Hurrican SANDY 2012 - Prediction as to LIGHTS OUT?

[moldyoldy]

Re: Whats with the mid Atlantic states ?

Ref the power failures:

Actually Sandy was a good test of backup generator systems. I am amazed at the number of failures of hospital backup generators. And with all of that individual patient equipment running on battery until either the equipment is turned off or the patient & equipment is moved to a location with AC power, that level of discharge often kills a cell or two in the battery packs.

Before I retired, I finally toured a major network data center for the Midwest: They had battery-driven inverters for the first few minutes, then the big generators were supposed to kick in and those had diesel fuel for 24 hrs. and as the manager said, we can truck in more diesel fuel from our other sites in less than 24 hrs. The goal was 24/7 uptime.

At my work, we tested the 3 large generators inside the building about 2x/year and during the day to put a decent load on them. We have had switch failures under load. Additionally, the generators were used several times a summer whenever Xcel Energy declared a power emergency and it was cheaper to run the diesel generators rather than pay the electric power premium for pulling over 4 Megawatts during the emergency. Our large dual UPS system also failed because of poor contracted battery maintenance. In one case, we discovered that we could not even run an inverter on batteries w/o any load. In a smaller company the outside generators are tested maybe once a year and on a weekend - which is not a loaded test - and then they find out that someone was siphoning diesel from the tank...

My own house loses AC Mains power maybe a dozen times a year mainly because of old wiring in the neighborhood. However Comcast has always stayed up even during wider power failures. Yes, I have at least one oversized UPS on my cable modem and wireless router and have too frequently observed them kick out when the battery was discharged - and the run time is over an hour under load from the cable modem and wireless router. We have only laptops or Netbooks, no desktop computers.

and yes, as a pedigreed flashaholic, I can keep light in the house for several winter nights with flashlights. and our 3 cars all have DC-AC inverters. However I never had a generator - saw too many problems at other houses, usually because of no maintenance until needed.

 

[5.0Trunk]

We lost power last night, so I brought out my lights. I haven't bought any lights for a few years because I like the ones I have. Here is a pic of my kids setting up their beds on the floor with my Britelumens 1D. It was only on high for the pic, but i left it on all night on low. My other lights that I used were Fenix LD10, and LD20..

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk stuff!

 

[127.0.0.1]

power out for me so far 18 hours
lights used
----
Mr Elfin - ceiling bounce bathroom 1xcr123
Nitecore Ex11.2 - edc 1xcr123
Thrunite TN11 - 3x cr123 ceiling bounce
SkyRayKing - ceiling bounce, power line in trees illumination 4x18650
Thrunite Ti firefly - bedside 1xAAA
Klarus Xt11 - walk around house and woods looking for blowdowns 1x18650

 

[zespectre]

Katrina Lessons to remember, aftermath at LEAST as dangerous as the storm itself.

To everyone in, or even just outside the "Sandy" disaster zones.....PLEASE remember the lessons of Katrina.

The end of the storm is just the start of "the event". Now you are going to have to deal with the "goblins" running wild while the authorities are tied up, as well as the hordes of refugees coming from other areas looking for food/water/shelter. They may not be evil, but desperate people can easily be as dangerous as a pillaging army. In the coming weeks PLEASE BE CAREFUL and BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS!!!

Help your neighbors, band together, let us be the right kind of people, let us be the right kind of Americans!

 

[Sub_Umbra]

Re: Whats with the mid Atlantic states ?

/EDIT Hey, who changed the Subject line? /EDIT

It really makes my blood boil when I think of those in the cold, without power or even cell comms, listening to their battery powered radios for news and they are hearing PSAs from FEMA and the Red Cross reminding them that they may get more info on the internet. Been there, done that, got the smelly tee shirt.

The most asinine emergency PSA I've ever heard was from the Red Cross. They so cleverly reminded us that we could get drinking water from melted ice cubes. That message doesn't sit well with folks who haven't seen an ice cube in a few weeks... Then, after saying that they give the obligatory web address.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

I forgot we could change the title.

They are hearing PSAs from FEMA and the Red Cross reminding them that they may get more info on the internet. Been there, done that, got the smelly tee shirt.

The most asinine emergency PSA I've ever heard was from the Red Cross. They so cleverly reminded us that we could get drinking water from melted ice cubes. That message doesn't sit well with folks who haven't seen an ice cube in a few weeks... Then, after saying that they give the obligatory web address.

I'll see if I can contact people to find out why they give unhelpful advice like that. I have more contacts on the Health & Safety branch than the disaster prep branch.

Edit: The contact tree is not forthcoming. They may all be busy doing things, so I've also shaken the usual 'contact us' buttons.

 

[StarHalo]

Re: Hurricane SANDY 2012 - Prediction as to LIGHTS OUT?

Former location of the Atlantic City Boardwalk:

Former location of Seaside Heights amusement park:

Near Stone St, Lower Manhattan:

Hoboken taxis:

8.2 million across the Eastern seaboard without power. 2% of Long Island residents have power.

A radio reporter walked with an MTA inspector checking the subway system last night; all they could do is shine a flashlight on each water-filled entrance and note smoke rolling out and the smell of burning electronics, then move on to the next one.

Limited bus service in NYC will be restored this evening, and will be free. Taxis will be allowed to carry multiple passengers. Starbucks stores are closed, however people are gathering at them for the wi-fi, which is still on.

Meanwhile in West Virginia:

 

[jamesmtl514]

Wow... That's sobering.
I things can be replaced, you can't. Be alert, Stay safe

 

[moldyoldy]

Re: Hurricane SANDY 2012 - Prediction as to LIGHTS OUT?

<snip>

8.2 million across the Eastern seaboard without power. 2% of Long Island residents have power.

A radio reporter walked with an MTA inspector checking the subway system last night; all they could do is shine a flashlight on each water-filled entrance and note smoke rolling out and the smell of burning electronics, then move on to the next one.

<snip>

A German newspaper <www.welt.de> wrote that the NYC subway system will take at least a week to repair just the electronics or electrical systems after the water is pumped out. The NYTimes wrote about the same. The primary problem is that the salt water is corroding everything.

 

[LEDninja]

Re: Hurricane SANDY 2012 - Prediction as to LIGHTS OUT?

New Yorkers Swarm The Electrical Outlets At The Pharmacy.
Manhattanites are making a mass exodus northward, looking for power outlets and food.

Image of people swarming the Duane Reede grocery store, keeping their cell phones juiced:
http://www.businessinsider.com/new-yorkers-swarm-the-electrical-outlets-at-the-pharmacy-2012-10

 

[StarHalo]

Re: Hurricane SANDY 2012 - Prediction as to LIGHTS OUT?

A German newspaper <www.welt.de> wrote that the NYC subway system will take at least a week to repair just the electronics or electrical systems after the water is pumped out. The NYTimes wrote about the same. The primary problem is that the salt water is corroding everything.

It's bigger than that; in 2011 Columbia University did a "worst-case storm scenario" that drew up a picture of what would happen in the event of a large storm paired with surge flooding; their map looks like this:

That represents about 1 billion gallons of water, which will be 5-7 days to pump out. Then you have the issue of infrastructure, as some of the equipment used throughout the line is obsolete and has not been manufactured in some time - this means some parts of the system will have to be redesigned, newly machined, and installed. This could be a weeks-to-months proposition. So you're looking at maybe 90% of the system up and running in ~20 days, but 100% can't even be calculated at this point, it could be many months.

Also: on the issue of communication utilities, many providers are reporting that their substations have flooded, so many customers have not only lost cable, internet, and cell service, but there's no land line service either. There appears to be no cell phone service at all on Long Island.

Edit: Here's a good idea of what's going on in the subways; an MTA video crew tours the South Ferry & Whitehall station:

 

[276]

Re: Hurricane SANDY 2012 - Prediction as to LIGHTS OUT?

Tree outside my front door went down, thank god it went the other way I'll post a pic later .

 

[Monocrom]

Re: Katrina Lessons to remember, aftermath at LEAST as dangerous as the storm itself.

To everyone in, or even just outside the "Sandy" disaster zones.....PLEASE remember the lessons of Katrina.

The end of the storm is just the start of "the event". Now you are going to have to deal with the "goblins" running wild while the authorities are tied up, as well as the hordes of refugees coming from other areas looking for food/water/shelter. They may not be evil, but desperate people can easily be as dangerous as a pillaging army. In the coming weeks PLEASE BE CAREFUL and BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS!!!

Help your neighbors, band together, let us be the right kind of people, let us be the right kind of Americans!

Honestly, looters and other horribly desperate individuals won't be a problem. Yes, Manhattan was hit hard. Very hard. Not surprising since it's a narrow island. Fires in one part of Queens. But despite that, the news media has obscenely over-exaggerated what has taken place in NYC. There's a large shopping center close to home. Mom is staying with me. she decided to go shopping earlier in the today. No looting, no shoving, no pushing, no raiding the aisles. She did notice being the only woman in a supermarket with few shoppers, and all the rest were men. Not much of a selection. The meat is gone. What's left of the fish, stinks. But she came back with milk, sliced ham, sliced turkey breast, garlic bread, frozen French fries, and a few other things.

Seriously, Sandy isn't remotely the same as Katrina. Is it bad in certain places? Yes. Horribly bad? Yes. Is it on the scale of another Katrina? No. Not even close. Watching the news though those jackasses are making it seem as though the Apocalypse is here.

As for anyone supid enough to start looting, the NYPD is definitely out in force. In a situation such as this, they're not afraid to remind anyone that lawlessness is not going to be tolerated.

 

[StarHalo]

Re: Katrina Lessons to remember, aftermath at LEAST as dangerous as the storm itself.

Yeah, if I had to summarize it, it'd be safe to say that NYC is a city of order - everyone is working to get things back to normal, and every media photo you see has police or medical or fire personnel in it, something that was missing from Katrina. Lots of news items about people in multi-story dwellings inviting up the people on the lower floors, people helping to move trees out of the roadways, etc.

Some friendly New Yorkers trying out their new iFifteenKilowatt:

 

[moldyoldy]

Re: Katrina Lessons to remember, aftermath at LEAST as dangerous as the storm itself.

I watched the MTA video release. Wow! what a mess! and all of that water is not inherently going to drain somewhere convenient to pump out either.

As an fyi: my daughter living in the Bronx - somewhere near the area "Fleetwood Concourse Village". She does have AC power and Internet and cell phone service. She routinely is on Skype and SMS'd me this morning at 1115, so at least some of the infrastructure in that part of NYC is functional. She did write that since her old "Sesame Street" brownstone building was relatively high, she was not worried about being flooded out. She did go thru a Cat2 hurricane in the Caribbean that "ran over" her island. Hurricane Sandy did not compare well except that the storm surge came at high tide which was bad. Down there for that hurricane they had horizontal rain for 24+ hrs. The island was locked down for 36 hrs. All of the apts on the windward side were soaked inside by driven rain. The leeward apts fared much better.

And yes, there is relative order in the disorder. People are taking care of people in NYC. ie: Her landlord invited a family of 5 plus a dog from Manhattan to live in the large upstairs study room until they can find other accomodations.

 

[moldyoldy]

Re: Katrina Lessons to remember, aftermath at LEAST as dangerous as the storm itself.

BTW, wrt that MTA video release, can anyone identify the handlight spotlight the worker was using? I was not able to see any cable leading to a battery pack, but it was way too bright for a battery pack inside of that case. ??

 

[StarHalo]

Re: Katrina Lessons to remember, aftermath at LEAST as dangerous as the storm itself.

BTW, wrt that MTA video release, can anyone identify the handlight spotlight the worker was using? I was not able to see any cable leading to a battery pack, but it was way too bright for a battery pack inside of that case. ??

The light on the back of it would indicate that it's some sort of video light, so we'll need a videographer to get the answer..

And everyone looking to charge their phone is getting service, so there's plenty of it to be had at least in some areas. NYC being the example it is, I imagine this will be something of a test case for future utility storm proofing that will take place over the next few months; if there's anyplace that could create and maintain an "unbreakable" system, it'd be Manhattan, so it'll be interesting to see what they come up with..

 

[silver_bacon]

Re: Katrina Lessons to remember, aftermath at LEAST as dangerous as the storm itself.

This storm has remotivated me to get a solar charger for my phone. Granted I have a standby generator, but I don't put a lot of faith in generators of any sort. I have had a portable 5kw Coleman fail me when I needed it most.

 

[Samy]

Re: Hurricane SANDY 2012

I just heard on the news that 9 million are without power. Hope everyone stays safe!

 

[276]

Re: Hurricane SANDY 2012

This is the tree that went down last night outside my front door. Sorry if its a little blurry with the flash.