Mega-storm threat growing for mid-Atlantic and Northeast early next week from hurricane Sandy

Washington Post ^ | 10-24-2012 | By Jason Samenow

[11th_VA]

...coastal regions from the Carolinas through eastern Canada are likely to get battered by tremendous surf and face a real risk of significant to severe coastal flooding. This storm will be a slow mover meaning large waves may pound the coast for lengthy time periods...Making matters worse, the storm will coincide with a full moon Monday night, meaning elevated tides above normal levels. Astronomically high tides have played a key role in historic coastal flooding events along the East Coast, such as the Ash Wednesday storm of March, 1962.

[Wisconsinlady]

Too bad it can’t hold off until Nov 6th to keep the DemoRats home.

[11th_VA]

It might just wash the blue northeast states out to sea ...

[Just mythoughts]

Nobody can say they have not been warned.

[usafa92]

You beat me to it. Im in Jersey and the insurance claims would be less than the economic devastation Zero would wreak in a second term....

[Wisconsinlady]

I could live with that too!

[Seaplaner]

Possibly off topic of this thread, however I seem to recall that little over a year ago, Mister Obama grandstanded at the hurricane response center for Hurricane Irene (a category 1 pipsqueak, IIRC).

In fact (again, IIRC) one could claim that he did more in response to the hurricane-ette than he did in response to the Libya terror attacks.

.

[11th_VA]

Well, not off topic at all. What will Obama do. That graphic is predicted snowfall levels early next week. 2nd year in a row we're going to have snow on Halloween. Will he stay in PA and grandstand ? ... or continue his late nite tour with Leno and Dave what's-his-name.

Maybe Romney comes to PA and does some PR pics with a snow shovel ...

I definitely think this is going to be a news maker next week.

We still have leaves on the trees back east - gonna be lots of power outages from Buffalo NY to Philly.

Took a week to restore power in DC from a storm this summer.

[VanShuyten]

The TV weather people here in DC are already breathlessly wild-eyed about this. "Millions could be without power!!!!!!"

The reality for most people will be light to moderate rains and winds - pretty much just like most storm systems that come through here.

[TornadoAlley3]

No power, no voting machines? Will O stop the election with declaration of emergency?

[Aria]

If it had been Hurricane Mohammed instead of Irene he’d have gone to bed and let everyone drown.

[11th_VA]

pretty much just like most storm systems that come through here

Well ... maybe not ... possible storm tracks:

[11th_VA]

Will O stop the election with declaration of emergency?

Or what if Romney wins PA and Philly is still underwater ... could be the trigger that sets off riots ...

[Cementjungle]

President Obama has already declared a state of emergency and issued $400 billion in aid to the New Black Panthers.

[11th_VA]

Too bad it can’t hold off until Nov 6th to keep the DemoRats home.

You may get your wish, this from CS Monitor:

"In fact, even if Sandy goes out to sea, Walker says some computer models envision yet another nor’easter forming at the end of next week. “We will just have to wait and see,” he says."

[Kartographer]

Just a bunch of hype, for most it won’t be more worse than accidently leaving your sprinklers on all night.

[11th_VA]

And this from Elliot Abrams (he'll probably be on Hannity tomorrow), he suggests my nightmare Philly riot scenario:

"So far, the storm has followed the approximate path taken by the Gale of 1878. a storm that later caused extensive damage in the Middle Atlantic states. As it rushed past Cape May, N.J., winds reached 84 mph. Ocean water came inland, almost severing escape routes to the mainland. On the morning of Oct. 23, 1878, hundreds of buildings were blown down in Philadelphia, with 50 churches losing their spires. The Schuylkill River bridge just east of what is now 30th Street Station (serving Amtrak and SEPTA) was washed away. Wind speeds that day still hold the number 1 spot in Philadelphia's records."

Yep - I could see riots in Philly if the election weren't cancelled ...

[Misterioso]

This storm would have probably messed up the World Series if the Yankees had beaten the Tigers. Go Giants!

[11th_VA]

I can already hear the Rats saying we need to extend the voting hours in Philly - I'll bet the lawyers are on this in the morning as a precaution ...

[stormer]

50+ dead and 20 billion in damage, not exactly “pipsqueak”. It was a Cat 1, but that only refers to wind speed and not the overall damage. Physically large storms like Irene don’t necessarily have to have high winds to be very damaging and dangerous.