NYC Hurricane Preparedness

[Cotuit]

NYC Officials say they are ready for a major hurricane

[NCB]

"Most New Yorkers." Coch said, "think that hurricanes only occur in places with palm trees"

I hope he isnt right, because the last thing you need in a situation of a major hurricane is people not knowing exactly how to prepare for it.

[Jerseyman4]

"Most New Yorkers." Coch said, "think that hurricanes only occur in places with palm trees"

I hope he isnt right, because the last thing you need in a situation of a major hurricane is people not knowing exactly how to prepare for it.

I fully agree. The hardest place to evacuate people isnt NYC but Long Island! If a sound crossing were to be built to New Haven, this could provide an adequate link for evacuation but also relieve NYC traffic from people leaving the Island. Years of opposition, the North Shore will put up everything they got to stop it which they have stopped many unbuilt projects before.

[monsoon]

"Most New Yorkers." Coch said, "think that hurricanes only occur in places with palm trees"

I hope he isnt right, because the last thing you need in a situation of a major hurricane is people not knowing exactly how to prepare for it.

Actually there have been several hurricanes that have hit NYC that have caused a number of deaths. It would only take a Cat 2 storm to do the same damage to NYC as the Cat 4 did to NO.

[Cotuit]

All of Long Island would not have to be evacuated for a hurricane, only low lying areas on the South Shore. Long Island is plenty large, and has enough high land to not need to be evacuated.

For that matter, all 5 boroughs of New York would not need evacuating.

[Recchia]

I fully agree. The hardest place to evacuate people isnt NYC but Long Island! If a sound crossing were to be built to New Haven, this could provide an adequate link for evacuation but also relieve NYC traffic from people leaving the Island. Years of opposition, the North Shore will put up everything they got to stop it which they have stopped many unbuilt projects before.

That 495 connection from Orient Point to Watch Hill, RI, that'd be a crazy connection. I don't think anyone from Long Island realizes how close RI is to them (or that NY and RI actually share a border, an ocean border that is). I tell people at school (which is dominated by Long Islanders) that I'm from RI and they think its some far away land of lighthouses, farmhouses and stonewalls.

[rbdetsport]

NYC would have the effects of NO times 10. It would be devastating. Probably setting NYC back 10 years.

[AuLukey]

NYC would have the effects of NO times 10. It would be devastating. Probably setting NYC back 10 years.

Well, lucky for you guys, hurricanes normally nearly all die out to depression level by the time they get that far north.

[damus]

Well, lucky for you guys, hurricanes normally nearly all die out to depression level by the time they get that far north.

The water temp is warmer than normal in the Atlantic... even if it's too cold I think that's what causes the hurricanes to gain rapid forward movement. The 1938 hurricane was moving at very high speeds, like 60 mph or something like that, which amplified the storm's wind speed... gusts were as high as 180 mph at Watch Hill, RI and might have gone higher but there were only so many wind gauges, and many of them broke. New England gets a hurricane once every ten years or so and the last one was Bob in 1991. It hit Cape Cod hard, given that it's all low lying and heavily developed the storm surge was bad. In the 1950s New England saw a few hurricanes. When the next big one hits up in the New England/Long Island area... a lot of damage will occur. God forbid a cat-3 or higher hits the big city, that could potentially dwarf Katrina in terms of disasterous consequences....

[PghUSA]

I agree New York City has always had hurricane threats, as well as southern New England. The most famous and most destructive was probably the "Long Island Express" I guess that is the 1938 one mentioned, killed thousands if I remember. Missed NYC by just a few miles and destroyed much of Long Island.

I remember also that when the Citigroup tower was nearing completion in the late 1970s the architect realized that the beams were not welded but bolted, no big deal unless of course you hit the megastructure with 100+ mph winds, in which case everything known about modern structural engineering would say that the Citigroup tower would crash down on the city below without mercy.

The repairs were rushed on Citigroup, because a catagory 4 or 5 hurricane was heading up the eastern seaboard toward the heart of NYC, if I remember correctly the storm veered off into the Atlantic off the Jersey shore and didn't hit the state, but NYC is hurricane country.

[damus]

I agree New York City has always had hurricane threats, as well as southern New England. The most famous and most destructive was probably the "Long Island Express" I guess that is the 1938 one mentioned, killed thousands if I remember. Missed NYC by just a few miles and destroyed much of Long Island.

I guess it's a regional pride thing. No one around here ever calls it the "Long Island express". It's the "Hurricane of '38"; the second biggest catastrophe around here is "The Blizzard of '78" that buried cars on the Interstates. The deaths from the hurricane were somewhere in the 600 range, though no one is sure. This came before modern forecasting so there was no warning. The weather service had this going out to sea, one young forecaster said it could hit New York and was laughed at.

The track on the Wikipedia puts the storm center passing somewhere over New Haven, but there are stories here (Norwich, CT area) with many an old folk and several papers from those days saying the eye went over here. The storm stopped, then started suddenly again with the wind going in the other direction. It makes more sense that we got hit than New Haven considering Southeastern CT and RI were where the worst damage in New England was...

I remember also that when the Citigroup tower was nearing completion in the late 1970s the architect realized that the beams were not welded but bolted, no big deal unless of course you hit the megastructure with 100+ mph winds, in which case everything known about modern structural engineering would say that the Citigroup tower would crash down on the city below without mercy.

The repairs were rushed on Citigroup, because a catagory 4 or 5 hurricane was heading up the eastern seaboard toward the heart of NYC, if I remember correctly the storm veered off into the Atlantic off the Jersey shore and didn't hit the state, but NYC is hurricane country.

I worry about that, too. Especially the buildings made in the 50s/60s/70s with cost cutting technologies that put safety as somewhat of an afterthought. I'm more concerned about what will happen when NYC gets a major (6.0 or higher) earthquake. They're in quake territory, too...

[AuLukey]

The water temp is warmer than normal in the Atlantic... even if it's too cold I think that's what causes the hurricanes to gain rapid forward movement. The 1938 hurricane was moving at very high speeds, like 60 mph or something like that, which amplified the storm's wind speed... gusts were as high as 180 mph at Watch Hill, RI and might have gone higher but there were only so many wind gauges, and many of them broke. New England gets a hurricane once every ten years or so and the last one was Bob in 1991. It hit Cape Cod hard, given that it's all low lying and heavily developed the storm surge was bad. In the 1950s New England saw a few hurricanes. When the next big one hits up in the New England/Long Island area... a lot of damage will occur. God forbid a cat-3 or higher hits the big city, that could potentially dwarf Katrina in terms of disasterous consequences....

Yea, sorry, I know you guys do get hit on the occasion. I've lived in North Carolina for ten years now and before that I lived in Florida. So I see a hurricane as only a big deal if it is a Category 3 or higher. Anything less is just another southern summer storm to me, which often times can be more destructive than hurricanes as they swoop in without warning.

What do you think happens every time South Florida gets hit?