Updating Post/Mid-Disaster

First off,  I'm fine here, all the pets are fine and most of the people we love have checked in and are also fine if perhaps cold and a little stinky.

Secondly, the dog is a disaster trooper. He had to wait long periods of time before going out and he hung in there. He wasn't much interested in going out in all that wind and noise and he seemed to understand the consequences. He was, however, more than ready to hit the road this morning. We flouted the law and went into the park for a little, closely supervised, off leash time. There's some tree damage in our area, including in our courtyard, but not a ton of it. Only two trees that I've seen closing streets and those are minor streets. Much of Brooklyn got by with that sort of damage.

The rest of the city is a different story. There's no power at all below 39th Street in Manhattan. Some of that was pre-emptively shut down to limit damage and some of that was forced when a plant on the East River at 14th Street blew up last night. That plant happens to be across the street from where Miflohny, Media Guy, & Little Seal live. I haven't been able to raise any news about them since they updated before the explosion but know there were no injuries so assume they are somewhere safe and conserving energy. Their email confirmed what I'd already seen from other friends, that water was up over the hubcaps on cars as far West from the East River as First Avenue. Red Hook, Greenpoint, Coney Island, and The Rockaways were the hardest hit areas in Brooklyn with deep flooding. Breezy Point in Queens had combined flooding and a multi-dwelling fire that devastated the area.

Press conferences from City and State officials this morning outlined a recovery plan that's going to take at least a week to get us back to the bare bones of normal operation. Schools will be closed again tomorrow, though the Stock Market hopes to re-open by then. Buses will begin tonight at 5pm on a Sunday schedule and will be free. Subways, however, are largely without power and many of them are partially or completely under water. That kind of damage will take a minimum of 4-5 days to get back up and running. They'll do the best they can after restoring power with pumping, cleaning, and safety checks but they can only do so much. Trains will be restored in sections as appropriate and we'll all have to pay attention to the reports and be flexible. I'm working from home today and tomorrow. We're taking Thursday as it comes and I may go in on Friday if transportation is available and it seems appropriate. My bosses are safe, though one is stranded at home without power, and they understand the challenges and our place in the system well enough to take this one day at a time.

Back in the North Land many of my people are without power. One had a tree fall that spared the house but took out the generator. My mother lost a big tree, one that sort of defined her property, but it didn't hurt the house. She lost power but was sheltering with a generator-powered neighbor when last we spoke. No word on Dad yet but he has a phone line connected to his cable so that tends to be one of the first things that go out. I'm sure he'd only waste cell phone power if something was wrong so I'm optimistic.

Please have a thought for all the people who have had damage to their homes. Also send your healing energy to small businesses. My Twitter feed has been sprinkled with wonderful stories like the way that other small shops stepped up to help Red Hook Lobster Pound keep from losing all of their expensive stock. One flood can be all it takes to eliminate a small business all together and we really don't need any of that.

Ring in if you're in storm tossed areas. I want to know that you're OK. Falnfenix, Chili, JRH, Auntie Chili, and a few others have already checked in via social media but I'm not opposed to hearing about health and welfare again, not opposed at all. I had hold of Bethany until her power went out and am looking forward to news when she gets back on the grid.

Stay safe and warm and careful and we'll keep you posted about events here.