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Hurricane Sandy: The calm before the storm
Although experts predicted late last week that Hurricane Sandy’s whip would be felt by Sunday afternoon, weather in the New York area stayed relatively calm over the weekend with light rain and increasing tides the only noticeable foretaste of the storm to come.
As of 6 a.m. this morning in the JFK area of Queens, a light rain, a strong breeze and an unfamiliar silence were the only things that suggested that something wicked was coming our way.
Residents have scoured local stores for water, flashlights and food and the roads are empty of the usual morning traffic.
The city is effectively shuttered. Subways and buses are not running. The New York Stock Exchange is closed. Schools, both public and private, are closed for the day. Museums and attractions are closed and even Broadway will be dark tonight. People are being encouraged to stay at home, although Mayor Michael Bloomberg stressed that that edict did not include municipal workers at his press conference on Sunday morning.
Bloomberg’s mandatory evacuation of Zone A, low-lying areas near water, is mostly being heeded. Some residents in these areas, which include the Rockaways near JFK and Coney Island have been filmed by news crews saying they would be riding out the storm. The city has set up group shelters and is telling the public that pets are welcome, too.
With all our hatches effectively battened down, New Yorkers are sitting with their morning coffee and waiting, unfazed as usual, for the show to begin.
by Gretchen Kelly
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