Did "Sandy" storm match expectations?

[Carl Bert]

Seriously? Guess we should bulldoze the houses in tornado alley, no one should build there... Guess anywhere a blizzard could hit is off limits too... Wait, forest fires could be devastating, can't build around there either...

Thank you, finally a voice of reason

 

[newbury]

<snip>just doesn't work with our existing situation.

This has been a national disaster, and will be treated as one. Just because it happened in the N.E., or better yet NYC, doesn't give you the right to start complaining about how we are using YOUR tax money to rebuild. No one has more right to tax money then the people that pay the majority of taxes.

If you read my post - I wrote or prepare for the consequences.
I've just gotten fed up with people I know of that bought beach front property and got it rebuilt basically new every few years at a subsidized cost because they could game the system. So now Jersey Shore gets rebuilt AGAIN, and we know Mother Nature will come back again.

I'm tired of seeing the wealthy suburbanites on the news bemoaning the damage to their million dollar homes because they wouldn't cut the trees. And complaining it happens almost every year. The time to prune and cut the trees is BEFORE they come crashing down on the power lines and houses.

Y'all seem FIXATED on clearing trees. That is rarely required. Around my area the power company went thru a few years ago and did a very intensive pruning program and dead/dying tree removal with apparent success.


And since I'm one of those that was paying the majority of the taxes I guess by your standards I've a right to complain.

So yes, it

just doesn't work with our existing situation.

so we should strive to make it work with our FUTURE situation, rather than continue doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

 

[Gator6x4]

I am quite sure, if you owned one of the properties that was damaged, you would be talking a different story. Keep in mind, the amount of taxes that are paid by the NE.

I think what happened was devastating. I also think people who build in an area prone to flooding in a hurricane, tropical storm, excessive rain fall should expect such will happen and prepare for it. Hurricanes strike the Southern States of the US all the time, by the way, they also pay taxes. Residents have learned from past exposures to such storms measures to take to limit damage. It is one thing to have a "Beach Front Home". It is another to have a "Beach Front Home" subsidized by federal tax payers of the United States. It is another to own a "Beach Front" home with insurance coverage subsidized by other home owners in the United States by paying higher insurance premiums to generate sufficient funds so "Beach Front Homes" can be rebuilt or replaced every time a storm comes through .

New Jersey has a major problem. It's infrastructure was destroyed. It's tax base generator was destroyed.(Property Tax) What will probably also surface in the months that follows is a large number of home owners did not have or carry "FLOOD INSURANCE". A regular home owners insurance policy will not and does not cover flood or water damage. Look at the homes on the Barrier Islands, they seem to be intact with sand half way up the side of the house. So water damage will come into consideration when claims are filed.

The storm that struck was a category one hurricane. Look at the damage that occurred. Now think what it is going to look like when a category five like the one that struck Homestead Florida comes calling in a couple of years.

A Latin expression says it all, Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis, meaning "Times change, and we change with them". Look at the thread "Global Warming" in "Related Topics" People do not believe "Time Change" and are not adjusting and changing their life styles so we will continue to deny and spend until the well finally runs dry. Maybe then we will start recognizing we must start accepting responsibility and accountability for our actions.

 

[DavHank]

We live in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Watching the weather channel, it seems that everything might have missed us but we had constant high winds since Sunday afternoon - still gusting to 28mph today. High gusts were about 36 - no big deal really. But we do lose power a lot in wind and ice storms. Lost power Monday night due to trees down (2500 out of power)- lasted about 24 hours at our house (on generator power).

 

[hr3]

Utility company employees have been threaten with serrious bodily harm for even thinking about trimming trees. The same people who threaten the employees over trimming trees, then threaten to sue the utility company because they lost power because a TREE fell across the power line.




I am sure we have all heard very vocal arguments from individuals about how rights were being violated because they were told they could not do certain things on LAND THEY OWN. I say let them build and when damage occurs they then pay to rebuild and not be subsidized by someone elses money. I don't think when the word spreads there will be to much building going on.

Agree with you 100%

 

[Carl Bert]

If you read my post - I wrote or prepare for the consequences.
I'm tired of seeing the wealthy suburbanites on the news bemoaning the damage to their million dollar homes because they wouldn't cut the trees. And complaining it happens almost every year. The time to prune and cut the trees is BEFORE they come crashing down on the power lines and houses.
.

Ahhhhh, now I am starting to get the picture. Enough said

 

[dex3361]

I have been troubleshooting large generators we are running at some of our facilities here in WV. The devestation is widespread. Where I live we got about 10" of the wettest heavy snow that I have ever seen. I did not loose power at home but many in our area did. We have plants in the higher elevations of Webster, Fayette, Nicholas counties that I saw the day after the snow stopped and I measured 36" of heavy wet snow. Just one lane plowed and trees down every few yards. People are pulling together and cutting their way through. Yes Sandy was a nasty storm for us here in WV. I dont remember seeing snow on TV when they showed hurricanes.

 

[jymbee]

Around my area the power company went thru a few years ago and did a very intensive pruning program and dead/dying tree removal with apparent success.

I would just point out-- having a lot of experience working with professional arborists in an affluent area of NJ-- that while there are indeed trees that present an obvious danger to property, more often than not it's trees that outwardly appear healthy that end up crashing through people's homes, cars, & sidewalks.

 

[bomack]

Watching TV last night and this morning, I wonder if Sandy lived up to expectations? Lots of news people and politicians were warning of the worst storm ever and this morning seem to be backpedaling on it. We didn't get much in Ohio but, for those who went through it, was it as bad as feared? Did the hype match what happened? What do you think and what was your experience?

I live in Rockaway Park, NYC. Google map zipcode 11694. This Peninsula is a few blocks wide, road on bayside Beach Channel Dr is a bit lower than Rockaway Blvd road near beach. There is a 5 foot high sea wall at bay, it has never been breached. Sandy was 2-3 feet over wall. I'm a block from the bay figuring maybe two foot of flood in my driveway, we got about 6 foot, ending up 6" above my elevated first floor. As you zoom out know that the cellar of every house was flooded. It's now a race against winter. Anyone have good experience w any national disaster recovery companies?
A couple of pics, a beachside house and my basement after tide went out. Besides the 100 home Breezy Pt fire there were two other fire clusters of about five homes each, one bordering homes that were destroyed in the plane crash a few years ago. Firemen were wading through water to try to attack the fires, irony abounds.

Best

 

[dmccarty]

I live in Rockaway Park, NYC. Google map zipcode 11694. This Peninsula is a few blocks wide, road on bayside Beach Channel Dr is a bit lower than Rockaway Blvd road near beach. There is a 5 foot high sea wall at bay, it has never been breached. Sandy was 2-3 feet over wall. I'm a block from the bay figuring maybe two foot of flood in my driveway, we got about 6 foot, ending up 6" above my elevated first floor. As you zoom out know that the cellar of every house was flooded. It's now a race against winter. Anyone have good experience w any national disaster recovery companies?
A couple of pics, a beachside house and my basement after tide went out. Besides the 100 home Breezy Pt fire there were two other fire clusters of about five homes each, one bordering homes that were destroyed in the plane crash a few years ago. Firemen were wading through water to try to attack the fires, irony abounds.

Best

Yeah, it is very ironic that houses burned down because they were flooded, and fire fighters were hampered, if not prevented, from fighting the fire because of water....

After Floyd, which was a 500 year storm, houses were rebuilt by tearing the walls and floors down to the joists and studs. Take it all out. Let it dry and then rebuild. It ain't rocket science but it sure is a lot of work. The Feds paid for debris removal which seem to be their SOP after storms now. The home owner had/had to get the debris to the road for pickup.

A coworkers aunt was killed in a tornado about 18 months ago. Her house was a couple hundred feet from the road so getting the debris to the road was a PITA. After we salvaged what we could we should have just burnt the place. That would have been easier but you can't burn it. Thankfully neighbors had tractors and a church from VA come down and helped clean up the cluster of homes that were taken out. Two people died in the four homes that were destroyed.

Later,
Dan