I'm so happy I put things in writing. I predicted that I thought that it would downgrade to a tropical storm when it hit New York...She did. So I'm gloating a little.
Yes the beaches were bad but I mean are we THAT surprised that a massive storm left large waves? I mean 15 ft waves in the Atlantic Ocean isn't exactly impressive. Hell, bad storms on Lake Erie get to be 8-12 ft. and it's a lake! Anyone who has swam at Long Beach, Jersey shore etc, the waves are consistently pretty big. That's why I love swimming there, I love when waves take me out. This doesn't happen where I grew up on Lake Erie. We had break walls so the waves existed, but nothing like the ocean. When she hit Howard Beach, she was a hurricane (I think, it's pretty close it was right around there when it got downgraded), so you're telling me that that's only good for another 3 ft. to thunderstorms on Lake Erie? Sorry I'm not too impressed.
those of you who follow me on facebook know that I did say what would impress me. I felt that I should define what would be considered bad. I admit that I was a little worried my prediction would be wrong but alas it wasn't. So I was right, she was a tropical storm when she hit me in NYC. What I said on Facebook was that "If I lose power, I'll be impressed." Now, I thought she might knock out my power. Even everyone I asked of the 9 other people who weren't afraid that I spoke to said we would lose power. Granted, I think it was only like 2. I was skeptical...I didn't lose power as of yet. They say the storm passed but maybe a tail wind will kick up and take out the power. I'll write a retraction if that happens.
So, I'm not impressed. The storm passed while I was watching a TV show because I was told I had an hour. The Show lasted 45 minutes and when I turned the news back on, she was gone. I didn't hear her out the window. I didn't lose reception. I had no idea.
Now, for those of you who are impressed because of the millions of people who lost power. A) most of those were in the south, I gave her credit that she would be bad in the south...the one family I know in North Carolina wasn't too impressed with her, but they're 2 hours from the coast, so I don't think it's a very good example. Now hundreds of thousands in Long Island and Queens are without power, so you scream I should be impressed. Not so fast. The power company cut power to the evacuated areas in Howard Beach, the 5 Towns and elsewhere because they were worried the flooding would meet the electrical wires and if the electrical wires were hot, it could be very bad. So, it was precautionary. I don't know how many of the hundreds of thousands lost power from the Irene herself and not the electric company cutting off the power. So I'm not impressed with that either.
What about all the flooding you saw on TV? There was no beach at Howard Beach and Long beach (both in NY) and Longbranch (Jersey shore). Well my friend lives in the five towns (near Long Beach in Long Island) and I've had to drive to her house during downpours and massive showers. And I hydroplaned for most of the way to her house. One particular drive I remember, I was convinced my car wouldn't make it and ran stop signs because stopping I believed would guarantee my car wouldn't make it through....that was not during a tropical storm just a regular old thunderstorm. So, now the parking lot by the beach was flooded.... Again not too impressed. Fox News said, "It looks like Venice" I've been to Venice on at least three occasions. They don't have cars to go around, they have boats. In this "like Venice" place, cars were driving. Some turned around at an intersection because it was too bad...but emergency vehicles and garbage trucks blocked ways to the rockaways and other beaches. That couldn't happen in Venice, those cars would sink. So, A little hyperbolic there Fox News. Now I didn't drive to my friends house during Irene. She, like many others, heeded the evacuation notice. But I'm wondering how much worse it was than that time I drove to her house in a Thunderstorm. I saw cars and minivans hydroplaning through as they waved at the newscaster. I'm not too impressed. For me to give credit to flooding, those cars should have been being carried by the water down the street with the driver having 0 control.
For those who want to go upstate where they used rafts to get to people....fine, upstate may have gotten bad, but I didn't see that in Long Island, which still isn't New York City by the way. My comments were she wouldn't be too impressive in New York City and she wasn't by all my objective standards I put before. Sorry Irene. Now, it's not bad to be prepared in case shit does go down. But I still have never been in a Hurricane. I think this was my first tropical storm.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Me and Irene
On the day before Hurricane Irene arrives, I remain unafraid of her wrath. Right now, she's in the outer banks chilling in North Carolina. She's probably causing havoc on places like topsail island, which is a very fine place to vacation. But by the time she makes her visit to New York, I don't think she's going to be a ferocious. According to the news, I'm dead wrong but they always overreact.
Now, sometimes they're correct. The December 26, 2010 snowstorm was every bit as bad as they said it would be as well as the one in February. I drove through both. Now the February one went unnoticed in New York, where temperatures were high enough to just be a downpour of rain, but driving through Pennsylvania, as I was, it was really bad. I'm guessing Irene will be like that snowstorm in February, really bad in the south (ok PA isn't the south but bare with me) but by the time it comes up here, not so bad.
This is New York City, my favorite place in the world. I'm sitting 190 ft above the ground two crosstown blocks away from the closest area deemed an evacuation area. I'm still not scared. I guess you could say that if the worst case happens and I don't live through this, I wouldn't be too concerned because I've lived a fulfilling life and I really can't think of a better place to die than in New York City.
Irene, however, most likely will not be my end. New Yorkers just panic really easily. Especially for something like this that we almost never experience. Some say there was one in '95 but I don't remember that one so it must not have been THAT big a deal. Others talk about a category 3 that hit in the 1930's. Well, I just read a long history of New York, named "New York the novel" where they go through the history and they failed to mention this horrendous hurricane. Maybe it happened, but it interests me that when I talk about how all the predictions from the 30s about air pollution and water levels and such were dead wrong, people tell me "Well the measuring technology back then was extremely inaccurate so we have no idea what it was really like." Fine, I'll turn that argument back on you, the measuring equipment for the hurricanes weren't accurate back then so we have no idea how bad that hurricane was.
This is NYC, we don't have horrible weather like earthquakes, massive tornadoes, and hurricanes. That's why a lot of us live here. The Earthquake that people TELL me we had earlier this week, I didn't even feel. They say that those in higher building did, so fine. Some say they felt it. Nobody was injured, my co-worker saw his monitor move. I'm not impressed. If you have to tell me we had an Earthquake, then it really wasn't that bad. I should have my own horror story. Even if the "experts" are right...it's a category 1; the weakest hurricane. Sure, our buildings aren't built hurricane proof like in the hurricane zones but still this is very minor and I think Florida, Mississippi, New Orleans and such are laughing at our panic. Hell I am. Now I've only found 9 other people who are just as unafraid as I am of Irene but as Mark Twain said, "If you ever find yourself in agreement with the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."
I'm also getting sick of everyone telling me that I'm making the same mistake as people in New Orleans for Katrina. Let's compare the two cities. New Orleans is in a hurricane zones, they have hurricanes all the time, they've had two in my lifetime. New York has had none. New Orleans is below sea level, New York is not. The problem in New Orleans were the dykes and levies failed, New York, doesn't have this problem. Therefore, this is nothing like Katrina.
When the dust settles, I believe New York will be left with minimal damage. Maybe some trash cans will be blown around and some branches will fall but that happens in most thunderstorms and won't impress me much. So, I say to Irene, I'm in the City, if you want to show up for our date, you can. But I have a feeling you're going to stand me up or at the very least, not be everything you're cracked up to be. Just another woman misrepresenting herself.
Now, sometimes they're correct. The December 26, 2010 snowstorm was every bit as bad as they said it would be as well as the one in February. I drove through both. Now the February one went unnoticed in New York, where temperatures were high enough to just be a downpour of rain, but driving through Pennsylvania, as I was, it was really bad. I'm guessing Irene will be like that snowstorm in February, really bad in the south (ok PA isn't the south but bare with me) but by the time it comes up here, not so bad.
This is New York City, my favorite place in the world. I'm sitting 190 ft above the ground two crosstown blocks away from the closest area deemed an evacuation area. I'm still not scared. I guess you could say that if the worst case happens and I don't live through this, I wouldn't be too concerned because I've lived a fulfilling life and I really can't think of a better place to die than in New York City.
Irene, however, most likely will not be my end. New Yorkers just panic really easily. Especially for something like this that we almost never experience. Some say there was one in '95 but I don't remember that one so it must not have been THAT big a deal. Others talk about a category 3 that hit in the 1930's. Well, I just read a long history of New York, named "New York the novel" where they go through the history and they failed to mention this horrendous hurricane. Maybe it happened, but it interests me that when I talk about how all the predictions from the 30s about air pollution and water levels and such were dead wrong, people tell me "Well the measuring technology back then was extremely inaccurate so we have no idea what it was really like." Fine, I'll turn that argument back on you, the measuring equipment for the hurricanes weren't accurate back then so we have no idea how bad that hurricane was.
This is NYC, we don't have horrible weather like earthquakes, massive tornadoes, and hurricanes. That's why a lot of us live here. The Earthquake that people TELL me we had earlier this week, I didn't even feel. They say that those in higher building did, so fine. Some say they felt it. Nobody was injured, my co-worker saw his monitor move. I'm not impressed. If you have to tell me we had an Earthquake, then it really wasn't that bad. I should have my own horror story. Even if the "experts" are right...it's a category 1; the weakest hurricane. Sure, our buildings aren't built hurricane proof like in the hurricane zones but still this is very minor and I think Florida, Mississippi, New Orleans and such are laughing at our panic. Hell I am. Now I've only found 9 other people who are just as unafraid as I am of Irene but as Mark Twain said, "If you ever find yourself in agreement with the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."
I'm also getting sick of everyone telling me that I'm making the same mistake as people in New Orleans for Katrina. Let's compare the two cities. New Orleans is in a hurricane zones, they have hurricanes all the time, they've had two in my lifetime. New York has had none. New Orleans is below sea level, New York is not. The problem in New Orleans were the dykes and levies failed, New York, doesn't have this problem. Therefore, this is nothing like Katrina.
When the dust settles, I believe New York will be left with minimal damage. Maybe some trash cans will be blown around and some branches will fall but that happens in most thunderstorms and won't impress me much. So, I say to Irene, I'm in the City, if you want to show up for our date, you can. But I have a feeling you're going to stand me up or at the very least, not be everything you're cracked up to be. Just another woman misrepresenting herself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)