# Hurricane Sandy: Potential Catastrophic NorEaster Brewing in the Carribean \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 24, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766 "2012-10-24T22:11:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/21 "2012-10-26T22:40:46Z")
Saw a NYC broadcast today where they predicted “landfall centered on the Brick Township/Point Pleasant border”. Nice…I live in Brick, a half-mile from Point. I’ve got a bad feeling about this… ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/22 "2012-10-26T23:35:30Z")
The last couple of model runs are having it track a little further south, maybe around Ocean City. It doesn’t really matter where the eye hits, though, as the winds are not catastrophic (~70 mph) and they will extend hundreds of miles in all directions. The storm is just huge. I guess you wouldn’t want to have beachfront property just to the north of the eye - that’s where the storm surge will be the worst. [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics\_at3+shtml/205618.shtml?5-daynl#contents](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at3+shtml/205618.shtml?5-daynl#contents) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/23 "2012-10-26T23:37:33Z")
"Potential Catastrophic NorEaster Brewing in the Carribean " Wouldn’t that be a SouEaster? Or just plain Sou, looking at the maps? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/24 "2012-10-27T00:36:21Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > "Potential Catastrophic NorEaster Brewing in the Carribean " > > Wouldn’t that be a SouEaster? Or just plain Sou, looking at the maps? [Nor’easter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nor'easter) It gets it name from the direction of the wind coming onshore. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/25 "2012-10-27T00:41:41Z")
Well, whoever came up with that term obviously didn’t pay much attention to satellite photos. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/26 "2012-10-27T00:45:44Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Irene dropped a tree on the house and power lines and we had no power for 6 days. BGE had a big meeting with our community association and promised to trim trees and look into “smart meters” so they’d know who still needed repairs. We never saw them. > > Then the derecho took down a bunch of neighborhood trees and left us without power for 7 days. BGE basically told us that’s life, and we should get generators. Assholes. You probably live next door to me 🙂 Cuz you’re describing exactly what happened here. Except after Irene I did install a generator, so after derecho I was sitting pretty. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/27 "2012-10-27T01:29:05Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I am trying not to get too discouraged ahead of the storm, but I know that if it comes within sneezing distance of the DC area, I’ll probably be without power for a week. > > Irene dropped a tree on the house and power lines and we had no power for 6 days. BGE had a big meeting with our community association and promised to trim trees and look into “smart meters” so they’d know who still needed repairs. We never saw them. > > Then the derecho took down a bunch of neighborhood trees and left us without power for 7 days. BGE basically told us that’s life, and we should get generators. Assholes. Last I heard, the county and state were looking into BGE’s response, because they did a seriously piss-poor job organizing the repair efforts. > > I’ll be trying to eat as much freezer food as possible this weekend, but if the power’s out more than a couple of days I’ll have to start begging friends for extra fridge/freezer space if their power’s on. > > Candles and flashlights are ready. Wine and board games are ready. I’ve got water, easy-to-eat food, and all my prescriptions refilled. Car’s full of gas, I have cash on hand, and I’m picking up ice for coolers on the way home so I can keep them in the second freezer till they’re needed. At least it’s a reasonable temperature outside and we shouldn’t need to worry about heating. > > Keeping my fingers crossed that it blows out to sea… but I’m not optimistic. Is BGE trying to charge its customers an extra fee, reimbursing BGE the lost utility payments because of the electricity that customers couldn’t use after the derecho? I ask because that’s what Pepco is doing, and according to state law, they are entitled to do so and the legislature is going along with them, no doubt due to the campaign contributions from Pepco. I predict that these legislators will be voted out of office and the new ones will propose changing the law and telling the utility companies tough nuggies and absorb the shortages from their profits. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/28 "2012-10-27T02:17:59Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > it’s times like these I miss having cable TV, but only for the Weather Channel. Check out Intellicast, or go directly to the satellite feeds. > [@Ethilrist](#): > > Well, whoever came up with that term obviously didn’t pay much attention to satellite photos. Watch how the storm spins; the winds from the south are slowed coming over land, but the winds that are full force and loaded with water swing in from the northeast. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/29 "2012-10-27T02:34:52Z")
I work in TV in DC. We’ve been told it’s 12 hour shifts starting Monday, and we’ve called in the sister station cavalry. Honestly don’t know what to expect, but I am sure it’s gonna be interesting. And once all this starts to wind down, it’s presidential election time in a battleground state (VA). I suspect exhaustion awaits in 2 weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/30 "2012-10-27T03:51:53Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > The last couple of model runs are having it track a little further south, maybe around Ocean City. It doesn’t really matter where the eye hits, though, as the winds are not catastrophic (~70 mph) and they will extend hundreds of miles in all directions. The storm is just huge. I guess you wouldn’t want to have beachfront property just to the north of the eye - that’s where the storm surge will be the worst. > > [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics\_at3+shtml/205618.shtml?5-daynl#contents](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at3+shtml/205618.shtml?5-daynl#contents) Oh no. I love OC, and am planning to move there in a few years (just need a million dollars). How much do you think it will rip up the beach? Didn’t the beach get blown away in the 1940s or something? They can dredge and dump sand there again, right? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/31 "2012-10-27T04:02:13Z")
This thing has perfect timing. I’m taking my first vacation with my almost four-month-old son: flying into Dulles tomorrow morning, and (supposed to be) flying out Tuesday. I really hope my grandma’s house doesn’t lose power. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/32 "2012-10-27T04:08:39Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > Oh no. I love OC, and am planning to move there in a few years (just need a million dollars). How much do you think it will rip up the beach? Didn’t the beach get blown away in the 1940s or something? > > They can dredge and dump sand there again, right? ☹ Beach erosion will be huge, unfortunately. There is a massive high pressure system around Greenland who’s clockwise circulation is blocking Sandy from moving out to sea, and is also pushing seawater southeast toward the Eastern Seaboard. Sandy is doing the same thing from the south with it’s counter-clockwise circulation. A full moon means a high tide as well. All these things coming together are why the meteorologists are so hyped up right now. It’s a very rare confluence of events and it’s heading for a highly populated area. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/33 "2012-10-27T04:49:16Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > You probably live next door to me 🙂 Cuz you’re describing exactly what happened here. Except after Irene I did install a generator, so after derecho I was sitting pretty. I’m in Columbia, MD. Lots of old neighborhoods with above-ground wires and ancient tall trees, so we’re usually the first to go dark and the last to light back up. If you’re really that close, I may drop in with some frozen food you can keep for me… 🙂 > [@medstar](#): > > Is BGE trying to charge its customers an extra fee, reimbursing BGE the lost utility payments because of the electricity that customers couldn’t use after the derecho? I ask because that’s what Pepco is doing, and according to state law, they are entitled to do so and the legislature is going along with them, no doubt due to the campaign contributions from Pepco. I predict that these legislators will be voted out of office and the new ones will propose changing the law and telling the utility companies tough nuggies and absorb the shortages from their profits. From what I understand, they don’t even have to tell us about the extra charge - they can just roll it into our bills and there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s nauseating: we’re without power for a week because they can’t get their shit together, and so we have to _pay them_ for our inconvenience? I read an article about it soon after the storm, but I don’t know the details about the laws involved, only that it’s totally legal and happens all the time. What really pisses me off is that they do a shitty job maintaining the existing infrastructure, spend TONS on overtime when a storm hits, and then say they need us to pay them more so they can upgrade things. Well, we’re not seeing any upgrades around here, so I don’t know how they’re getting away with it. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/34 "2012-10-27T04:55:10Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I’m in Columbia, MD. Lots of old neighborhoods with above-ground wires and ancient tall trees, so we’re usually the first to go dark and the last to light back up. If you’re really that close, I may drop in with some frozen food you can keep for me… 🙂 LOL. Ellicott City. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/35 "2012-10-27T16:09:11Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Saw a NYC broadcast today where they predicted “landfall centered on the Brick Township/Point Pleasant border”. Nice…I live in Brick, a half-mile from Point. > > I’ve got a bad feeling about this… I think landfall will be well north of you. Its too big to predict a specific spot, but my guess is the eastern edges of Monmouth, Middlesex, Union, Essex & Hudson. (… If the shape of the state was that of an old man in a hat, and I said the back of his neck, you’d get the idea.) I hope I’m wrong, because if I’m right the largest inland body of water will suddenly become “Lake Bound Brook”, and on a Hurricane Floyd scale. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/36 "2012-10-27T17:04:32Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > I think landfall will be well north of you. Its too big to predict a specific spot, but my guess is the eastern edges of Monmouth, Middlesex, Union, Essex & Hudson. > > (… If the shape of the state was that of an old man in a hat, and I said the back of his neck, you’d get the idea.) > > I hope I’m wrong, because if I’m right the largest inland body of water will suddenly become “Lake Bound Brook”, and on a Hurricane Floyd scale. ☹ I was living in the Lost Valley of Manville at the time. Floyd was not fun. So far my Guard unit has not been activated but we are on alert. I’m getting packed. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/37 "2012-10-27T18:05:22Z")
It’s a good thing MD/DC/VA are on the coast… NOAA now has them predicted for 11.5+ inches of rain in the next 5 days. Talk about getting swamped! They’ve also upgraded Ohio from 2 inches to 3 inches in the last day. ( [http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/zoom/Rainfall\_Days\_1-5.gif](http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/zoom/Rainfall_Days_1-5.gif) ) Here is the base NOAA site: [REMNANTS OF BRET](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at3+shtml/180855.shtml?5-daynl) ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/38 "2012-10-27T18:14:43Z")
I’m sitting down south of Salisbury on the Eastern Shore of MD at my parent’s place right now with my kids. My daughter and I are going to take a ride over to Ocean City in a few hours, might send back some video to the station and perhaps hook up a live shot via Skype for 11 to do a report. Awhile ago a manager sent out an email explaining our satellite windows - satellites can be hard to book during big events like this. We have already booked DAYS of sat time in advance… normally we do 15 minutes at a time. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/39 "2012-10-27T18:20:07Z")
> [@Enkel](#): > > It’s a good thing MD/DC/VA are on the coast… NOAA now has them predicted for 11.5+ inches of rain in the next 5 days. Talk about getting swamped! > > They’ve also upgraded Ohio from 2 inches to 3 inches in the last day. ( [http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/zoom/Rainfall\_Days\_1-5.gif](http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/zoom/Rainfall_Days_1-5.gif) ) > Here is the base NOAA site: [POST-TROPICAL CYCLONE RAFAEL](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at3+shtml/180855.shtml?5-daynl) I am terrified that we will lose more trees. We got lucky during Irene, and the [huge pine that came down only damaged the gutters and siding](http://antijenicdrift.blogspot.com/2011/09/update-on-tree-in-our-yard.html), but the neighbor has a really big oak next door that would flatten our garage completely if it fell towards us. We spent a bunch of money this summer taking out the oldest and weakest trees on our property, and the ones that are left are far enough that they wouldn’t crush the house (or the neighbors’ houses), but downed trees are a lot to deal with. Also, they could definitely hit parked cars in the driveways. I’m as ready as I can be, I guess. I’m still hoping the track takes it away from here, but right now the NOAA forecast shows the worst of the storm coming right through the neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766/40 "2012-10-27T18:23:53Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I’m as ready as I can be, I guess. I’m still hoping the track takes it away from here, but right now the NOAA forecast shows the worst of the storm coming right through the neighborhood. Naah, you’ll be fine. Clarksburg on the other hand, they’re screwed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-sandy-potential-catastrophic-noreaster-brewing-in-the-carribean-edited-title/638766.md?page=3)