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erik
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### Hurricane Sandy

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Post by erik » Mon Oct 29, 2012 2:24 pm

We don't have a dedicated thread for this storm and it sounds like it is going to be something pretty newsworthy and relevant, so best start one so people can share how it has affected them or just random thoughts on the storm in progress.
I've been fairly isolated from all this what with being in the Midwest, not watching broadcast TV and even missing out on much of my internet news since myself, wife and both kids have done battle with a nasty flu-like entity for the last 4 days.
I'd caught snippets about a big storm treading up the eastern seaboard that was going to make for a cold Halloween, and am only now collating data.
Holy crapsticks.
It sounds like it is gonna be very bad. After I get done worrying about immediate damage and trauma upon people and infrastructure, my mind wandered to what this is going to mean for the election. My pessimistic nature leads me to worry that turnout will be lower among those worst affected (i.e. the poorest people, democrats). A new flavor of October Surprise.
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Ted the Flayer
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Post by Ted the Flayer » Mon Oct 29, 2012 2:32 pm

My dad has spent the past few days watching the news screaming "YOU CANT PREDICT THE FUCKING WEATHER!" every time they mention the hurricane.

> Prak Anima wrote:Um, Frank, I believe you're missing the fact that the game is glorified spank material/foreplay.

> Frank Trollman wrote:I don't think that is any excuse for a game to have bad mechanics.

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sabs
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Post by sabs » Mon Oct 29, 2012 3:50 pm

Your dad's not really playing with a full load of buckshot is he?
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Mistborn
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Post by Mistborn » Mon Oct 29, 2012 4:28 pm

> Ted the Flayer wrote:My dad has spent the past few days watching the news screaming "YOU CANT PREDICT THE FUCKING WEATHER!" every time they mention the hurricane.

Fun fact in some Islamic countries the fundies actually oppose weather forecasts on religious grounds.
Mistborn the Final Tumblr
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Maxus
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###

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Post by Maxus » Mon Oct 29, 2012 4:59 pm

It's a hurricane 1, so wind damage isn't -too- much of a concern. I've gone for a walk in a Category 1 storm before. If your house is really damn old and/or creaky, by all means, get the hell out of there and go hang with some friends. Bring food and a deck of cards.
The storm surge looks like it'll fuck NYC up. That's more worrying than the wind damage.
Power outages are gonna happen. If it wasn't so damn cold, I'd suggest what -we- do for hot water: Fill up a bunch of gallon Ziplocs with water, then put them in a black garbage bag and leave it in direct sunlight for a few hours with a knot tied at the top. Given how I've never been in a hurricane where it was cold, I don't know how effective that would be.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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Doom
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Post by Doom » Mon Oct 29, 2012 5:07 pm

Yeah, I'm hard pressed to know what a hurricane is like when it hits "up north"...hurricanes here are a mess, but no big deal.
On the other hand, a quarter inch of snow and sustained 31 degree weather in Louisiana is enough to shut down everything.
So, I'm going to guess even a level 1 hurricane hitting where it doesn't normally hit is going to be much worse than a level 1 hurricane hitting here.
Hmm, "level" instead of "category"...if it kills enough people, maybe it'll make level two.

> Kaelik, to Tzor wrote: And you aren't shot in the face?

> Frank Trollman wrote:A government is also immortal ...On the plus side, once the United Kingdom is no longer united, the United States of America will be the oldest country in the world. USA!

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Prak
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Post by Prak » Mon Oct 29, 2012 5:16 pm

So, of course, there's some minister saying that Hurricane Sandy is divine punishment for "the gays."
Here's, just, a random thought.... We haven't legalised gay marriage. Not on the grand scale, anyway. So far as I know, it's illegal in most states. Meanwhile gay marriage is legal in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Sweden.
Now... who's getting the supposedly divine retribution natural disasters? The places performing gay marriages, or the places which aren't (by in large)?
That's right, it's places which aren't allowing two dudes to get up and exchange vows and call it marriage.
...I think, if this hurricane is divine retribution, it's because God's pissed that we're keeping the gays down...
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.

> Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.

> FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.
> You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.

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Cynic
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Post by Cynic » Mon Oct 29, 2012 5:29 pm

Yeah, my mother's in Newark working in the hospital. She can hear the wind. It's deafening. My wife's having a c-section tomorrow (she's like 4 days from delivery and it has to be done). I"M hoping that shit doesn't get worse. I'm fairly inland in Jersey. but it's windy. My buddy's out-of-ground pool got ripped off its chains and flew into his fence.
He said that he's going to play league of legends until the power goes out.

> Ancient History wrote:We were working on Street Magic, and Frank asked me if a houngan had run over my dog.

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Maxus
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Post by Maxus » Mon Oct 29, 2012 5:32 pm

Not to mention, if God were meting out retribution, I think he could arrange it so we'd never see it coming, instead of a predictable hurricane that gives people time to get ready.
In words of Frieza from DBZ Abridged:
"Nice shot, try bringing your A-game next time!"
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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Maxus
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  Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

###

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Post by Maxus » Mon Oct 29, 2012 5:36 pm

> Cynic wrote:Yeah, my mother's in Newark working in the hospital. She can hear the wind. It's deafening. My wife's having a c-section tomorrow (she's like 4 days from delivery and it has to be done). I"M hoping that shit doesn't get worse. I'm fairly inland in Jersey. but it's windy. My buddy's out-of-ground pool got ripped off its chains and flew into his fence.

1) The weather will get worse.
2) Congratulations!
3) That's the lot of above-ground pools in a hurricane. Probably the thing to do would have been to fill it halfway or three-quarters. Takes a lot of time and water but saves on property damage.
4) Stay safe.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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erik
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  Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

###

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Post by erik » Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:06 pm

> Maxus wrote:The storm surge looks like it'll fuck NYC up. That's more worrying than the wind damage.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the main concern is the water. Flooding a major city is a major deal.
Okay, currently it looks more like this.
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Shrapnel
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Post by Shrapnel » Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:11 pm

> Prak_Anima wrote:So, of course, there's some minister saying that Hurricane Sandy is divine punishment for "the gays."
> Here's, just, a random thought.... We haven't legalised gay marriage. Not on the grand scale, anyway. So far as I know, it's illegal in most states. Meanwhile gay marriage is legal in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Sweden.
> Now... who's getting the supposedly divine retribution natural disasters? The places performing gay marriages, or the places which aren't (by in large)?
> That's right, it's places which aren't allowing two dudes to get up and exchange vows and call it marriage.
> ...I think, if this hurricane is divine retribution, it's because God's pissed that we're keeping the gays down...

It's legal in Massachusetts, I believe, and that's where I live. I'm not saying that that minister douche is right, I'm just noting.
We're currently beset by high-speed winds, torrential rain, and such-like. We're predicting that we will lose power sometime this evening.
And there's also a lot of idiot people on the telly standing stupidly on beaches, testing the wind and what not and basically saying, "C'mon, Sandy! Come and get me!"
Oh, and a tree just fell outside my house just this second. Fun.
Is this wretched demi-bee
Half asleep upon my knee
Some freak from a menagerie?
No! It's Eric, the half a bee
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RobbyPants
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Post by RobbyPants » Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:20 pm

> Prak_Anima wrote:So, of course, there's some minister saying that Hurricane Sandy is divine punishment for "the gays."
> Here's, just, a random thought.... We haven't legalised gay marriage. Not on the grand scale, anyway. So far as I know, it's illegal in most states. Meanwhile gay marriage is legal in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Sweden.
> Now... who's getting the supposedly divine retribution natural disasters? The places performing gay marriages, or the places which aren't (by in large)?
> That's right, it's places which aren't allowing two dudes to get up and exchange vows and call it marriage.
> ...I think, if this hurricane is divine retribution, it's because God's pissed that we're keeping the gays down...

Probably. If you think about it, we've gotten far more hurricanes before we started legalizing gay marriage than afterward. I don't think it has anything to do with the first time period being much longer than the second, either.

> Maxus wrote:Not to mention, if God were meting out retribution, I think he could arrange it so we'd never see it coming, instead of a predictable hurricane that gives people time to get ready.

Lord works in mysterious ways.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Mysterious ways.
Why does God dole out punishment in large swaths arbitrarily, seemingly sparing others randomly, using natural phenomenon that apparently could have happened on their own, all while giving us plenty of warning? Mysterious ways.
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Josh_Kablack
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Post by Josh_Kablack » Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:54 pm

Here in PGH, it looks like we'll be on the edge on the inland boomerang. So we are going to get a whole bunch of rain, some of which is already here, and probably some high-but-not-out-of-our-normal experience winds.
I'm prepped for a day or two without power, but the only real dangers I expect here are falling tree branches and flooding. And the topography is such that flooding is gonna be more of a property damage and pain-in-the-ass-cleanup deal than an actual danger. At least aside from the dumbshits who just gotta drive Washington Boulevard and ain't got the sense to run uphill when the ancient and poorly-engineered storm drain backs up.
"But transportation issues are social-justice issues. The toll of bad transit policies and worse infrastructure—trains and buses that don’t run well and badly serve low-income neighborhoods, vehicular traffic that pollutes the environment and endangers the lives of cyclists and pedestrians—is borne disproportionately by black and brown communities."
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Ted the Flayer
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Post by Ted the Flayer » Mon Oct 29, 2012 7:28 pm

> sabs wrote:Your dad's not really playing with a full load of buckshot is he?

he is a good person who has helped me out a lot, but he is a bit eccentric.

> Prak Anima wrote:Um, Frank, I believe you're missing the fact that the game is glorified spank material/foreplay.

> Frank Trollman wrote:I don't think that is any excuse for a game to have bad mechanics.

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Cynic
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Post by Cynic » Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:17 pm

Does a full moon make the hurricane worse or better?

> Ancient History wrote:We were working on Street Magic, and Frank asked me if a houngan had run over my dog.

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Prak
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Post by Prak » Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:36 pm

So, this could be useful for East Coasters:

> FEMA wrote:"Many states along the Mid-Atlantic and the East Coast have shelters open in response to Hurricane Sandy. Search for an open shelter by texting SHELTER + a zip code to 43362 (4FEMA). Here’s an example text message: Shelter 01234 (standard rates apply)"

Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.

> Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.

> FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.
> You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.

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Stahlseele
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Post by Stahlseele » Mon Oct 29, 2012 9:29 pm

> Cynic wrote:Does a full moon make the hurricane worse or better?

seeing how a full moon is only less of the earths shadow on the moon, there should not be that much of a difference in the gravitational pull. at least strength wise . . maybe a bit in terms of direction though.
a moon overhead means there is a high tide usually, so more water that the storm can make use of.
Welcome, to IronHell.

> Shrapnel wrote:

> > TFwiki wrote:Soon is the name of the region in the time-domain (familiar to all marketing departments, and to the moderators and staff of Fun Publications) which sees release of all BotCon news, club exclusives, and other fan desirables. Soon is when then will become now.
> > Peculiar properties of spacetime ensure that the perception of the magnitude of Soon is fluid and dependent, not on an individual's time-reference, but on spatial and cultural location. A marketer generally perceives Soon as a finite, known, yet unspeakable time-interval; to a fan, the interval appears greater, and may in fact approach the infinite, becoming Never. Once the interval has passed, however, a certain time-lensing effect seems to occur, and the time-interval becomes vanishingly small. We therefore see the strange result that the same fragment of spacetime may be observed, in quick succession, as Soon, Never, and All Too Quickly.

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erik
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Post by erik » Mon Oct 29, 2012 10:18 pm

I read on one of the many various sites this day that since it was a full moon the tide was going to be about 3 feet higher for new york. Puts it in squarely the 'worse' category.
Here's a handy link for tide related knowledge.
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Cynic
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Post by Cynic » Mon Oct 29, 2012 10:58 pm

Man, Chris Christie is such an ass but he's got a point.
He was talking about A.C. and how it's impossible to get out of there now. "To all those people who didn't listen to admonition, you'll have to live with it."
That's a paraphrase but yeah.
Agreeing with a right-wing douchebag is hilariously alien to me.

> Ancient History wrote:We were working on Street Magic, and Frank asked me if a houngan had run over my dog.

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Josh_Kablack
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Post by Josh_Kablack » Tue Oct 30, 2012 4:31 am

The photo of the shark fin in the middle of the flooded street isn't from this storm and likely isn't from New Jersey.
"But transportation issues are social-justice issues. The toll of bad transit policies and worse infrastructure—trains and buses that don’t run well and badly serve low-income neighborhoods, vehicular traffic that pollutes the environment and endangers the lives of cyclists and pedestrians—is borne disproportionately by black and brown communities."
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Shrapnel
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Post by Shrapnel » Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:30 pm

The storm is completely over where I live (Boston, Mass), and we didn't even lose power. One day of high winds and heavy rain, and one fallen tree, and then, done. Clear sunny skys as far as the eye can see.
Is this wretched demi-bee
Half asleep upon my knee
Some freak from a menagerie?
No! It's Eric, the half a bee
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name_here
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Post by name_here » Tue Oct 30, 2012 3:25 pm

Storm's still around in Cleveland, not doing much damage but making going outside thoroughly miserable. I have to keep re-angling my umbrella to keep the wind from inverting it.

> DSMatticus wrote:It's not just that everything you say is stupid, but that they are Gordian knots of stupid that leave me completely bewildered as to where to even begin. After hearing you speak Alexander the Great would stab you and triumphantly declare the puzzle solved.

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Taishan
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Post by Taishan » Wed Oct 31, 2012 3:12 am

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/ ... ama-sandy/
One metric for 'effectiveness of natural disaster response' could be mortality. Lets rate Bush vs. Obama, shall we?
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Josh_Kablack
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Post by Josh_Kablack » Wed Oct 31, 2012 4:25 am

Well, "Heckuva Job Brownie" is probably the American with the most relevant experience for botched disaster response, so he oughtta know.
"But transportation issues are social-justice issues. The toll of bad transit policies and worse infrastructure—trains and buses that don’t run well and badly serve low-income neighborhoods, vehicular traffic that pollutes the environment and endangers the lives of cyclists and pedestrians—is borne disproportionately by black and brown communities."
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