# Working during a hurricane **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218 "2012-10-29T16:07:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/21 "2012-10-29T20:17:56Z")
I’m not in Sandy’s path but, living in the Caribbean I am not unaccustomed to a hurricane. Work is mandatory for hurricanes. Full call out. All hands on deck. But that is what I expect working in a 9-1-1 center. For the record, no one is coming out during the storm to save you from your own stupidity. The risks of sending anyone out for any reason at all is very carefully weighed. Probably a 99% chance of no available emergency response during the storm regardless of what is causing the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/22 "2012-10-29T20:25:49Z")
I work at home most of the time, so while I have power, I work. My university is closed, so I can’t even get to the library even if I wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/23 "2012-10-29T20:59:08Z")
I am unemployed but mrAru works 50 miles away in Hartford. They closed up and sent everybody home at noon, and he will find out midday tomorrow if he needs to go in or they have another day off. Back in the 80s when I lived and worked in Norfolk VA, they evacuated us for Charlie in '86. I was working for a truck rental place, my specific office was on Military Hwy, almost to Little Creek. I went in in the morning, and about midday my fiancee called me saying that we were being evacuated and he packed for me and was headed over to pick me up and that I could leave my car in the lot at his workplace in Greenbriar where it was at least not right on the ocean. He told me that we were headed up to his mothers farm in Dillwyn. I got on the phone and called my boss, who wanted me to _stay_ until normal close at 6 pm. I cleared everything up, locked up the keys and money as normal, locked the building and left after telling my boss that they did not pay me enough to sit there when the area was being evacuated because there was a hurricane scant miles to sea and headed directly at me. Oddly enough, I didn’t lose my job over it! ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/24 "2012-10-29T21:06:50Z")
I’m a dam engineer currently on a three-month project to repair a dam. Yeah, I was at work today, and will at least be driving out a few times tomorrow so I can sound the alarm if the catastrophic happens. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/25 "2012-10-29T21:23:29Z")
Brought my laptop into the fire station and worked from there most of the day. My manager said if we actually got a call I would have to count it as PTO, but as long as I was actually working on work-related stuff, I could count it as teleworking. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/26 "2012-10-29T21:47:21Z")
> [@Mithril](#): > > I’m a dam engineer currently on a three-month project to repair a dam. Yeah, I was at work today, and will at least be driving out a few times tomorrow so I can sound the alarm if the catastrophic happens. This reminds me of a King of the Hill episode. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/27 "2012-10-29T21:48:46Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > For the record, no one is coming out during the storm to save you from your own stupidity. The risks of sending anyone out for any reason at all is very carefully weighed. Probably a 99% chance of no available emergency response during the storm regardless of what is causing the problem. Yep, Bloomberg is right now telling people that “The time for evacuation and moving has past. If you haven’t left by now, stay where you are, because travelling is bad enough that if we have to waste personnel saving your ass, it’d be a travesty.” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/28 "2012-10-29T21:49:41Z")
The university announced over the weekend that we’d be off today and tomorrow…but at first they just said classes were canceled so they confused staff some. They’ll re-evaluate tomorrow afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/29 "2012-10-30T00:41:15Z")
We are allowed to, but discouraged from, work from home one day a week. At home today & tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/30 "2012-10-30T00:54:41Z")
I’ve only been with my company a week, but it seems that working from home is quite common. I needed some repairs done to my car and asked if I could work from home this past Friday and my boss (well, sorta my boss) said: \*oh yeah, hardly any of the developers are in on Fridays. \*He also was the one to send out the email that said: \*OK, I’ll be the first pussy. Due to the storm I will be working from home M-W. See you all Thursday. \*Some emails went back and forth, but it wasn’t too long before the official word came that we should all work from home and stay safe. This works out well for them (at least in regards to me) because I’ve been working since 7AM. I did stop for lunch and dinner, but I couldn’t help going back and tinkering. I’m done now though. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/31 "2012-10-30T01:27:51Z")
I voted other. I’m a municipal employee in my town, but basically a one-person department. There was no school today, the library was closed and the government offices in the city next door were closed. Our town hall remained open, though. I don’t work at town hall, but in a separate location. I decided to stay home with my wife (a teacher with school cancelled) and our daughter (also no school). Town officials finally closed town hall at 2:00 p.m. I worked from home for some of the day. My wife and daughter have no school tomorrow, but I’ll probably go into the office unless something major happens overnight. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/32 "2012-10-30T01:43:12Z")
I went in to work today. I live and work in NJ. It was a pretty nice day actually. Almost no traffic on the Turnpike, a little rain, and not much wind. The drive home was just as pleasant. There was really no reason for all the hype and panic, and certainly no reason for the state to come to a grinding halt. ---
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/33 "2012-10-30T02:17:00Z")
I’m usually off Monday, but we’re now closed through Tuesday. So, if we have water and gas, I’ll be brewing more beer tomorrow! Baltimore, MD. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/34 "2012-10-30T03:54:41Z")
> [@that\_darn\_cat](#): > > I’m usually off Monday, but we’re now closed through Tuesday. So, if we have water and gas, I’ll be brewing more beer tomorrow! Baltimore, MD. If your wife is home with you, tell her to take her damn Scrabble move. ---
**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 30, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/35 "2012-10-30T03:56:14Z")
I am at work today. As I’m in California, this isn’t so much of a problem. However, I’m currently doing remote server monitoring and apparently there seems to be a bit of a problem with all of our Newark, NJ servers. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/36 "2012-10-30T04:33:41Z")
I work (and attend school) at UConn (my job is work-study). I wasn’t directly told to not come in but it was made pretty clear when they sent out the mass notification saying that only essential people were to work today and tomorrow. I did have to go to school today though because I had to get a vaccination that absolutely had to be done today. The nurse called me at 8:30 am to let me know that if I could get in, she’d be there to do it. Lemme tell you, a major college campus is very eerie when it’s that empty. I’ve never even seen it that dead in the middle of Christmas week. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/37 "2012-10-31T17:05:36Z")
Update: most of the east coast offices that were closed are open (except one in NYC) > [@latest email](#): > > We recognize that the storm’s aftermath has left many of you to deal with damage, flooding, school closings, power outages and other issues. In many locations, a state of emergency continues and we encourage you to heed the guidance and advisories in your local area. The safety of our employees and their families is top priority. If you are dealing with issues from the storm, you should take care of your family needs first and work remotely where possible. Please also alert your manager so that he/she is aware of your situation should you need to work remotely or be away from the office. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/38 "2012-10-31T17:31:14Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I feel like the entire fucking state is on holiday. I’ve been getting various e-mails about it all day. I live upstate NY, though we are supposed to get torrential downpour and winds and all that; it’s not supposed to be that bad. IT’S JUST A HURRICANE PEOPLE. We don’t live anywhere near anything larger than the Hudson, we’re not going to be swept away, and if it starts bad, we can always be sent home. So while downstate and NYC and LI got hit pretty bad, upstate got exactly what I expected - some people lost power, I lost my landline (who cares) and lots of rain but not as much as you’d think. Everything that closed up here definitely overreaacted… but man, oh man, did NYC get hit bad! ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/39 "2012-10-31T18:05:25Z")
I voted “other” because I’m in California and so not personally affected. But I wanted to mention that I have a cousin who is a doctor on Long Island, and he is at the hospital working right now. In fact he has been on call there for a while, sleeping at the hospital. His family is safe, but they have no power. It is my cousin’s 50th birthday this Friday, and the family had planned a big party, but I just learned that it’s been cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218/40 "2012-10-31T18:31:52Z")
I just realized this morning that checks from one client actually come from HQ, which is in lower Manhattan – I’m guessing that the $1200 I was happily looking forward to is not going to be arriving this week or probably next. Dammit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-during-a-hurricane/639218.md?page=3)