Commuting with Sandy

It’s been a long time since I have written anything. Just too busy with work, doing the daily grind. But then along came Hurricane Sandy, and turned all of our worlds upside down in the Northeast. After seeing the devastation on the rest of the South Shore of LI, I feel that my family and I were lucky with minimal property damage and no injuries. A little preparation went a long way. Having no power was a slight inconvenience considering what others have gone through.

But now we are trying to bring our lives back to normal, which includes getting to work. The rest of the world has n0t stopped, so getting to and from the job and navigating Metro NY has challenges we need to be aware of.

Gas

First and foremost is the gas situation. Its bad, but we all saw it coming. The lines are a good 1-3 miles long in Nassau County, and from what I hear its getting bad in other places too. My friend in Dutchess County tells me they are now getting short on gas because all the Westchester people are flocking there for fuel. The best advice right now is to wait. People’s hoarder mentality takes over, so if you can restrict driving, do it. That gas is better served in someone generator keeping a family warm or for someone who doesn’t have the ability to telecommute. The situation should remedy itself in a few more days, but until then, sit tight. Take mass transit, car pool, and work from home.

But what if it doesn’t get better and the world gets all Mad Max on us? At that point, people are going to be looking to siphon gas, if they haven’t already, and you may have to defend. Most modern cars are secondary targets because the gas tank needs to be pried open. The best targets for stealing gas will also be SUV’s because of their larger thanks and higher ground clearance makes it easy to puncture a tank. So what can you do for defense?

To avoid being siphoned, it’s a team effort. You and someone you park near should park tank to tank, with not enough room to fit in between. For example, in a driveway, one car goes in forward, and the other backs in parallel within inches of the first car. Rear wheel to rear wheel, this should block any access to both tanks. One of you will likely have to crawl in your passenger side, but its better then being stuck on E. while of course this will not stop a determined thief, it will likely make them move on to easier targets.

Mass Transit

You know those images that come out of Japan, when trains are so full, they actually hire guys to get a running start and push people in to the cars? Well the LIRR will likely be looking to hire them soon. This morning, I took a 5:25 am LIRR train from Massapequa to Penn station. By the time the train hit the next stop, all of the cars were full. The conductor, who ironically sounded A LOT like Samuel L Jackson was telling people at every stop the train was full and no more passengers were being admitted. Of course, no one listened, and this makes the train late.  Even with limited service, Mass transit is still likely the best option for commuting if you can swing it. The lines are terrible, as are the crowds, but most of the trains are running. The Ferrys into Manhattan are also running, and Metro North is doing well.

But the best advice is to leave early, and travel off peak until the tunnels are pumped out and gas becomes available again.

Bridges and tunnels

If you need to commute, the bridges may be your only option as most of the lower tunnels are still flooded out. Listen to traffic reports for recent closures and maintenance. 

 

Good luck out there, and e smart, and be courteous.

Afterthoughts on Irene

Afterthoughts on Irene
Years from now, we will be telling our kids about that one week in August when we survived the great earthquake of oh-eleven and a hurricane in the same week.
But we really dodged a bullet this week, and a lot of people take this fact for granted. I was lucky. The storm hit us dead center on the south shore of Long Island. There were some downed trees and power outages, but nothing serious. I wish I could say the same for everyone. A lot of people had massive tree and auto damage, and some people even got hurt. People will be without power for days, and for some people it’s going to take weeks for them to drain their basements.
I hear a lot of people saying that it was all hype. They are angry at the media for making such a big deal out of it, a storm that wound up being not as serious as they made it out to be. That’s like being mad at someone because they suggested you move off of the railroad tracks, because a train would probably be coming soon. This storm could have been, and was supposed to be a lot worse. The extra time spent preparing is a gamble, but its one where the odds of winning are much better, and the stakes are so much higher.
NY’ers are an easily jaded people, and I’m afraid that’s what is going to happen now. The next time a hurricane warning comes along, people are going to take it with a grain of salt, and probably not take proper precautions.
For now, mass transit is slowly coming back on line. Many, many roads are still closed, and of course jumped the normal 25 cents a gallon. Westchester’s traffic report is a sea of exclamation points for incidents and closed roads, and New Jersey is still going to have to deal with massive flooding.

Also, a thanks to the readers. The article on “how to prepare your car for a hurricane was the most viewed article ever on the site. Hopefully I don’t have to write a similar article anytime soon.

How to prepare your car for a hurricane

I Have never felt more insignificant than I have this week. Nature is reminding us who is in charge as she rocks the East coast with an earthquake and a hurricane only a few days apart. Based on the current projected trajectory of Irene, I picked a really crappy time to be a resident of the South Shore of Long Island. As a native upstate NY’er, I have never had to worry about a hurricane, but now with the storm barreling down on us, we all should take some time to research how to prepare. A little bit of preparation can make a total disaster a lot better then it could have been, Even though she might not even hit us. But that’s a big gamble that I am going to make the safe bet on.

While your first priority needs to be the safety of you and your family, you need to think secondary about the safety and integrity of your house and automobile. In high winds with flying debris, possible storm swells, extreme rain and flooding, there are a lot of risks posed to automobiles. Below is some information I have collected on the topic that will be useful for anyone in the northeast:

• First and foremost, keep your gas tank full. Gas pumps can get knocked out of commission by flooding and power loss. Be ready.


• Know the height of your cars air intake. This is the weakest point for a car when it comes to flooding. The car will run in a foot or two of water, but once water gets sucked into the motor via the intake, the motor will seize and you will be SOL.


• It seems obvious, but try and garage your car. While it won’t help in extreme flooding or if a tree falls on your garage, it will help protect the finish from the debris.


• DON'T elevate your car on jacks or jackstands. Hurricane force winds have the ability to blow a car off this minimal support, causing extreme damage. the extra few inches isn't worth it.


• Be wary of you can see water - don't park near streams or lakes that will rise.


• You also might need to reinforce your garage door. Because they are wider and lighter, they are susceptible to high winds and can blow inward. A couple of 2x4’s on the weak points should do the trick.


• If you don’t have a garage, try and relocate your car to higher ground, and definitely away from trees, power lines, etc.  Google a Topographic map of your area to find highground.


• Secure all of your cars important paperwork to somewhere safe, not the glove box


• Keep an emergency kit in your car


• Flooding happens and deep puddles happen. Don’t drive through them.


• If you have multiple cars, try and get one to an elevated parking garage. They are solid structures that rarely flood on the upper levels


• If you need to park on a hill, face the front of the car upwards, and turns your wheels toward the curb.


• Make sure you have insurance coverage.


• Avoid downed power lines


• 4 wheel drive won’t help you unless you are climbing over objects. When selecting a vehicle for moving to a safer location, ground clearance should be the deciding factor.

It’s easy to brush off a storm like this and not be ready for it. Long Island hasn’t been hit by a major storm since Gloria in 85, which did a lot of damage. A little preparedness goes a long way.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="568" caption="Your car cannot go faster than this."][/caption]