Just want to let you all know I’m doing fine. I’m plenty prepared with food, water, flashlights, etc. for several days.
Here’s a quick update on how things unfolded yesterday:
By midday, things were starting to get pretty quiet. It was windy but not raining hard yet so people were out stocking up and checking what was going on. I took a walk and by then the East River was already up about 4 feet to the edge of the walkway.
By 6pm, it was starting to get dark and really windy. There wasn’t much rain. My roommate got an automated call from Con Ed, the electricity providers, that there were possible power shutdowns happening as a preventative measure.
Around 8pm was when the storm was supposed to make landfall on the south Jersey Shore. Along with it was an 11 foot storm surge (Hurricane Irene had a 4 foot surge) that would be hitting when tide was almost at its highest.
Shortly after 8, I was seeing photos on Twitter about 4+ foot flooding along Avenue C and 14th Street that was stretching up to Avenue C and 6th Street. I live on Avenue D and 4th, so it was practically around the corner.
Around the same time I heard and saw two big bangs and the sky lit up like there was lightning. There’s a Con Ed building on Ave C at 14th, right where that flooding was and it was pretty clear that a massive transformer blew. About 15 minutes later, another boom, the sky went green and my room went dark.
Since the power outage in my area was from failed equipment and not a planned outage, it’s likely my power will be out for 3+ days. I’m conserving power on my phone and charging every once in a while from my laptop since this is my main way of communication. I’m listening to updates on a battery powered radio, but I don’t expect much to change in the next day or two.
I’ll keep you all up to date and thanks for the prayers and thoughts.
—Nick