Weather chaos

US braces for nightmare of bad weather

The Age,

29 October, 2012

With forecasts showing hurricane Sandy and another powerful storm system are likely to collide with devastating effect on the United States eastern seaboard as early as this morning (Melbourne time), tens of millions of people prepared, and authorities increased the urgency of their warnings.

Several states, including New York and New Jersey, declared emergencies, and thousands of people were evacuated from low-lying areas.

In the New York City area, officials made contingency plans to begin shutting down the subways and the regional rail lines.

President Barack Obama has consulted with the leaders of the federal agencies that are monitoring the storm and will respond when it moves ashore. Governors in nine states deployed more than 60,000 National Guard troops to assist the local authorities.

Federal authorities said the weather conditions would deteriorate long before the centre of the storm makes landfall, and that damage from flooding, snow and wind could extend into the Ohio Valley.

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey has warned that power could be out for more than a week if the current forecasts hold, and he urged the state's residents not to dismiss the warnings.

"We should not underestimate the impact of this storm," he said. "We have to be prepared for the worst here."

From Plymouth, Maine, to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, people boarded up windows, stocked up on water, batteries and food, and prepared to hunker down.

Airlines encouraged people with flights scheduled in the next few days to change their plans and waived cancellation fees.

At shops across the region, generators and other supplies were snapped up in preparation for the possibility of extended power failures.

There were also fears of widespread flooding inland. Sandbags joined the Halloween scarecrows along Main Street in Hightstown, New Jersey, as business owners that suffered flood damage during hurricane Irene last year braced themselves.

In New York City, mayor Michael Bloomberg told residents to stay out of city parks, stock up on basic supplies and be prepared for power blackouts. All construction was ordered to be suspended starting yesterday.

The hurricane was forecast to make landfall between the Delmarva Peninsula and Long Island, with its path shifting hourly. But as the storm continued to churn its way north, it began to spread out, with tropical-force winds extending about 725 kilometres from its centre.

Yesterday, the hurricane was moving slowly north of the Bahamas and was about 480 kilometres east of Charleston, South Carolina.

Forecasters cautioned that predictions could change, but it seemed likely that the north-east would be facing a storm of great magnitude.

Rick Knabb, the director of the National Hurricane Centre, said the intensity of the storm was unlikely to change, and he warned that weather conditions will become dangerous long before the storm's centre makes landfall.

"The centre of circulation is only going to be a very small part of the story," he said. "This is not just going to be a coastal event," Mr Knabb said. People from Virginia northward should be prepared for a "long-duration event".

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The Bread Aisle In Manhattan's Upper West Side Is Now Empty

Zero Hedge,

28 October, 2012

It seems like it was just yesterday that we were posting pictures of empty shelves at New York supermarkets ahead of the epic dud that was Hurricane Irene. It is now one year later, and it is time for the obligatory snapshots of empty shelves, such as this one showing the bread isle at the Food Emporium on 68th and Broadway. Many more coming as all local New York food stores and pharmacies finally sell out their expired and extended inventory.

The bread aisle in the Upper West Side, not to be confused with the bread aisle in post-hyperinflation Zimbabwe...

Time-Lapse Video Of Hurricane Sandy Is 35 Seconds Of Terror

Business Insider

28 October, 2012

NASA's Earth Observatory has a time-lapse video of Hurricane Sandy compiled from images taken on Oct. 26, as the 75-mph storm tore through the Bahamas.

Sandy is even scarier from 22,000 miles above Earth: