Sandy is not a name for a hurricane. It’s a name for an accountant. Anyway, Hurricane Sandy is headed for New Jersey and she’s probably going to trash all your stuff.
Sandy is expected to make landfall along or just south of New Jersey. A more cynical person would call that less of a hurricane and more of a “clean up effort,” but I am not that person.
Connecticut, Delaware, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia are also expected to be severely affected, with evacuation orders given far in advance. The storm is on a scale that has little precedence, which leads experts to worry that the aforementioned states won’t have the infrastructure in place to handle winds of that force.
Hurricane-force winds are expected to be felt from Virginia to Massachusetts. Tropical storm-force winds may be felt all the way to the Great Lakes and Canada.
New York’s hunkering down: The subway system’s shut down. Broadway canceled last night’s shows and all of today’s. The major stock exchanges have called off all trading for today. Mayor Bloomberg has ordered the evacuation of over 370,000 people in low-lying areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan, and called off school for over 1.1 million students today and tomorrow. 76 of those public schools have been converted into storm shelters.
It might be Wednesday before New York’s trains start running again, provided there’s no damage. New York City relies heavily on its public transit system.
And, of course, there are planned power outages all throughout the Northeast coast, and residents are urged to prepare accordingly. In Atlantic City, NJ, the boardwalk was damaged while the ocean swamped several blocks in the city. Unknown if residents expressed gratitude that someone finally picked up all the trash out there.
Okay, that was rude. I’m gonna stop.
Question: Are you in the hurricane path? Why the hell haven’t you left, yet? I’ll take my earthquakes over hurricanes any day.