Michael and I were very lucky. We had power throughout the night, though the lights flickered. The internet connection went out for awhile, but is now back.
The wind is still gusting and very strong this morning.
A lot of other people are not so lucky. The official death toll for the whole area is 16, though everyone expects that number to rise.
We had a record breaking storm surge of 13 feet. The previous record was 12 feet back in 1821.
All of Manhattan south of about 30th Street remains dark after a huge transformer explosion at the 14th Street Power Station. Power could be out for days.
(These are not my pictures. I spent the storm safely indoors. These are all from local press sources).
Downtown Manhattan at daybreak this morning
The Lower East Side and the East Village, my old neighborhood, flooded under 4 to 6 feet of water. My studio is on the 4th floor so I'm sure is safe, but I think the first floor and basement of the building probably flooded out.
Flooding around Stuyvesant Town, East 14th Street
Flooding at East 14th Street and Avenue C last night
Avenue C at 8th Street last night (courtesy of JoeMyGod)
The World Trade Center construction site flooded.
The subways and PATH stations flooded and remain closed. The subway system has never faced this much damage before in its 108 year history.
The Hoboken PATH station last night
Fires broke out in Queens in the Rockaways.
The Rockaways this morning (courtesy of JoeMyGod)
A lot of the AM radio stations got knocked off the air. Power went out on local TV stations while they were on the air.
I still think the New Jersey coast got the worst of it. With daylight, they are just beginning to look at the damage.
This was really bad.
EXTRA:
If you have flight plans to New York, perhaps you should call the airline.
This was LaGuardia this morning.
EXTRA EXTRA:
Amazing pictures in The Atlantic today.
Doug, This is frightening! Sandy turned into something that don't think anyone truly expected! Prayers for those who lost family members, and for those facing the after affects from this horrific storm.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that you are safe. Sorry to hear about those not safe.
ReplyDeleteGobsmacked but not surprised at the LaGuardia photo.
I am going to say this was a success. because people knew it was coming, and prepared.Can you imagine if the weather service (federally funded) had said, no worries,the storm will miss NY? If the mayors and governors of the affected states (dam' guvment bureaucrats) had ignored this? If FEMA and the CoE weren't available to help with recovery and the massive effort to restore the NYC subway network?
ReplyDeleteIn other words, if we have Grover Norquist's government, and not the one we have?
I used to love walking past that power station. It was on a completely desolate block, with the huge industrial monolith looming above it. They've blocked it off since 9/11, so you cant go by it any more. It didn't take a terrorist to destroy it.
ReplyDelete