You guys on the East Coast stay safe.

If you get more water than you can handle, send some about 4 miles South of Bowie Texas. If there's any left, I'll send it to Oklahoma.

I wouldn't mind it tracking about 400 miles West.

Heard a glimpse of radio stuff today, and we should get a blanket cover of snow in the next couple days.

Pretty sure the fender benders will go like crazy, increasing everyone elses insurance premiums

I'm just waiting for that gal with the cell phone stuck to her face while applying makeup...

Could be up to a foot of snow in the mountains of West Virgina too the NWS says.

Vote early out there on the east coast! The power could still be out on election day as this storm is a slow mover and will do a lot of damage!

In a foot of snow, I won't have to worry about that gal with the cell phone and all!

Let me rethink that one

Watch out for the guy/gal driving around in weather with their face stuck in the cell phone.

I'm basically ready-- if it should happen.

We have our youngest granddaughter's birthday party tomorrow afternoon. I have a little work to finish up the last connections for our whole-house propane generator. The 500 gallon propane tank is nearly full. The generator at the barn is serviced, and ready to go to work providing water to all our buildings.

I just don't have the leaves piled. I'm not ready to put the snow plow or chains on the tractor.

Tomorrow is the second day of a our county's special rifle deer season. There were lots and lots of deer harassing me earlier today when they obviously knew I didn't have time to gut and quarter any of them for processing.

Looks like I am right in its it's bullseye in central pa, I just hope it does not stall on me like Lee. Most of our trees still have leaves. 65mph gusts in the forecast 6-11 inches rain. This could be ugly, cleaned the over flow pipe good today.

Sunil, what's it looking like for your pond property?

CJ, you on or off staying home with Mom and the little one?

We are predicted to get somewhere in the 3-6 inches of rain total. I'll believe it when I see it.

Forecast has knocked back and forth so much this past week I dunno what to believe. Now the WU is forecasting nothing for us Wed - Fri where just last night it was several inches of rain. The local NWS service is still predicting a lot more, but they got a front to our west all wrong. It was supposed to be over our heads this morning giving us 1" plus by this morning, but it is stuck west of the state, 80 miles away. Even 8 hours out and they cannot get this scenario right.

My prediction for my area: 0.000001" of rain as it stalls somewhere else and we get nothing but thick, heavy fog and strong winds, broken trees and no power. It would be par for the course this year. Meanwhile 1/4 mile away, 3 inches of rain.

I'm pretty much west so I think I'm OK, but I really haven't looked.

I have to go to Orlando through Charlotte on Monday morning, so I really looking forward to air travel during that time. sarc/off

Stop in at Richmond and a dentist friend of mine will pull a couple of your teeth. Might top off an awesome trip.

Stop in North GA at the local "Choke and Puke" diner and meet Cletus - the man who is his own grandpa...

Uh, thanks, kenc, but I'm going to try to keep my teeth!

I think you'll be looking at all kinds of delays don't you as it doesn't take much for the flights to back up?

Luckily they have already cancelled all flights into and out of NYC area, so those wont be bogging down the other airports.

My prediction is wrong so far... we have 0.37" and still falling. Air pressure just starting to drop. The worst should be Monday night. Looks like wind damage for us, and minor flooding.

I worked this weekend. Spent Friday and Saturday with the search and rescue team trying to find an elderly man lost in a large wooded/swampy park. No luck finding him... I walked over 18 miles according to my GPS between the two days. Very sad! This upcoming weather pretty seals his fate unfortunately.

Today was my last day at work for this tour. I spent much of my shift handing out flyers in the areas where flooding is prone. I have tomorrow and Tuesday off work but may get called in as they are expecting a large area of my district to flood hence the flyers. When it flood in the past we had looting.

My wife's school district cancelled school, so she has off too. Her birthday is tomorrow, she said it was one of the best gifts she could get! HAHA

Travis -- I'm glad there are people like you out there. Stay safe.

Things don't look good for your work area over the next week. I feel safe, and I feel my friends out here are in reasonably good shape for most anything Mother Nature throws at us.

Based on Wash DC TV, it is scary to think that so many of your ‘customers‘ can't survive reasonably for more that a few days without help.

Ken, listen in the news for flooding in the Huntington area of Alexandria. If that happens, I am going to be very busy the next few days... Those areas are not the best crime wise as it is, give them a reason and there will be mayhem!

Got to Orlando through Charlotte from Pittsburgh with no issues...

No canoe trip through Georgia?

Sunil -- I think you were fortunate to get out, and without issues.

Things are just not nice. It has been getting worse and worse by the hour since mid-morning.

We somehow still have power. Our cell/4G service is still OK. Our DSL is down. Four inches of rain in the rain gauge, but the rain has been mostly horizontal for the last several hours. They say we can expect another 8-12 inches of rain. The emergency overflows are running out at the ponds. Hagerstown, MD, TV says we are having sustained 45-60 mph winds, and can expect 75 mph gusts starting later this evening through sometime tomorrow.

At least we aren't in the snow areas. Local TV shows zero visibility near Sunil's pond on I-68 around Savage Mountain. Major blizzard in that area.

Travis -- I don't know if I'd feel safer in a police car or my truck with WV plates in the Huntington area. Who did you seriously aggravate to get that area?

Just stay safe guys.

Ken it looks like you are in the heavy snow belt via weather chan.

We appear to have lucked out in area south of Richmond but eastern Va. has widespread damages and flooding. Western Va. is susposed to get up to 2 ft. of snow. All of this happened with the eye a long way from here. We need to pray for everyone that is in this storm as this is going to be one of the worst storm of our lives.

It's heartwarming to have nobody cheering for this one.

kenc-- that is good news.

the weather here is still pretty bad. no phone. no dsl. our at&t cell phones seem to be without service. my kindle is my connection to the outside world. somehow we still have power. it just keeps hammering us with extremely heavy rain and unrelenting high winds at 60-70 mph.

Spoke to Wom back home. Power was out for a few hours in Murrysville, PA., about 15 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Heavy rains and heavy winds. Power back on now.

Very cool here in Orlando....like low 50's.

Neat Pic, I assume it is real...
Hope everyone is OK!

And another from the tomb of unknown soldier.

Actually, both pictures I've read are fabricated. Or, the first is photoshopped anyway. The storm was actually Nebraska. The tomb of the unknown soldier photo was taken in September, although there are photos out there of the soldiers still standing guard which are very cool.

We made it without serious issues. The main pond is up about four feet, with about 18 inches in the emergency overflow. A few big trees are down.

About 30 to 40 miles west of here they are still in blizzard conditions with 18 to 24 inches of snow.

Good news!

My heart goes out to all of you that have suffered from the storm.

At least here just south of Washington, DC the storm was for the most part a big dud.

That is a good thing.

As of this morning my sister still has power on the upper east side of Manhatten.

It sounds like the storm didn't disappoint in NJ and Lower NYC. But that's great news Shorty.

Yep it looks like it is not good in some places.

NEW YORK: A dam in the state of New Jersey has just broken through, CNN reported on Tuesday.

According to reports, authorities are conducting rescues from homes in three New Jersey towns after a dam break.

According to New Jersey Office of Emergency Management Sgt. Adam Grossman, the break occurred after midnight in the town of Moonachie in Bergen County.

Rescue teams are underway in Moonachie, Little Ferry, and Carlstadt.

Bergen County Police Chief of Staff Jeanne Baratta says thousands of people may need to be rescued.

Seems like the north and east sides of the storm was for more damaging than the south and west sides of the storm.

Like everyone else on the planet, I'm powerless to do anything to prevent a hurricane from forming, and I'm unable to alter its progress, or decide where it makes landfall.... I can't slow the windspeed, or reduce the torrential rainfall amounts. All I can do is watch the news, hope for the best, and pray for it to be over soon.

Am I cheering for this hurricane? Of course not. I'm horrified by the images of destruction, and saddened by the loss of life. However, that doesn't change the fact that there is nothing I can do to prevent, or lessen the storm's fury. What has already happened, has happened. And what is yet to happen, will happen. I have no say in the matter. I pray for the best in every situation like this, but all I can do is try and plan for the worst.

So if the remnants of Hurricane Sandy should make their way to Indiana, bringing some rain, wind, and even some storms with them, then I would consider that a good thing. We still need more water.

It doesn't mean that I'm happy a hurricane devastated such a large region. It just means that there's nothing I can do to change that scenario. All I can do is look and see if hurricane clouds have a tint of silver lining.

we're sitting on almost 20 inches of snow. But thank goodness we have electricity. I hadn't heard too many people complain at all about the snow. Seems the wrong thing to do when so many others are in terrible conditions.
It's SOOOO cold!

Wow! I wonder if Ken got any snow...

Hope that fast water temp change does not impact the fish !

There's also a possibility of PH shock if the ponds in the area are not buffered well or the PH is already on the acidic side. I know this happens in some areas of the east.

Thankfully, we didn't get any snow. But, people like Stacy are in miserable conditions. Roads are still closed. Massive power outages -- and cold for this time of year.

I don't know how long this link will stay active, but it shows who got hit with snow. WV Snow Cover

The area between Elkins and Beckley WV is just plain buried. I believe Stacy is due south of Beckley, right on the VA/WV border. Roof collapses have been an issue in the heavy snow area because the snow was so incredibly wet and heavy. Wyoming County, WV, just west of Stacy's location, is over 90% without power. They were a few degrees colder than us. I think we went down to 29 degrees overnight.

I'm due west of Winchester, VA, just over the WV/VA border. We some how got by with minimal damage. My main pond is now below the emergency spillway, but the top of the standpipe is still at least a foot below the water level.

Here are just a few photos from what we saw. Interestingly, when we when out this morning, there was snow on the mountain tops within about five miles of, but none here.

This picture was taken after the water was almost down by a foot from its high. When the water got really high, it floated a lot of debris from the woods that clogged, and really slowed the emergency overflow. So, this was after the emergency overflow was re-cleared. Yesterday Morning:



This morning, with the water down to at about 4-inches above the top of the standpipe.



When the water came up, it grabbed a lot of debris from places like this:


This is what it looked like this morning. My emergency overflow is in the lower left of the photo.


This photo was taken from about the same place as the two above, but looking the opposite way. The three photos after that are about 150 feet to the other end of where the emergency spillway flows into the woods behind the dam. The spillway is about three foot wide, and there was more than 18 inches of water in it when I took these photos.









This is a the very bottom of the dam where the water comes out via the standpipe in pond.

I'm glad that you were able to clear the debris and didn't have sesrious damage or wash-outs.

Ken, in looking at that snowfall map, am I reading it right in seeing areas that have 40" of snow?

Cat, I really like the setting you have there.

Watching the news last night, it was hard to believe all of the damage that some areas had. It is hard to prepare for such a storm, even with advance notice. Hope all are safe and gaining ground on the recovery.

Well, the worst certainly missed us, and I am very thankful! As a testament to how dry our sub-soils have been, the 2 inches of rain over 2 days only amounted to 5 new inches of water in the pond. Sort of disappointing, but the most gain I have had since April! All of the springs and creeks dried right back up after the rain passed.

I went through a bunch of effort putting in heavy liner under-layment on the pond spillway just in case to prevent washouts. Nailed it all down, put rocks on it, etc. The water is not even close to reaching it. Better safe than sorry though.

I missed the entire storm while I was in Alabama, where it was colder than at home in NY. I really wish I got to see it as I love watching a good storm. The radar was fascinating on how a large hunk of rain shot across NYS in a manner of hours in the wrong direction. My wife said it was pea-soup fog the entire time. Could not see anything of what was going on other than hearing the roaring wind and driving rain.

I really feel bad for the poor folks who wound up in the bad spots of this thing. Who would have thought WV would get all that snow while NY was 50 degrees? Crazy! (Slightly jealous, as we can deal with that).

As far as wind goes, we were not even close to some of our "normal" wind storms. We hit 40MPH peak, but it was a very rare direction from the NE. We usually get pounded on our hill in the fall with 70MPH gusts on occasion from the SW. Not a speck of wind damage for us either. My parents up further north in Webster were not so lucky, a large willow fell on their house and greenhouse smashing in many of the glass panes. He grows orchids in there, so he had to run rescue missions while tending to my mom with her ALS. I felt horrible I was too far away to help.

-LS

Here in northeast Ohio at my place we got 5" of rain thru this whole period. It has been a real slow rain overall, so its been the best it could have been. It got windy too with 60 MPH gusts, but we have had many wind storms over the past few years, so those storms had trimmed out alot of the weak stuff already.

The lake Erie shoreline got hammered pretty good. Officially had 22 foot waves and 66 mph winds. Their weather staion broke down in the midst of it, so they don't have official readings after that. But they claimed the waves were up to 30' and the wind was probably more than the 66MPH.

I'm still overseas and not sure of what is left of NJ The eye made landfall over my mothers and frankly it was a blessing in disguise.The only thing that kept the Cape (where I'm from)from being washed to sea was it made land fall ahead of schedule and not on the full moon high tide.Being just south of the eye saved us a few feet of water and less damaging winds then those to the north.I know of one friend whose place was a total loss and others with plenty of flood and wind damage.Thankfully everyone is safe and sound and my parents places fared ok................As far as my pond goes there are too many downed trees to get to it,surely though it is now brackish from salt water flooding

but thats life,the true locals from the Jersey shore are a tough bunch and will rebuild just fine in the end.We aren't strangers to big storms,while they rarely make the national news we have plenty of noreaster's to prep us for the big ones like this

Robert,

You might be surprised on how adaptable your pond fish are to the brackish water. Of course it depends on how much salt is in it but I have read that yellow perch and largemouth bass can be found in the brackish water of tidal basins.

CJ should be able to comment on this.

YP are very tolerant to higher salinities. RES and PS are as well. LMB are to a lesser extent. Obviously striped bass have no issues. I have caught YP in salinities approaching 14 ppt.

My lmb are what have me concerned,but to be honest these are my last thoughts at this point in time.If the need arises I can arrange for some LARGE pumps to drain it down some and let the spring refill it to knock the salinity down.Also I need to confirm the salt water intrusion,I have to take some readings.................Time will tell on this,as there are bigger things at hand to deal with.

My main concern is getting home and helping friends and family rebuild,since the islands have been opened I've learned of a few others with major damage to where they have no place to live

Oh and I'm still waiting to hear on the status of my boat,they still wont let anyone on the island where my marina is.My friend on the local PD took a quick look but can't find it.............pretty much wiped the trailer park and homes away there and authorities wont let anyone in.Thankfully most of the permanent homes on that little isle are on pilings,chances are those guys are ok.But word on the street is all the boats are pretty much toast Again not the outcome I'd like but this is why we for pay insurance.

Again thanks for the pond support/info,but right now I'm going crazy trying to get back to the states..............I need to get there and start to help my parents customers get their claims in ASAP.

Robert, I don't envy your road ahead in the next few months! As long as nobody was injured, the material things can be replaced, albet it's a PITA process dealing with the insurance companies.

Wow Robert, that sucks. Prayers go out to you, those homeless folks, and your clients that it all gets sorted out OK. Looks like the insurance company wont be buying another high-rise this year.

What I wonder is if the insurance companies will re-insure those poor folks who lost their homes if they decide to re-build on the coast. If I remember correctly, a lot of homes on the ocean in FL are no longer insurable. They built houses too expensive and in too vulnerable of places. Nobody wants the expensive total-loss risk of these clients any more.

I also hope that these families without a home will get that sorted out quickly. Does insurance typically help pay for a place to rent while homeless? I never really have looked at my policy to be honest...

The houses east of I-95 are the ones you are referring to. They have a state insurance called CITIZENS that is used on these houses. They have raised the insurance this year where the cost to insure is over 1000 dollars a month. In southwest FL. a lot of private insurance companies are cancelling many homes and forcing these people to use CITIZENS. Be careful before you buy down there. The insurance co. do pay for food and lodging but most of these claims are water related and the maximun amount of coverage is 250000 so most of these people are going to have huge losses. Flood ins. is a federal program.

Kenc,

I thought I heard with Florida, the governor at the time after the last big hurricane hit didn't allow at least one insurance company to just pull out. Seems to me it was State Farm that wanted to only insure cars and no longer homes? And the governor said if you want to insure cars you also have to insure homes?

We own a home in Port Charlotte and the insurance co. arepulling out, they are just cancelling homes like crazy. It is crazy down there you can rent a nice house for 800 a month. In normal times home owners was about 2000 a year now if you have to be on state policy it is 1000 a month on a modest home around 125000. It is going to be hard for the real estate market to rebound down there.

How the heck can anyone afford or justify living anywhere near the ocean then? You have to be made of sick amounts of money...

Most states with a history of storms like this have state run ins. pools. Companies don't want that risk and they don't cover flood ins as that is a US program and only available to people in the flood zone set out by survey maps . Keep in mind that most hazard ins is subject to state regulation as to what is covered and what can be charged. If the rates don't cover the losses over time the companies pull out of that state and all the rates go up.

Cecil, I meant to say they are not pulling out just reducing their base. Sorry about that, I waged a battle with a 3 in. paint brush today and now my 18 year old bride is trying to drag me upstairs. Pray for me.

Have you seen some of those homes!

No problem Ken. I just brought up something I believe I heard from my parents but wasn't sure if I got it right.

The private insurarance is cheaper on the gulf side. A lot of people that own their homes outright don't have insurarance as it would take most of their retirement funds. If you have a mortgage you are screwed without deep pockets.

I've been out of the insurance business for a few years now(just keep my licenses current) but looks like I might be going back sooner then I cared too.I suspect quite a few properties will not be up for renewal after the dust settles on this one and it is going to be a PITA to find them coverage.

Liquidsquid...........a typical homeowners will cover living and property preservation costs,this is the biggest concern for our clients at this time.But to be honest it doesnt cover all of it.

Thankfully most of the county that was affected has flood through FEMA and as for the ones who can't find a carrier NJ's FAIR plan while basic coverage is affordable.Also anyone we write through the NJ program we offer a self insurance option to cover it's shortfalls. such as theft etc.

Back in the 80's, I owned (absentee) a little motel on the Gulf of the FL panhandle. Twice (within about 8 months) during the 10 years that I owned it, it got gutted by hurricanes. The entire contents of all rooms were destroyed, but the structures were ok. I couldn't get regular insurance, but got some thru the Government - I think the carrier was Siebles -Bruce. Don't know if they are still around or not, but they treated me fairly...

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/11/forecast_models_show_potential.html

This could really make things get ugly These storms pack a punch and with all the erosion from sandy there is nothing left to defend against a storm like this.The storm of 62 that was the worst in recent history(before sandy) was a nor'easter.

Pack everything up into containers and go on vacation 'till the Spring?

I hope for the people there that it won't be bad, but unfortunately weather is one thing that we can't control.

I'm already there sitting on my terrace 100 meters from the black sea in shorts and a t shirt with a glass of scotch

I just got off the phone with my father because I was trying to get a flight home,but my dad said what for,what's done is done,not much you can do here.His words where save the 4-5k for a tickets and put it towards a new boat and the kitchen my wife wanted.....I have wanted a diesel boat for some time now lol

My wife just talked to her kids out in NJ. Things are not good there. I won't get into details, but it is the usuall stuff. They live not to far from Seaside heights, but not in the most tragic area either. They told us of all the things the media is leaving out. I was wondering if bad stuff was going on, because the media sure does seem to be keeping it quite compared to other times/situations.

fish n chips i sent you a pm...........any info is greatly appreciated

thanks

Robert

It is an election year, all news is suspect.

Ugh. My poor state! I am bummed though, that Nor'easter is a insult on injury. Not going to hit us (I kinda wish it would, and spare them!), but you cannot have a meaner set of events. Cold and rain or even snow in an unheated home full of holes and already wet/damp.

I feel for you guys. Our family did donate to the Red Cross and it will be matched with the same amount. We'll do it again too. I hope things get much better soon. I see power is getting back up at a steady pace for those that have a home to receive it.

I sure hope Pat Robertson doesn't say something stupid again like it's God's punishment or something. Anybody remember when he said that about New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit and said it was due the "sinful" French quarter? Only problem was the French quarter was spared from Hurricane Katrina!

Power came back on tonight for the one kid. Hopefully, for the next one it won't be much longer.

Fish n chips glad to hear that...........kind of funny my dad lost power from the noreaster but not sandy.He was still prepped from sandy although he lent the genset to a friend that is sharing it between 3 homes up the road.I talked to him and he has a inverter rigged up on the boat batts i stored there for the tv.