<p>School is cancelled in our area too. We have employees that don’t have power or internet service and kids to watch so we’re about half-full today. It appears that many homeowners cut down trees near their property after snowtober last year and that was a good thing to do for Sandy.</p>
<p>Managed to avoid losing power here just north of DC…lights flickered several times in the 70 mph winds (enough to flip off my microwave clock) but never went completely out. Feeling very thankful that my preparation was for naught and I can melt the giant bags of frozen water in my freezer. </p>
<p>If the wind and rain dies down some later, I might venture out just to get out of the house.</p>
<p>How are Manhattan CCers and their children faring? NYC faces a complicated recovery and I hope all are safe, everywhere. Our student in Upper West Side never lost power which is very fortunate. That said, all are impacted by infra-structure problems. My best to all who face the worst impact of this storm.</p>
<p>NYC public schools closed tomorrow</p>
<p>750,000 without power. Public transportation closed until further notice.</p>
<p>Extensive flooding in the tunnels and subway. Limited bus service hopefully by tomorrow.</p>
<p>My best to all of those now hit with the snow</p>
<p>I never expected to see the problems and devastation i have seen in NYC . This is so upsetting. I feel like a jerk for whining about potentially losing power, I just never expected this to happen to this extent. am praying for all who are affected so horribly.</p>
<p>As far as I can tell everyone I know is safe, although their belongings might not be.</p>
<p>I shouldnt be able to complain about rain in Seattle.
[Incredible</a> Pictures Of Storm Damage In New York City - Business Insider](<a href=“http://www.businessinsider.com/at-least-16-dead-75-million-without-power--heres-what-hurricane-sandys-destruction-looks-like-photos-2012-10]Incredible”>Incredible Pictures of Storm Damage in New York City)</p>
<p>good news from my kids in DC and Boston…all well, and apparently all even kept power.</p>
<p>Worried about my kids BFFs in NY…does anyone know the situation around Columbia University or the Village?</p>
<p>The village has no power and there has been flooding. Columbia U should be ok</p>
<p>Here in SW CT, our town has 70% of CL&P customers without power. Trees are being cleared from the roads. Not as much rainfall here as originally predicted. A fire fighter in a neighboring town lost his life when a tree fell on his truck. We still have some strong wind gusts and sustained winds are about 17 MPH. Schools are closed again tomorrow. Gas stations have some fuel available but many are closed. Most of the local hotels are booked with “futility” workers from out of state as well as tree companies. We were very blessed this time, we have power but also have 3 elderly family members at our “senior camp”. We had them last year in Sept. with Irene and Oct. with the snow storm for almost 10 days each time. Can’t wait to get back to Florida!</p>
<p>The scary photos tell just a tiny part of the entire story. It was a monster storm… Hang in there, fellow CCers, please stay safe!</p>
<p>(Yes, EK, I should keep my mouth shut about our drizzle.)</p>
<p>The $64,0000 question is how are we all going to get to work in Manhattan? NYC subway systems are the experts in rapid transit so I expect that those trains will return to service relatively soon. But thousands of people ride the commuter trains from NJ, including Amtrak. And even some subway train yards were submerged, so not all cars will be available for he rails right away. They’ve got to be inspected first, and there are thousands of them.</p>
<p>I live 20 blocks from my office. I will be walking or taking a taxi everyday until public transportation is back up. This maybe a silver lining - I’ll be getting in shape.</p>
<p>After reading about the hideous mess in NYC, especially the prolonged disruptions of transit, I don’t think I should complain about losing our cable Internet and TV in Maryland. We never even lost our electricity.</p>
<p>At least in DC, the Metro is supposed to be partly back in service within the next hour and fully operational by tomorrow.</p>
<p>There is extensive flooding in all of the tunnels that connect manhattan to the outerboroughs, and in the rail yards. They are talking about 3 to 4 days before they can get the water out and assess the situation.</p>
<p>There should be limited bus service by 5pm and full bus service by tomorrow. Bloomberg has given permission for taxis to pick up multiple fares, even if someone else is in the cab.</p>
<p>Now that the dust has settled a bit, more has come to light in the argument between the Mayor of Atlantic City and Governor Christie.</p>
<p>Christie at least was partially right, but may have spoken to soon, but the mayor’s reply was sort of juvenile.</p>
<p>The New Jersey Star-Ledger reports that the mayor did indeed urge his residents to evacuate in a statement last Friday. Where Christie is correct is that the mayor also said that he would establish shelters in the city for stragglers and people whom refuse to evacuate. The mayor’s rationale for doing so, he explained on Friday [according to the Star-Ledger], was that Atlantic City residents felt that last year’s warnings about Hurricane Irene was a false alarm, moreover A.C. residents who attempted to evacuate the city during Irene were stuck for hours on school buses that never actually left the area. In any event, it seems that there should have been more communication between these two gentlemen before the hurricane’s landfall and before they started to trade insults. I can see where the mayor’s actions appeared to be a mixed message.</p>
<p>I got through to my mother in a suburb of Boston late this morning. Her answering machine was full from political calls. My sister checked on her too. She didn’t lose power either. Another nephew is fine at his CT school.</p>
<p>Patrick acknowledged that MA got off easy and may send resources down to NY/NJ to help out.</p>
<p>I just called the police to check up on my parents. They said my parents are fine, except they do not have any power or phone service.</p>
<p>In rural central MD, we lost power around 6 last evening (Monday). The power company doesn’t trim trees along the lines. Around the lines coming down to our place, they’ve been trimmed once in 20 years. Since the native hardwoods were clear-cut years ago, a lot of rank, fast growing, invasive species have come in (such as Tree of Heaven). These are weak, weedy trees that are easily blown down in storms. Invasive insect pests have weakened the remaining ash, locust, and oak trees. This is a perfect storm of bad environmental stewardship and poor utility management practices, on top of climate change.</p>
<p>So these days we lose power with nearly every big storm. A long line went down this time due to what must have been one overhanging untrimmed branch (“stich in time saves nine”, you know). I expect we’ll be out for days. Wife and I are hunkered down in a nice local pub where we’ll while away the afternoon drinking coffee and watching episodes of Forsyte Saga on the laptop. We have a woodstove that will heat the whole house if needed (temp are now above 40), but no well water without the electric pump. Two tubs full of water should keep the toilets flushed, at least. Maybe this storm will finally motivate us to put in a couple of solar panels and battery back up ($$$).</p>
<p>Just back on line after 24 hours w/o internet. Lost power at 11pm last night. At town community center to catch up on news. No damage to our house, but significant in our town. Biggest surprise is no damage to our beach house, despite utter devastation just a few miles down the coast.</p>
<p>Lots of downed trees and power lines in my immediate area. Still no power and they can not even give an estimate as to when it will be back. Fortunately we have a gas water heater, cooktop, and fireplace, but it will be getting pretty chilly soon. Hanging out at the office for the day, but if this turns into a week long wait, will likely skip town. Thinking of all those who have been hard hit.</p>