Right now, it’s pretty calm here. I’ve even put the garbage out, since the local township says they’ll pick up tomorrow morning but not again until next Monday. The usual schedule is Mondays and Thursdays.
My girlfriend’s office is across the street from the evacuation zone. She’s still not sure if she has work tomorrow.
There’s no way that is from today. The hurricane is way too far away to be having that effect.
Ah, per the comments, it is from Irene.
Well, hell. How’d I miss that? :o
Some years ago, one of those slow-moving tropical systems was dumping a bunch of rain on Houston. Not a rare event–The Usual Areas were flooding & driving was dicey. The morning news shows all carried the announcement from the Houston ISD: Schools are open today! Business as usual!
At 11 AM, HISD announced that schools were closing due to the weather. Everybody needed to come & get their kids! The parents I worked with were not happy…
Holy carp. I just saw on the news that they’re telling people in my town to be ready to evacuate if necessary!
My office will be closed Monday and Tuesday.
The closings make sense to me. At some point on Monday, it will become unsafe to be outside or on the road, and that will last well into Tuesday. The absolute worst case scenario for a school would be to have kids on the premises when that point happens. Yes, that point will likely be later. But transit, roads, power, communications and work schedules are going to be crazy, and if even one kid’s parents can’t pick him up from school on time for whatever reason, it could easily become a headline-grabbing career-ending absolute nightmare.
Not to mention many parents will pull their kids out of class anyway, limiting the opportunity for real learning. Better to let parents keep track of their kids in a safe place where they can monitor the situation rather than out on the roads in what can be a rapidly changing storm.
From a facebook friend:
“If it’s a legitimate storm, the federal government has a way of shutting that whole public transportation thing down.”
Still nothing but a regular rainy night here. Barely any wind yet. The cats are stuck to us like glue, following us around the house much more than usual, which is adorable but a little annoying!
I’m off to bed after having absorbed as much electronic entertainment I could this evening, since I’m not sure whether I’ll have power in the morning.
Be safe, everyone.
Home after many hours on the road. Loaded into the work truck this evening, I go on duty tomorrow afternoon. Not sure what my duties are but it will be a long night. I will try to hit my never used twitter @WUSAUnit5 when I can. Our station will begin streaming wall to wall coverage beginning 4am today.
I will be running a Suburban live truck set up to go live as I drive or stop and go live traditionally as situations warrant. I think my duties will be to chase down the ‘breaking news’ of the day.
I should probably get some sleep…
Beach front @ North Wildwood, NJ (Cape May County; far south NJ) checking in (second floor). Landfall is predicted within 25 miles of here.
Streets are flooded as if Nor’ Easter has passed by. Unfortunately, the streets look like this with Sandy is 400-500 miles away.
The duration of wind over water is going to create hell a very bad situation.
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I’m sure you already know this but staying there is really fucking stupid and I hope no one has to risk their lives to rescue you.
The wind is howling here on LI and hasn’t let up sice early this morning. We’re not supposed to get the real stuff til later today.
I am just getting up and checking the news. My unit is staging out of West Orange. No missions yet. On stand by. Most of us wound up doing nothing during Irene. It mostly depends if local governments ask for additional assistance through the state.
Those of you in Jersey I suggest checking out the Facebook page Jersey Shore Hurricane News. It’s a privately run clearinghouse for information that was set up during Irene. The guy who runs it does a good job of putting out official and direct eyewitness information. A good use of social media.
looks like i’m walking into work today. gggrrr. you’d think they would either email or text us so we know for sure one way or another. no doubt i’ll get there and be told to turn around.
I might have to take that… 
40 mph winds already recorded in Jackson Heights, Queens.
“Stiff breeze” to some, but this is nothing I’d want MY 10 year old cousins walking to school in.
Just watching all the news updates down here in Australia, and it’s sounding mighty grim with the windspans extending many hundreds of kilometres. 
Wishing good stuff to all of you facing the storm. Take care of course, and bunker down while you can. I’m not gonna demand pics, but if you just happen to be foolhardy enough to click away a few pixels, then POST THEM, dammit! 
kam
I EVACUATED FROM NORTH WILDWOOD, NJ. My condo is beach front.
I am off the island now and am home ~50 miles inland.
No one needs to rescue me. However, the damage was getting as bad as it would be after a Nor’ Easter… except the storm has yet to arrive.
I do know some people who stayed. The police/fire issued a warning that the roads out were about to flood and we left, but others stayed. Some stayed in rancher style homes and the only way to higher ground was by boat.
There’s no way out already in many South Jersey barrier islands w/ Sandy 300+ miles away.
45 years of going to the barrier islands and I know this: If Sandy does track Easterly, there is no way this isn’t the worst storm in literal centuries.
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