My main concern is whether the water will recede enough so that I can drive on this freeway to work tomorrow.
The Unreal Politics of Unreal Men
7 hours ago
Monday, October 29, 2012
Flooding Along the Shore.
Here is a photo of the Belt Parkway. It is completely flooded and normally the water level is about 10-15 feet below the shore line. Now, the freeway is completely under water and I can hear ocean waves crashing near my window. I must say that overall, it is a very pleasant change when compared to honking and speeding cars, and especially thundering motorcycles.
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11 comments:
Did it? are you at work?
My Co's site crashed, I can't access work computer remotely, subways are out, will TM the boss now...
Hope you and yours are safe, Vinny.
Thanks GW. We're fine.
Etat, I made it to work and fortunately too. There was surprisingly a lot to do.
glad you did. people get sick no matter what...
how did you get home? still water in the lobby?
do you have a place to sleep (if you can't get home)?
Drive home was fine but when I pulled over to fill up, I realized the importance of having a full tank prior to entering a disaster area. My usual filling station ran out of everything but premium gas and my car doesn't need this. It was also 50c more per gallon than regular, so I decided to try my chances at another station and passed 3 stations that were also out of gas to find one still stocked. Another realization was about the importance of having cash on hand. In many places the power outage corresponded with the station's loss of credit card access. Same was the case with stores and if you wanted to buy something today, you needed cash.
Hey GW, any ideas on how to wash dishes effectively with cold water? My building lost its boiler and who knows when it will be repaired. I remember 11 years ago when I lived for about 2 weeks inside a high rise without electricity; this meant no water, so I've been through far worse. However, it still not ideal for showering or washing dishes. Do you have any suggestions?
I'm not GW, but I happen to have lots of experience with absence of hot water: for 7.5yrs I've lived in a city where residential water was turned on on schedule: before 6am and after 6pm. And only cold one.
So:
a) to do dishes you just warm up you water yourself. Very simple: a boiling teapot and 2 bowls of water, one - hotter, with d/w liquid, another - colder and clear, for rinsing.
b) to take showers you go someplace else. we went to a good hotel in the center of the city that rented out his showering facilities for the public. You might also go to your gym or to your friend's home. F.i., you can come over to my place.
Creakypavillion's suggestion for washing dishes certainly sounds like a good one. For the record, its always good to keep some water purification tablets and military heating tabs (for cooking and heating water) around the house should the power and or water get shut off for any period. If nothing else, you can use the tabs to heat up the cold water for washing the dishes - or bathing if you are so inclined.
A case of MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat, military rations) isn't a bad idea either. They stay good for years and each packet has over 2,000 calories.
As to showering, cold water showers are quite invigorating - at least after the screaming stops. It took me two years living in a very small village in Korea with no running hot water before I learned to stop screaming and enjoy cold water showers. Now that's all I take.
Everything that I suggested above is available at virtually any Army-Navy Surplus Store.
Oh, and so glad to hear that you and you're family are safe. I would imagine that much of New York city is going to take awhile to recover. I could imagine that your hospital has been busy indeed since the storm.
GW,
It's been an interesting several days. I lived through 9/11 being only a few blocks from ground 0. Then, communities came together and people tried to help one another. Stores weren't vandalized and restaurants would bring food into the area to feed 1st responders.
This is a very different NYC. Stores lost power and they got looted. A bank in a nearby neighborhood was robbed as did the people in that community. The city is out of gas, and people are fighting with one another for a spot in the gas line. Now, cops are protecting every gas station that receives a shipment. When a gas truck rolls into a station, that gas is quickly used up and waiting in line for 2 hours may mean that you won't get the gas.
The administration in my hospital is acting like a chicken with its head cut off. Starting tomorrow, 1/2 the doctors won't make it to work because they don't live near public transportation and their cars are out of gas. So we are told to carpool. It would make sense if the people asked to carpool lived close to one another. We don't.
People are cold, without electricity, threw out what they had in the refrigerator, and are expected to leave their small children behind and come to work with no way to get back home.
I offered help to people initially but now, I cannot. I've exhausted my limited supply too, and only have enough gas for 1 emergency trip. One of these people took advantage of me, and today when others asked me for help, I suspect that they simply want to keep their emergency gas in reserve and use up mine.
It feels like everyone is out for themselves. Change!
Well, 9-11 and Sandy were fundamentally different in their impacts. 9-11 did not place peoples basic needs in danger, and it allowed the larger population to focus on helping a much smaller, identifiable group.
Sandy is much more a story of what happens when there is a breakdown in society at large - one that threatens the entire group's basic needs, where resources to meet those needs are scarce, and, importantly, where the populace can in fact move about and compete. I am not surprised at all by what is happening there, though I am sorry that you are having to experience it.
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