Off topic - Hurrican Sandy
 

I am hoping that all my American friends will be in a safe place when that serious storm hits your territory, it sounds like a real monster.

That is very thoughtful of you Brian. Looks like most of it will miss us, in the Great Lakes region.

But the Eastern states are in for a mess I think. But these storms are unpredictable ...so who knows what will really happen? :rolleyes:

I'm in Virginia. It's going to be a wild one.

right now it is aiming right for me unless it turns sharpely to the west.

I'm in Nothern VA and spent the day prepping for Sandy-big problem is no generator. Electric goes out pretty quickly here-had to bring in as many containers, buckets, etc. to be able to last a few days without H2o for 5 horses. Hope everyone keeps safe!

Hi all

Keeping fingers crossed you all get through this safely, god we moan about the Scottish weather, we get quite bad storms now and again and sometimes the four seasons in the one day but nothing like what you guys get, you are all in my thoughts.........Marie xx

We've made it through--
 

--with minimal damage, though a large tree fell and crushed a parked car about eighty feet in front of mine. (I made certain to park "out of reach" of the larger trees.)

I was actually out in the storm several times yesterday morning and afternoon, running some errands for the shut ins in my co-op complex, and it wasn't too bad. Here in Queens, away from the shore areas, we got a lot of wind but not too much rain. The areas near the ocean got hit badly by storm surge, however, and lower Manhattan, which is only a few feet above sea level, got swamped. With most subway lines running through there, it may be days until many people can get to work or school properly.

Phew that was luck Glen you had the insight to keep your car out the way, thanks for the update still keeping fingers crossed for everyone.........Marie

I am still thinking about you, Glenn. Relieved that you are alright!

I hope Melody and Alan are okay too.

I hope Echoes can check in as well.

And the others here, I hope will check in soon.;)

Nide and en bloc and judiesva?

I apologize if I've left anyone out...I can't remember exactly
where everyone is from! :o

LOTS of debris, but trees are still standing. We still have some strong wind gusts and snow is moving into our area, so we may see some before it's over. Only loss was router for our phone...due to power on/off and surges. Almost 50% of our county is without power...as far as I'm concerned we are very lucky.

We survived, but had one of the scares of our lives. Let furface out last night as usual, but he didn't come back in -- even when whistling/calling. First time EVER. We got dressed and went out in the wind & rain with flashlights calling for him, and he still didn't appear for 1/2 hour. By then we were both shaking with fear for him. (Thinking of MrsD's loss)

It wasn't the rain/storm; he normally loves even thunderstorms (unlike some dogs) and wants us to go out & play in them.

He wasn't "into" something; nothing in his mouth or smells - hadn't been rolling.

Wondering if something magnetic messed up his direction/brain - even in the front yard. :confused:

Doc

Can anyone say what it is like in Buffalo we have relatives there and can't get in touch...........Marie

I bet your dog sensed the storm...lots of ions, different smells.

But yes, I can feel that anxiety... I had it for months. Looking online to see if anyone is contacting me, etc. Then when we got home a fellow from up the street sent me a message thru our neighborhood online community that he saw a black cat with white feet walking north (towards us). About a block away. So this just set me off all over again. Maybe someone up there took her in? If they don't belong to our association and have her? Was it another cat? I sent him a photo and he never answered me. sigh?

Maya goes tomorrow morning for the spay... I am a wreck as usual. I can remember when I never gave it another thought..Boy, have I changed? :o:confused:

So you got your dog back?

You know we didn't have much weather, not much wind even now, compared to what we can get. Yet we looked on our local map online and 60,000 are without power today, including a large # just across the highway from us, a bit north. It is yelling distance away! I was so surprised at that! ;)

Yes. It can't compare to the days/weeks of not knowing, but it was the most stressful 1/2 hour in recent recollection. We were both wrecks.

The weather was no worse than other storms, and he'd been out twice before during the day with the same weather.

Doc

I had an email yesterday overnight of a Houdini sighting!

This gal was pretty sure it is Houdini. I posted her photo 2 weeks ago again. Tomorrow I begin the
door to door on that block. It is not far from us, just up the street.
Maybe 50 homes away. The gal who sent me the mail said
H looked really well cared for. It was 9pm ...so we will focus
on 6pm-10pm times. Might be someone who does not belong
to our online group, as there are about 30 homes who have not
joined yet.

Oh, this is very encouraging news. I will be hoping & praying that you find Houdini.

hi, sitting in walmart,usint their internet. everyone is ok here. no power, no internet, no gas, no heat. plenty of food and water though.

I am glad you are Okay.... what a horrible thing for so many people. One day they have a home, the next day gone!
The north eastern states don't have this peril regularly like the Gulf ones do..but every 100 yrs or so BOOM. So it is really devastating. All those homes built up on the shore...gone!
I saw some Staten Island tragic things today on CNN.

It is sobering. We lost power once during an ice storm in Feb and for 4 days, were a mess. I ended up with a hypothyroid crisis in fact!

We have old oak trees over our home. Over the years, many have died and we have spent tons of $$ on their removal. I worry about the 3 remaining ones all the time there is storm.
I even have dreams about trees falling!

So I am glad you are safe. Thanks for coming on here with the update. I am sure others were concerned too.

Problem is--
 

--these "once in a century" storms now seem to be coming every few years or so.

They've not all been as devastating as Sandy, which had the unfortunate luck of hitting at just the wrong place to funnel an enormous storm surge at the shore and harbor (and the unfortunate luck to have been turned inland by an unusual low pressure system coming across the country at exactly the same time--most tropical systems this time of year are shoved out into the Atlantic by the west to east flow of the jet stream), but the weather does seem to be getting more extreme more often.

I was listening to NPR yesterday, there was this scientist being interviewed saying that due to climate change, this combo storms will be a trend in the future. I really hope not.... The damage done will have an impact in the insurance world, even on small countries. Premiums will all go up.