Tuesday Chat with Sandy Storm Check-In

Gosh, just watching the news and seeing the damage makes me so sad. I'm glad that our friends out that way are all okay. It looks like some other areas are getting pounded today. Man, what a storm and they definitely didn't over-hype it. :(

Karen, I just can't imagine what it's like to have family members in these areas.  I was watching for hours last night and got so stressed thinking of the horrific damage and danger.  I turned on the news again first thing this morning and the pictures are shocking and incredibly scary.   The loss of property is going to be enormous and recovery will be a long time coming for many.  I'm so sorry about your brother's house.  :(

Sharon, I'm glad you're ok and not affected.  Sorry about your coworkers house.  Is your mom's place ok?

Sandie, glad you're safe. 

I keep wondering why the HMS Bounty got caught out in this storm off the coast of NC.  So sad that two were lost. 

JackieG

I keep wondering why the HMS Bounty got caught out in this storm off the coast of NC

When major storms like this move in, the Navy sends its ships far out to sea where it is easier to ride out the storms than being docked alongside a pier. This may not be the case with the HMS Bounty, mainly because they cannot achieve the distance as easily as a powered boat or ship. Ships and boats docked are merely projectiles during high winds and with storm surge.

My son's family on his dad's side live on Long Island, and one of my friend's son and family are in Manhattan, so I am hoping they are all safe as well.

 I think that was the idea Tina - they found one missing person - who was unresponsive (aka deceased) they have not found the Captain yet

LINK

Tina this is the local LI station which has decent coverage - you may be able to find out how some areas are doing through it

Thanks, Karen. I just had a minute to read the article about the HMS Bounty. They are powered by diesel engines, which seem to have failed. I do believe the intent was to get out of the storm's way but with the engine failure and the massive storm, they couldn't get far enough out of range.

I'll check out the radio link.

sharismom

I'll check out the radio link.

Sadly the young woman that didnt survive the HMS was from NWA area.  In a interview with a family member this morning she was able to text her love to her family as the ship was stuggling.  She said something to the effect that no matter the outcome she was very happy about the time she had spent on the ship.  Not a quote as the Aunt was struggling to relay the exact message.  Her family is now headed to the area to bring her home.

shadowsgin

Sadly the young woman that didnt survive the HMS was from NWA area.

Too sad :(

The mom is ok; thanks for asking!  Thankfully the winds didn't do any damage where she lives.  I will give that little trailer credit.  It's a sturdy little thing!  

kpwlee

Its the local TV station's website - they may have a radio feed too not sure

Uh, duh me. I did look and watch some video, but I can't get any sound out of it. The map shows Smithtown, where most of the family is, has power outages, but I can't tell much else. It doesn't help that I'm trying to do this at work. Maybe DS will hear from them on FB.

You guys are an awesome network -- thank you SO much for the updates on everyone and everyone's families.  Florida caught rain at the beginnin with a bunch of wind.  No biggie (and we knew how fortunate we were).  I will never EVER forget looking at that one picture of the whole storm where Florida peeked out at the bottom with the whole rest of the eastern US COVERED by the storm.  It just showed how massive this whole thing is. 

I've heard so much flack from family and some others in recent days about how they wished the media wouldn't try to scare people -- but I think now it's pretty plain they didn't do that

 Spoke to my Mom in western NY -- they didn't lose power (Pa is on oxygen so that's a big deal) YET -- but at this point the backlash from the actual storm will begin to pale in comparison to what happens when all the flooding begins as a result of this massive massive amount of rain.  Where my folks are in western NY (almost to Erie, PA under the tip of Lake Erie) they are on their THIRD day of torrential rain.  My folks are on a hill but Mom says water is running down the cellar walls just cos the ground is so super saturated and absorbing is almost as easy as "run off".  At this point I'm sure we'll start seeing the different types of back lash -- those hit directly by the storm and the storm surge, and then those impacted by the rain and run-off/flooding.  Scarey, scarey stuff. 

Best of luck to everyone -- again that's so much for checking in everyone.

I do know that ships often ride out big storms at sea.  This is from the article about the HMS Bounty that Karen posted:

"What appears to have happened is that water probably inundated the vessel, flooded out the generators and with the loss of power and only 16 or 17 crew members on board, they were unable to pump out the vessel, unable to manage their sails," he said. "Once you started taking water and lost that power, it was only a matter of time until (the ship) broached."

Hindsight is always 20-20, of course, but if they didn't have enough crew to handle the ship, if things went bad, losing the ship in port would have been better than losing the ship at sea and two members of the crew.  I hope the captain can be found for the sake of his family.

From another article is this info:

"The vessel left Connecticut on Thursday with a crew of 11 men and five women, ranging in age from 20 to 66. Everyone aboard knew the journey could be treacherous.

"This will be a tough voyage for Bounty," read a posting on the ship's Facebook page that showed a map of its coordinates and satellite images of the storm.

The Bounty's Facebook page reads like a ship's log of her activities, with many photos of the majestic vessel plying deep blue waters and the crew working in the rigging or keeping watch on the wood-planked deck.

As Sandy's massive size became more apparent, a post on Saturday tried to soothe any worried supporters: "Rest assured that the Bounty is safe and in very capable hands. Bounty's current voyage is a calculated decision ... NOT AT ALL ... irresponsible or with a lack of foresight as some have suggested. The fact of the matter is ... A SHIP IS SAFER AT SEA THAN IN PORT!"

But as the storm gathered strength, the Facebook posts grew grimmer. By mid-morning Monday, the last update was short and ominous: "Please bear with us ... There are so many conflicting stories going on now. We are waiting for some confirmation."

Tracie Simonin, director of the HMS Bounty Organization, said the ship tried to stay clear of Sandy's power.

"It was something that we and the captain of the ship were aware of," Simonin said."

I truly think they underestimated this storm. It was a judgment call, I'm sure one that was not made lightly, and the consequences are something those decision-makers will question and possibly regret for the rest of their lives.

Oh man, I was getting ready when they were interviewing the Coast Guard folks and I was under the impression that the 2 that were missing were found safe. I'm so sad to hear that wasn't the case.

This storm and the pictures of the aftermath gives me such a surreal feeling. It's just beyond my comprehension on how or where they start to clean things up.

 Just a mood lightener - Bugsy has been walking around the house like this for over an hour

LOL, he heard the word evacuate and he is not leavin without his rabbit and it there a squirel too?  Thank you Bugsy!