I've been tracking Hurricane Sandy over the last few days and finally it is here. This is the biggest storm ever in the Atlantic. The death toll is currently at about 60, in Haiti and Jamaica which we hit a few days ago.
Hurricane Sandy is a category 1 hurricane (wind speed >49mph) which will become a Tropical Storm once it comes inland, but has collided with a strong north-eastern winter storm as well as a jet-stream from Canada. It also happens to be high-tide so will be worst by the coast.
Hurricane Sandy is expected to make landfall this evening in south New Jersey and move west towards Philadelphia and then move north/north-east over the next few days into Canada. Fortunately, this is south from Boston but because of the intensity of Sandy the entire east coast will be affected. We are experiencing very bad winds and rain, there has been coastal flooding and more than 70k homes are without power. Shops, businesses and the T have been closed today so everyone is at home waiting for the storm to pass. The Governor declared a state of emergency on Saturday. Yesterday there was a panic at shops as many people were buying supplies. The wind is really intense at about 40 mph (63km/h) at the moment; the trees are waving about ferociously. The whole of the East Coast seems to be taking battering. Even the crane on the new World Trade Center which they are building in lower Manhattan is loose and dangling.
The Massachuetts governor has been giving regular updates and been handling the situation in a professional manner thus reassuring. They have also learnt a lot from Hurricane Irene last year so hopefully are better prepared this year.
Am hoping that the damages will not be too bad. I really feel for those stuck in the heart of it all.
The worst however is yet to come….
No comments:
Post a Comment