LESSONS LEARNED FROM SANDY - A microcosm of understanding.

[JPGreco]

Depending on who you talk to NY is either devastated or just in an inconvenience (as a total area). The thing is, that no matter how much damage there is, we have places to go for shelter and food. It took less than a day to start getting utilities back up and running so there are areas with power and most places in those areas are opening doors for charging cell phones or just to have a warm place to hang out.

People talk about how strong the storm was, but the reality is it didn't really devastate because people are on their roofs still looking for help and food. I was talking to a friend and really, individuals were devastated. They lost their homes and some lost family members and my heart goes out to them. But a lot of people who are talking about devastation are talking about some lost physical possessions and power out for a few days to a couple of weeks. I will never accept that as devastation in the wake of Katrina, the Japan earthquake/tsunami, and a bunch of other natural disasters that have happened since 2000 that truly destroyed areas and cost hundreds of thousands of lives and still haven't recovered.

According to various sources Sandy was the second strongest hurricane on record. No matter what the pressure was equal to, the winds were only cat 1. You want devastation, the inevitable cat 3 or higher that pounds the tri-state area will be what everyone is saying this is.

[BENESSE]

JPG...even, if you were the only one who lost family members and property in this storm, you're not gonna give a rat's behind that the overall casualties were low compared to other monumental disasters. It all comes down to people, not statistics, when you watch it fall apart all around you.

[Echo2]

JPG...even, if you were the only one who lost family members and property in this storm, you're not gonna give a rat's behind that the overall casualties were low compared to other monumental disasters. It all comes down to people, not statistics, when you watch it fall apart all around you.

Correct....perception equals severity.

[cowgirlup]

[QUOTE=kyratshooter;367868]City, suburbs or rural, the rules are the same. Shelter, water, food.

The major differnce in the cities is the concentration of people results in a concentration of stupid people, who outnumber the smart people by a wide margin. They also scream much louder than the smart people so they can not hear advice, orders or instructions over their own noise and are upprepared when the unusual happens.

They also tend to be more systems dependent, resulting in the call for government assistance rather than the call for family assistance.

QUOTE]

Makes perfect sense to me!!! hehehehe

[Wildthang]

I think living in a coastal area is stupid to begin with. Even undeveloped natives know to build their villiages out of a flood zone, but we allow millions to live in areas affected by hurricanes, sunami's you name it! There is a lot of stupid going around!

[JPGreco]

JPG...even, if you were the only one who lost family members and property in this storm, you're not gonna give a rat's behind that the overall casualties were low compared to other monumental disasters. It all comes down to people, not statistics, when you watch it fall apart all around you.

And I mentioned that individuals were devastated and that my heart goes out to them. However, with only localized heavy damages, its absurd to say Long Island was devastated, as I hear over and over on the radio, which was my point. As with almost every large storm that hits this area it is over hyped by the media, which causes the people to overreact. We were very fortunate that the storm was only a cat 1, regardless of the overall power of the storm being very high. We are all also lucky that it lost so much energy almost immediately after making landfall. The original forecasts were much worse.

Correct....perception equals severity.

So then my perception of the severity is as valid as anyone else's.

[JPGreco]

I think living in a coastal area is stupid to begin with. Even undeveloped natives know to build their villiages out of a flood zone, but we allow millions to live in areas affected by hurricanes, sunami's you name it! There is a lot of stupid going around!

I have no problem with that, but if you choose to live in those area's, you gotta make sure you have the proper insurance and that you heed warnings. If I had one of those coastal homes, I would move all my irreplaceable possessions to higher ground ahead of the storm. Everything else would be covered via insurance and would be replaceable. Then, get your butt out of the flood zone as well.

Though tsunamis don't follow flood zones, they go pretty much where they want...

[Echo2]

So then my perception of the severity is as valid as anyone else's.

Well....yes.....to you.

But to some folks, breaking a nail is the end of the world.

Goes to the old adage....

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[hunter63]

As I'm not involved by this disaster, and don't have all the facts. I have stayed out of the discussion.

If you were effected it is/was/still is important to you regardless what the news storied say....and yeah i have to agree that the media tends to over-blow most any situation.....but unless I was there I wouldn't know that.

So thanks for the up date from your area, and an honest assessment....Glad y'all made it thru.....I sure that there are a lot of people that lost everything whether they prepared for it or not, you can do only so much.

Our thoughts and prayers are with y'all.

[Geek]

As I sit here, still running on my generator as we haven't had power in 6 days, this thing isn't over yet. I have read that this is supposed to be the 4th worst natural disaster in US history as of now.

We are supposed to get more bad weather next week. Many will not have gotten power restored in time. I am sure a few people will die and a lot more will be very uncomfortable. I don't know if this new storm will be seen as part of the same disaster or as a seperate event. It certainly isn't good.

Whatever your perception may be of this disaster, I suggest holding off on drawing conclusions until power is restored to everyone. In the meantime, we are getting an interesting test of a Grid Down scenario.

[JPGreco]

Well....yes.....to you.

But to some folks, breaking a nail is the end of the world.

Goes to the old adage....

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Oh, no doubt...lol Most people losing internet for an hour is horrible.

Hunter, I still have friends without power, I think the last numbers for my county was 130k people without power and the neighboring county like 300k out. The news isn't helping by talking about the gas shortage either, as the problem isn't as bad as they are making it either, but its causing huge lines at gas stations. The response of the station to ration gas is playing into it as well. The problem simply is that a lot of stations are still coming back online, but as they do, they have full tanks. If people would calm down, it wouldn't be as bad. I mean, its causing people who don't really need to fill up to freak out and go get on a gas line.

Geek, I hope you get turned on soon. Yeah, we're supposed to get a Nor'easter mid week. I think the weather is calling for rain wednesday and thursday. It doesn't seem to be a big one, but there is some worry about coastal flooding, as well as just delaying work on the power grid and such. Where are you from Geek?

[WolfVanZandt]

WildThang and JPGrecko, I agree to a certain extent, but is flood insurance that easy to get in flood prone areas? My position is that there are important resources in disaster prone areas but if you're going to live there, you should take responsibility for your decision to live there and be set up to evacuate at a moment's notice. You also need to be sorta Buddhist in your outlook and hold very lightly to material possessions.

[Echo2]

..... but if you're going to live there, you should take responsibility for your decision to live there and be set up to evacuate at a moment's notice. You also need to be sorta Buddhist in your outlook and hold very lightly to material possessions.

Amen...........

[Geek]

Geek, I hope you get turned on soon. Yeah, we're supposed to get a Nor'easter mid week. I think the weather is calling for rain wednesday and thursday. It doesn't seem to be a big one, but there is some worry about coastal flooding, as well as just delaying work on the power grid and such. Where are you from Geek?

Thanks. I'm cozy with the generator, but I seem to be the only one on the block, so I am more concerned about my neighbors. The next storm is supposed to be cold.

[JPGreco]

Yeah, I hear ya on that one. The rest of my town just got turned on aside from small areas with heavy damage. I have a friend with a little girl that I offered anything I could cause he has no power last I knew. Last I heard from our power authority, most people should be turned on by wednesday, leaving only the heaviest damaged areas. The line crews are doing very well this time around, at least by me.

[Geek]

Yeah, I hear ya on that one. The rest of my town just got turned on aside from small areas with heavy damage. I have a friend with a little girl that I offered anything I could cause he has no power last I knew. Last I heard from our power authority, most people should be turned on by wednesday, leaving only the heaviest damaged areas. The line crews are doing very well this time around, at least by me.

In NJ we have more people without power than in NY according to the news reports. The descriptions are interesting. We now have under 1 million without power, as opposed to almost 1 million. The outages tend to involve lots of down trees which makes fixing each break tedious and there are lots of downed trees. At this point, the outages seem to be in a crazy quilt arrangement. You can be without power while the next town over, or the next block has power. I think they're going to be busy for at least another week and that assumes no further damage from this next storm.

I am now feeling like I need a backup in case something happens to the generator or the supply of natural gas that it runs on. I've considered propane, but that still leaves me with the issue of the generator itself.

Backups to the backups.

[hunter63]

...............
I am now feeling like I need a backup in case something happens to the generator or the supply of natural gas that it runs on. I've considered propane, but that still leaves me with the issue of the generator itself.

Backups to the backups.

I hear ya, I'm betting a lot of gen-sets are gonna die......Under power for what they are being used for....not serviced after sitting for a long time....stored fuel.....
If your are on NG you should have a good one, made for continuous duty....but I'll bet a lot of then are the "camper/job-site specials" made for occasional use.

[Delta 5168]

I think living in a coastal area is stupid to begin with. Even undeveloped natives know to build their villiages out of a flood zone, but we allow millions to live in areas affected by hurricanes, sunami's you name it! There is a lot of stupid going around!

How about the people in the Mississippi River flood plain? They get a new house every year!

[Delta 5168]

Someone memtioned inverters the other day. I'm going to pick one up ASAP. Sometimes it takes a situation like this to get us of the dime. The moral: learn from others hard experience!

[Geek]

I hear ya, I'm betting a lot of gen-sets are gonna die......Under power for what they are being used for....not serviced after sitting for a long time....stored fuel.....
If your are on NG you should have a good one, made for continuous duty....but I'll bet a lot of then are the "camper/job-site specials" made for occasional use.

I do have NG, but even those need an occasional oil change. Mine is supposed to get one every 100 hours of use.