Hurricane Sandy....

[Dos_Box]

Nice to hear you are safe and sound Matt
Nice vid from yesterday BTW! I just hope they get the airports sorted out for your return.

[elsiegee40]

Glad to hear all is well (or at least as good as can be expected) Matt.

Hopefully the airport, and transport to it, will be back in business by your return date!

[mattx]

Nice to hear you are safe and sound Matt
Nice vid from yesterday BTW! I just hope they get the airports sorted out for your return.

I don't mind staying a few more days.....
I'm into my second week now. By boss flew back last weekend as he needs to get to Seoul. And everyone has been really nice, making sure I'm ok etc etc - I've loads of friends here and just before the storm hit I was helping someone pack up the garden chairs etc and making sure windows were boarded. The Americans really know how to deal with this and are really well prepared - the UK could learn a thing or two.

[elsiegee40]

It's a huge change from your school days and the height of excitement being gerbil cam or a great tit raiding a nest box!

[mattx]

It's a huge change from your school days and the height of excitement being gerbil cam or a great tit raiding a nest box!

True !! I suppose I'm lucky that I have now worked in some of the most interesting of positions. Give this one 8 more years and then will see what I end up doing next.....[ If I last that long....some of the work can really test your stamina... ]

[Domino]

[ If I last that long....some of the work can really test your stamina... ]

ooh-err

[mattx]

ooh-err

Dirty boy....... ;-)

[witch]

I can see you are OK Matt,

[DT2]

Only on a Friday that mate

Oh Danny boooooyyyyyy! :sings: I could blooming murder a tolly's fish n chips
Howzit?

Bit wet and windy here, well I suppose the ground is pretty much dry, as the wind is coming in sideways right about now. And the river level is up, but no wet feet just yet.
Glad to see you're out the other side of it Mattx.
We were out in it yesterday and it was pretty rough, blowing the car all ways. Had to get the eldest daughter to hospital as she broke her arm..... Fine time to do it.

DT

[Andrew_C]

Not a big hurricane in the scheme of things; however, the big problem could have been when it merged with one of the two cold systems coming in from Canada. I've not followed the news in detail, so I've missed exactly where and when they met.

[localzuk]

Not a big hurricane in the scheme of things; however, the big problem could have been when it merged with one of the two cold systems coming in from Canada. I've not followed the news in detail, so I've missed exactly where and when they met.

Careful with your terminology. Sandy was *huge* - some reports putting it at 500 miles across, but not as strong as others have been.

[Andrew_C]

Careful with your terminology.

OK, I'll give you that, but it was still only a Cat 1 hurricane. As I said, the real damage comes from the merging with the other systems.

You have to be careful, given that a Category 1 hurricane in October is not itself unusual—and what's really unique about Sandy is its collision with another, extratropical or winter storm system. Still, there is much that can be said here, even though scientists are careful to emphasize the remaining uncertainties:

[localzuk]

OK, I'll give you that, but it was still only a Cat 1 hurricane. As I said, the real damage comes from the merging with the other systems.

When it hit land, it wasn't even a hurricane any more. You're right, some of the issues were caused by the other winter storm it collided with - hence the heavy snowfall in the Appalachian Mountains. However, the problem was mainly down to the sheer size of it and its accompanying surge (13ft of water), and the fact it was so slow moving - 15mph! Our storms over here move a heck of a lot faster, so they don't hang in one place hammering it for a long while.

[mattx]

Been a bit hetic over the last few days in the office. Yesterday after the storm we had no internet and only one of the MPLS circuits up. So I managed to get people working by re-routing some of the traffic so it used the MPLS - good old HOSTS files.....
Last night the final circuit [ which was the backup MPLS ] went so no comms at all in the office. I have managed to setup a 2 phone hotspots and have the office working off those. Outlook Web Access for E-mail and a slow but stable connection to the company's main web service site. So people are working but only just. Could be a few days before circuits are back up. I'm due to fly back Saturday but have a feeling I may be here a bit longer.

[DaveP]

I suppose it could be a big storm, or it could just be England in early June.

Hurricane Sandy: Time lapse: New York City, from Sunday 1:00 PM to Tuesday 2:30 PM