
Meanwhile, reading through the Twitters, the CBBT has been closed. Maryland's Bay Bridge is still open, but they expect to close it when the winds hit 55 MPH. WMATA plans on operating a normal Saturday schedule, so the trains will run until 3am. There's some possibility that they'll shut down the above-ground sections of Metrorail if the winds are higher than forecast, though.
Quote from: froggie on August 27, 2011, 01:29:43 PM....I've long suspected, and am now certain, that the media (CNN and TWC in particular) have been overhyping this storm FAR MORE than is necessary....
Don't take this the wrong way, but what is your basis for making that claim (particular expertise, etc.)? And do you mean they've been knowingly exaggerating, or just that it's not turning out as bad as the worst-case scenario they were trying to prepare people for?
The sensationalist nature of the media coverage is very corrupting--it frames the Irene story as a sort of gladiatorial combat between humanity and the weather, and encourages audiences (especially in parts of the country not directly affected by the storm) to be disappointed when the hurricane fails to kill and destroy to the extent advertised.
I am beginning to see the appeal of a sort of Hays code for weather reporting.
Quote from: J N Winkler on August 27, 2011, 03:51:02 PM
The sensationalist nature of the media coverage is very corrupting--it frames the Irene story as a sort of gladiatorial combat between humanity and the weather, and encourages audiences (especially in parts of the country not directly affected by the storm) to be disappointed when the hurricane fails to kill and destroy to the extent advertised.
I am beginning to see the appeal of a sort of Hays code for weather reporting.
I like the succinctness and eloquence of your assessments.
How else are TV Stations going to make money. More drama = more viewers = MORE ADVERTISING DOLLARS :spin: :banghead:
[/crazy moment]
MD SHA is tweeting that they've closed the Bay Bridge due to high winds.
Apparently, the James River Bridge (US 17) in Newport News had remained open, but is now closed as well.
Quote from: Master son on August 27, 2011, 07:30:56 PM
How else are TV Stations going to make money. More drama = more viewers = MORE ADVERTISING DOLLARS :spin: :banghead:
[/crazy moment]
How are you going to sell advertising time on this in advance? Particularly enough to make up for advertising sold on the sporting events that are being preempted?
Quote from: froggie on August 27, 2011, 07:53:04 PM
MD SHA is tweeting that they've closed the Bay Bridge due to high winds.
And the AP (or NBC Washington when selecting a photo?) confuses the bridge with the bridge-tunnel: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/High-Winds-Shut-Down-Bay-Bridge-128538028.html
Three manholes blew out a few blocks away, according to the TV. (I heard it from here, but assumed it was loud thunder.) Cause undetermined. No, midwesterners-who-think-this-is-being-made-up-for-viewership, I'm not panicking, just been trying to figure out how to avoid inconveniences like trees falling on my car or long power outages. Said midwesterners are perfectly welcome to join us here.
Said midwesterner is sitting in DC already enjoying the storm in progress...
^so what's better, a hurricane or a Midwest blizzard ;)
I happen to have a friend in CT that's a tow truck driver and he's told me that "ALL ROADS IN CT ARE CLOSED". Pretty much it's travel at your own risk up there in CT right now.
Just to add, I have a friend who moved to NYC this summer. I'm sure he wasn't expecting a hurricane so soon. Last I remember, upper east side of Manhattan.
Irene's only picking up where she left off in 1999.
Reading through this morning, looks like the HRBT (I-64) is back open in Norfolk. In Maryland, the Nice Bridge (US 301) is open, as is the Bay Bridge (50/301), Tydings (I-95) and Hatem (US 40) bridges, though the latter 3 have restrictions.
(EDIT) Also, she made landfall this morning in New York City around 9am Eastern as a tropical storm according to NHC (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCUAT4+shtml/281302.shtml?).
NBC4 in Washington is reporting that visitors will be allowed back into Ocean City, MD at noon. Residents are already being allowed back in.
We had a rash of tornado warnings yesterday evening, between about 6:30 and 11. Tornado warnings don't happen every day around here. (Not sure I'd ever been in one, actually.) What was stupid was how the Emergency Alert System took over my cable box so that you couldn't change the channel to get better information from the TV stations.
Lot of closings of "freeways, thruways, expressways" (roadgeeks would have appreciated the guy on the Weather Channel struggling thus for the right New York-area word) were reported around New York last night, and a stretch of the New Jersey Turnpike was closed for flooding (Exit 7A to 8 ). Roads are reportedly pretty good around here.
The Schuylkill River (whose issue, at least as a general rule, is not tides but runoff from up-river) is expected to crest this afternoon at its highest level since 1869. Rain has stopped here, but it sounds like a blizzard outside at the moment.
300,000 customers of Philadelphia Electric (PECO) without power. Not, fortunately, yours truly.
Quote from: florida on August 28, 2011, 04:03:27 AM
Irene's only picking up where she left off in 1999.
+1 :-D :D :)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wunderground.com%2Fdata%2Fdhc_archive_charts%2Fat_1999_charts%2Fat199909.gif&hash=57c1c77fb2949cdef9b82b7064e75f0708bc3ee1)
And Jose (http://classic.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at201111.html) formed from that ragged looking 91L as a quick fish.
Now 92L (http://classic.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at201192_model.html) can be Katrina :ded:
Quote from: florida on August 28, 2011, 04:03:27 AM
Irene's only picking up where she left off in 1999.
I didn't think they repeated names.
Quote from: Michael in Philly on August 28, 2011, 11:18:49 AM
Quote from: florida on August 28, 2011, 04:03:27 AM
Irene's only picking up where she left off in 1999.
I didn't think they repeated names.
Names are repeated every six years and are retired if they are historically significant and a country requests it.
It's pretty wimpy up here in Potsdam. Everyone's just acting like nothing's going on. I imagine it's worse closer to the coast, though.
Here in Philadelphia, mostly flooding, power outages and downed trees. My neighborhood didn't get too much damage, just a lot of leaves on the street. Our basement surprisingly didn't flood. Our power did go out for about 15 minutes late last night, but that's nothing compared to what some other people got.
The Weather Channel reports the New York State Thruway is closed from the Tappan Zee Bridge to Newburgh, including the bridge.
Well, my family and I are all fine, but the damage around town is pretty extensive. More traffic signals out than not as of this afternoon, lots of trees down, a couple streets still blocked or partially blocked. We have no power at our house and most likely will not for the better part of the week. Our phone is also currently out. The trains will still all be shut down tomorrow and so I will not be making it into work, as predicted.
We actually had a pretty sizable piece of a tree fall directly on our roof. Banged up one of the caps on our chimney and poked a couple little holes into the attic, but all things considered the damage appears to be pretty minor.
Ah well, at least the weather's supposed to be nice all week, so power out won't be cause for thermal discomfort.
(and hopefully come Tuesday I'll be going to work again and things'll be fine there)
Quote from: Michael in Philly on August 28, 2011, 03:47:40 PM
The Weather Channel reports the New York State Thruway is closed from the Tappan Zee Bridge to Newburgh, including the bridge.
According to the Thruway's website, the Thruway is closed as far north as Exit 21--NY 23 Catskill.
Quote from: Master son on August 27, 2011, 09:59:06 PM
^so what's better, a hurricane or a Midwest blizzard ;)
Apples and oranges.
NJ 18 is forget it for at least two days:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm7.static.flickr.com%2F6202%2F6090136873_55a3acb535_o.jpg&hash=2c6495c3f10b4e61d8b799d9ca3d2d75f260c07b)
To your left is Boyd Park and the Raritan River, the right is Route 18. There were people walking on the bridge in the hundreds over Route 27. Route 18 is shut down from just before the John Lynch Bridge probably all the way to US Route 1. I walked from New Street to the John Lynch Bridge.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm7.static.flickr.com%2F6085%2F6090157509_27688bcc74_b.jpg&hash=00f78d1b155490c922af8205a03bb9b1210ff08a)
Northbound NJ 18 Express lanes, you can see where the water didn't reach.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm7.static.flickr.com%2F6201%2F6090185603_59678ec93d_b.jpg&hash=c9340d3c0bdb13fba634deeec605f071f423a222)
This is NJ 27 under that same bridge, completely different story than the bridge itself.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm7.static.flickr.com%2F6085%2F6090205025_6c220111a9_b.jpg&hash=283f01a6e72480ddfecae8135e3064cc5120a111)
Someone got onto NJ 18 somehow, found a ramp that wasn't blocked and got all the way up here. This cop, who was taking photos of the flooding, like the other 150-300 people there, was chiding her out. Later on he was backing her up and off the road.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm7.static.flickr.com%2F6194%2F6090221287_d23febcfd6_b.jpg&hash=8f4bd717315ef2622513fd41c304343c1173d5a4)
Normally a busy freeway is empty with nothing but water.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm7.static.flickr.com%2F6088%2F6090790034_6082688250_b.jpg&hash=4012fb1115ae4b9ae64242a9b0cc5479e29d1b28)
Idiots at their best here. This guy followed an SUV past a bunch of cones and drove on NJ 27 NORTHBOUND into the water under the bridge. The SUV made it across. However, this happened.
Needless to say, there are many state route closures in northeast (http://www.dot.state.pa.us/penndot/districts/d4news.nsf/fa7602f9709f548985256e97005f6fdb/e1ff4bcb5d4dc204852578fb0001e697?OpenDocument), east central (http://www.dot.state.pa.us/penndot/Districts/District5.nsf/e5da4aa0433a25af852571f400537d15/1d498182e889dca6852578fa0078d7b1?OpenDocument), and southeastern (http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Penndot/Districts/District6/D6Media.nsf/cd20de0d8cd84b3785256d66005b622b/0e255e83af4cd0d2852578fa00701b5a?OpenDocument) Pennsylvania, even some bridge closures (http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Penndot/Districts/District6/D6Media.nsf/cd20de0d8cd84b3785256d66005b622b/81dc2b0bc28470ea852578fa0079d307?OpenDocument) as well in District 6-0.
I thought it was appropriate that when the tornado warnings were being issued around Philadelphia, the Tango Traffic channel's background music was "Rock You Like a Hurricane".
Went around town today to further inspect the damage. A few roads have been blocked due to either downed trees or flooding. I counted at least 15 intersections in both Delaware and Chester Counties that have the traffic signals out. There is a sizable chunk of US 1 in Chadds Ford that is completely underwater. Stupidly, I didn't get any photos, but I was able to get some cell phone shots of an overflowing waterfall in Swarthmore.
NJ got hammered. Millburn was completely underwater downtown, which is unheard of. Lots of washouts on streets hours after the storm passed (once the waters made their ways into streams). Passaic, Pompton, Raritan Rivers, Bound Brook, countless other waterways are breaking record flood stages right now, and have yet to crest. I can't get into work this week. A friend's apartment complex is an island, no way in or out due to flooding. Only a couple of roads crossing any creeks - NJ 10 is shut down, as was the next road up (Melanie Lane) - ended up going up to I-280 to get across there. NJ 10 itself is barely out from underwater in eastern East Hanover - Wendy's parking lot has a car still waist-deep in water, and flood puddles still lap over the right lane on either side. Lots of roads are impassable in the right lane, even freeways, due to trees falling over. It's nothing catastrophic, but it's going to take most of this week to pick up the pieces and get back to normal.
The worst of it here in Amsterdam, NY, came today when the runoff from the 12" rains in the Catskills made it to the Mohawk River. It's by far the highest flood crest I've seen. I-90/NYS Thruway has been closed due to flooding, with the official detour being NY 5. Which, unfortunately, also has large stretches underwater. So we have a ton of people being put off the Thruway at Exit 27 with no obvious way to continue west for those unfamiliar with the local roads. I will post a note when I get my pictures from the day up. In the greater Capital District area, more roads are closed than I can remember for any flood event.
Post Merge: August 30, 2011, 12:12:15 AM
The latest report here: I-87 across the Mohawk (the Twin Bridges, between Northway exits 7 and 8) has been closed due to a runaway barge carrying a crane heading downstream toward the area. The US 9 bridge, which is the main alternate, is also closed.
Quote from: Jim on August 29, 2011, 02:49:08 PM
The worst of it here in Amsterdam, NY, came today when the runoff from the 12" rains in the Catskills made it to the Mohawk River. It's by far the highest flood crest I've seen. I-90/NYS Thruway has been closed due to flooding, with the official detour being NY 5. Which, unfortunately, also has large stretches underwater. So we have a ton of people being put off the Thruway at Exit 27 with no obvious way to continue west for those unfamiliar with the local roads. I will post a note when I get my pictures from the day up. In the greater Capital District area, more roads are closed than I can remember for any flood event.
I believe that every bridge crossing the Schoharie Creek is currently closed due to flooding, as are most bridges crossing the Mohawk River. I'm anticipating that it will take a few days at the least to get back to normal. I think this may be worse than the 2006 floods, which also made things rough in Upstate New York. I'm also thinking that due to the severity of the 2006 floods, officials are taking every precaution to ensure people remain safe.
For what it's worth, I took some photos of the flooding in Schenectady. No, I didn't make it to the flooded Stockade, but I did walk over to the flooded Mohawk River.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougtone/sets/72157627425785619 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougtone/sets/72157627425785619)
It's been an absolute mess in Vermont. 3 covered bridges, including the Quechee bridge just off US 4, are gone. A large section of US 4 itself near Killington is also gone, and numerous other sections of highway have been washed out. Both US 4 and VT 9 are effectively closed between US 7 and I-91. Several towns have been completely cut off.
The Catskills were also hard hit by Irene, especially in places in Margaretville, Fleischmanns, Roxbury, Windham and Prattsville. This blog post pretty much sums up what happened in Margaretville... http://www.watershedpost.com/2011/middletown-irene-update (http://www.watershedpost.com/2011/middletown-irene-update).
If you look at the Watershed Post's main Hurricane Irene page at http://www.watershedpost.com/tags/hurricane-irene (http://www.watershedpost.com/tags/hurricane-irene), you'll see more devestation. Even the old Blenheim Covered Bridge was washed away into Schoharie Creek.
Quote from: Master son on August 27, 2011, 07:30:56 PM
How else are TV Stations going to make money. More drama = more viewers = MORE ADVERTISING DOLLARS :spin: :banghead:
[/crazy moment]
Headline in today's New York Times business section: "Media Outlets Gave Up Millions in Ads Pursuing Hurricane Coverage." The article itself: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/business/media/hurricane-news-mostly-uninterrupted-by-ads.html?_r=1&ref=business
Everying is back is normal since Sunday. The wind and rain lasted all night Friday and Saturday morning. Irene left by late morning but the winds
continued(sp?) on until Saturday night.
Saw this posted on HCW, definitely worth a look! :wow:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/before-after-hurricane-irene-pics
Okay, soooo.... question. I'm driving up to Montreal on Friday. I had been planning on doing a large portion of that up US 5, but now it looks like I need to amend my plan. I know it's fucked through Vermont, but how about in Massachusetts? Is it passable between the Mass Pike and Greenfield? How about up to Brattleboro?
For that matter, I-91 is still all intact, right?
Aaand about my planned route(s) home: is NY 22 impassable anywhere north of I-90? How about US 9 north of Albany?
I-91 is fully reopened. VTrans has partnered with Google for a "Vermont Flooding 2011" (http://crisislanding.appspot.com/?crisis=2011_flooding_vermont) map, which suggests that US 5 has also been reopened.
US 9 should be fine for most of the way north of Albany; Irene didn't really manage to get past the Adirondacks.
Thanks for the advice, guys.
Report from the field:
US 5 is 100% intact, at least up to I-91 exit 9.
The NY 22/US 9 bridge in Keeseville is closed but I don't think that's storm related.
NY 9N/22 was closed through Port Henry but apparently that was for some Labor Day event.
We got our power back Friday morning after I left.