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A Rather Cloudy Corner Here: An Expectantly Damp Open Thread [Updates]

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[Update 3: 4:40am ET] Watch for flying taxis:

The National Weather Service has briefly issued a tornado warning for Brooklyn and Queens in New York City as Hurricane Irene heads for the city.

The agency said radar had spotted rotating clouds in a severe thunderstorm approaching the area before 4 a.m. Sunday. The agency says the warning expired at 4:15 a.m. Sunday with a report of a toppled tree in the area but no immediate confirmation of any tornadoes.

A tornado watch remains in effect until 5 a.m. Sunday for New York City, Long Island and southern Connecticut. A tornado watch means conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form.

[Update 1: 1:45am Eastern] Our own DTOzone has this from NYC:

I don’t know if anyone else is in NYC right now

but this is fucking nuts. I’ve never seen anything like this.

[Update 2: 2:45am Eastern] Jerusalem Post has updates within the last hour on both DTO’s NYC and Our Kysen’s Virginia Beach:

BATTERY PARK, NEW YORK – Lower Manhattan was almost entirely devoid of people early Sunday morning as the much-anticipated Hurricane Irene battered the city from the south.

Violent winds and heavy rain swept through the empty streets of the Financial District which had been evacuated by order of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg together with other low-lying parts of the city because of the risk of flooding.

Rabbi Israel Zoberman of Congregation Beth Chaverim in Virginia Beach was at home on Saturday afternoon bracing for the arrival of the category 1 storm projected to pass within a few dozen miles of the city.

“I must tell you the sense of hopelessness you have is an amazing feeling,” he said over the phone from the coastal town. “If you are on the oceanfront or other parts of the city you cannot walk. The wind will knock you down. The boardwalk is in danger from the waters of the ocean that have penetrated quite far out.”

The Reform rabbi said members of the Virginia Beach’s Jewish community were safe indoors and that so far there little damage had been wrought by the storm.

“We’ve had some floods in the area and we lost power early in the day for a short time but there are a lot of people without power in the state,” Zoberman said.

[Original Diary:]

Hurricane Irene is scheduled to meet the US East Coast in the next 24 hours. North Carolina is assured of an intimate encounter and New York City has issued mandatory evacuation of 250,000 residents.

Consider this a Hurricane Open Thread. Editors update at will.

NOAA has these forecasts of storm surges in NYC.

40-50% of two feet, 20-30% of five feet in parts of Wall Street.


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 41 Comments

41 comments

  2. Shaun Appleby

    Lives on the canals in Seaford on Southern Long Island, kind of worried about him.  Apparently the hardware stores in the area are doing a brisk business.

  3. Kysen

    We are in Virginia Beach, I am hoping (if I were the sort, I’d be praying…but, will leave that to my wife) that Irene does not bring near the devastation that Hugo did.

    Keep safe, Moose.

  4. anna shane

    And scary.  Puts things in perspective – climate change should be our first priority?  What matters gold if you ruin your own nest to get it?  

    Stay safe Mooses.  

  5. Chris Blask

    Who funds Muslim-baiting in the US?

    I have to admit, however, that until I read a report published today by the Center for American Progress (CAP), I had no idea just how orchestrated and well-financed this movement was.

    The report, “Fear Inc: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America,” demonstrates that a small group of self-proclaimed experts (Frank Gaffney, David Yerushalmi, Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, and Steve Emerson) backed by a host of foundations and donors (many of which also fund the lobby) have put Islamophobia on the map.

    To put it simply, without these “experts,” their donors, and Fox News (their media mouthpiece) you would never have heard that a Muslim community center (the “Ground Zero Mosque”) was being constructed in New York City. And the center certainly would not have become a major news story. Nor would Republican (and even a few Democratic) candidates for president, Congress, and even village councils be called upon to condemn Islam and “Sharia Law” or face being labeled a supporter of terrorism. Nor would Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Rick Santorum have made hatred of American Muslims such an integral part of their campaigns.

  8. HappyinVT

    BorowitzReport Andy Borowitz

    Major storms used to result in a spike in babies born 9 months later. Now, just more sheep in Farmville.

    7 hours ago

  11. Chris Blask

    Al Jaz reporter in Time Square. Rain not bad at the moment, mentions possibility of 10-20′ waves in the harbor.

    NOAA storm surge forecasts now call for a:

    – +90% likelihood of a three-foot surge around lower Manhattan

    – 70-80$ four feet

    – 50-60% five feet

    – 20-30$ six feet

    The storm is expected to hit about 8-9am ET, which is unfortunate since that is a five-foot high tide:

    Tides for New York (The Battery) starting with August 28, 2011.

    Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon

              /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

    Su  28      Low   2:14 AM    -0.2   6:19 AM    Rise  5:42 AM      2

       28     High   8:07 AM     5.3   7:35 PM     Set  7:02 PM

       28      Low   2:24 PM    -0.1

       28     High   8:16 PM     5.8

  14. DeniseVelez

    I’m okay so far – I’m 80 miles above NYC but the winds are very heavy and there are already trees down up here.  The rains are driving – sheets coming down.

    I still have power – which is amazing and if/when it goes out thankfully have a back up generator.

    Even my dogs don’t want to go outside.  My husband cancelled a music gig he had in NJ thankfully so he is home and safe.

    Am worried about my sister on Long Island – she’s in an area that floods.

    Prayers for everyone in the path of the storm to be safe.

  15. jsfox

    lots of rain and the wind has picked up noticeably, but nothing really bad, so far.

    PSNH (elec Co ) must be getting slammed since their web site won’t load so cannot check on power outages in NH. Here lights still on.

  16. Shaun Appleby

    Town halls, eh?  Not as much fun as back in the heady days of 2009:


    GOP freshman Rep. Chris Gibson (NY) faced a crowd of his constituents at a town hall in Millerton, New York Tuesday who demanded to know why he signed Norquist’s pledge barring any and all tax increases without consulting those he represents. “You didn’t sign this on my behalf. You didn’t ask me,” noted one constituent. “You didn’t ask me. We are your constituents, not Grover Norquist,” she added to resounding applause.

    Tanya Somanader – Constituent Slams GOP Rep. Over Anti-Tax Pledge Think Progress 26 Aug 11

    Fair comment, too.

  17. janicket

    The town next over from me lost power for a few hours but I never did.  By the time Irene’s eastern side got here (eye went up Connecticut River Valley in central/western Mass.) it had muted to a tropical storm — still with bands of torrential rain and winds in the 30s and 40s, gusts up near 70 — but really, I’ve seen storms like this before, and more damage from them.

    The south coast of the state, however, along with Rhode Island, really got slammed.  Further inland from me there’s still large areas of power outage.

    Southern Vermont got hammered by Irene’s western side massive rain dump.  There’s been lots of destruction from monstrous flooding and a number of ancient covered bridges are gone.

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