Dennis Mouras ties down a canopy on his home near the ocean in Ship Bottom, NJ today. (AP)
Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned New Yorkers that approaching Hurricane Sandy poses serious risks to the city, despite relatively mild conditions tomorrow that may fall short of expectations on the eve of a “superstorm”
“Don’t get lulled tomorrow when there’s not a lot of rain and not a lot of wind,” Bloomberg said at a press conference this evening. “This is a dangerous storm … It could do a lot of damage.”
The mayor said no evacuations have been ordered and that decisions whether to shut down the city’s mass-transit system or schools would be put off until at least Sunday. He said all city offices are scheduled to remain open Monday and city employees should plan on going to work as normal.
The city is opening 65 shelters in public schools around the city to house New Yorkers — and their pets — who don’t feel safe in their homes; those will open at 9 a.m. Sunday.
Police have been put on extended hours, the Fire Department will send extra fire engines to Staten Island in case ferry service is suspended and bridges are closed, and all city parks will be closed at 5 p.m. Sunday, Bloomberg said.
COMPREHENSIVE STORM TRACKING AND COVERAGE AT MYFOXHURRICANE
Bloomberg urged residents to stay in their homes during the storm, and said those who planned to ride out the storm elsewhere stay in the city rather than fleeing upstate, where the damage is expected to be greater. He also had a stern warning for surfers who may be tempted to take advantage of surging waves.
“You may want to run the risk, but if we have to send out emergency workers after you, their lives will be at risk. You just don’t have to a right to do that to someone else,” the mayor said.
The Staten Island Ferry will be running as long as the wind stays below 45 knots, although riders should expect slower than normal service.
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have declared states of emergency as Hurricane Sandy barreled north from the Caribbean — where it left nearly five dozen dead — to meet two other powerful winter storms and create a hybrid superstorm.
Sandy weakened briefly to a tropical storm early today but was soon back up to Category 1 strength, packing 75 mph winds about 335 miles southeast of Charleston, S.C., as of 5 p.m. Experts said the storm was most likely to hit the southern New Jersey coastline by late Monday or early Tuesday.
Even if Sandy loses strength and makes landfall as something less than a hurricane, the combined superstorm was expected to bring misery to a huge section of the East. An 800-mile wide swath of the country could see 50 mph winds regardless of Sandy’s strength.
Experts said the storm could be wider and stronger than Irene, which caused more than $15 billion in damage, and could rival the worst East Coast storm on record. On Saturday morning, forecasters said hurricane-force winds of 75 mph could be felt 100 miles away from the storm’s center.
If New York City does halt mass transit, subways and buses would start phasing out service at 7 p.m. Sunday.
Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road would suspend service at 7 p.m. Sunday.
All customers leaving Sunday’s Jets game in New Jersey would be accommodated. But a special train from New Haven, Conn. to the Meadowlands has been canceled.
Suffolk County officials ordered a mandatory evacuation of Fire Island by 2 p.m. Sunday.
Mandatory evacuations were under way in southern New Jersey’s barrier islands, which people were ordered to leave by Sunday afternoon, and Christie ordered the evacuations of all Atlantic City casinos and said state parks would close.
“We should not underestimate the impact of this storm and not assume the predictions will be wrong,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said during a storm briefing Saturday in North Midletown, near the coast. “We have to be prepared for the worst.”
In Ship Bottom, NJ, Russ Linke was taking no chances Saturday. He and his wife secured the patio furniture, packed the bicycles into the pickup truck and headed off the island.
“I’ve been here since 1997, and I never even put my barbecue grill away during a storm, but I am taking this one seriously,” he said. “They say it might hit here; that’s about as serious as it can get.”
After Irene left millions without power, utilities were taking no chances and were lining up extra crews and tree-trimmers. Wind threatened to topple power lines, and trees that still have leaves could be weighed down by snow and fall over if the weight becomes too much.
Sandy was projected to hit the Atlantic Coast early Tuesday. As it turns back to the north and northwest and merges with colder air from a winter system, West Virginia and further west into eastern Ohio and southern Pennsylvania are expected to get snow. Forecasters were looking at the Delaware shore as the spot the storm will turn inland, bringing 10 inches of rain and extreme storm surges, said Louis Uccellini, environmental prediction director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Up to 2 feet of snow was predicted to fall on West Virginia, with lighter snow in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
5 REASONS WHY SANDY IS EXPECTED TO BE A SUPERSTORM:
1. A NORTHBOUND HURRICANE
Hurricane Sandy is moving very slowly toward the north-northeast and is expected to continue its current path parallel to the Carolinas over the weekend, forecasters say. At some point, it’s expected to become what’s known as an extratropical storm. Unlike a tropical system like a hurricane, which gets its power from warm ocean waters, extratropical systems are driven by temperature contrasts in the atmosphere. At some point, probably Monday, Sandy will begin to turn back toward the coast and eventually make landfall over Delaware or New Jersey.
Although Sandy is currently a hurricane, it’s important not to focus too much on its official category or its precise path. It’s a massive system that will affect a huge swath of the East Coast, regardless of exactly where it hits or its precise wind speed.
2. EARLY WINTER STORM
Sandy is expected to merge with a wintry system from the west, at which point it will become the powerful superstorm that has forecasters and officials all along the Eastern Seaboard on edge. One of the other systems is an early winter storm from the west — the product of a low pressure system. Winds from that system will pull Sandy back toward the US mainland.
3. ARCTIC AIR FROM THE NORTH
Frigid air coming south from Canada also is expected to collide with Sandy and the wintry storm from the west, creating a megastorm that is expected to park over the northeast for days. Forecasters are expecting residents from Florida to North Carolina to feel the peripheral effects. But the brunt of the storm will hit states farther north once Sandy collides with the winter storm and frigid air. Officials are bracing for the worst: nearly a foot of rain, high winds and up to 2 feet of snow.
4. HIGH TIDES COULD WORSEN FLOODING
Further complicating matters is the possibility for dangerous storm surges: A full moon means the tides will be higher than usual, which will make it easier for the storm’s powerful winds to push water into low-lying areas. That, coupled with the threat of several inches of rain, has officials working to shore up flood defenses.
5. COMBO OF SNOW, WIND INCREASES RISK FOR WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES
Storms in recent years have left hundreds of thousands of people along the East Coast without power, sometimes for days at a time. Utilities have been bringing in extra crews and lining up tree trimmers so they’re prepared, and with good reason. The superstorm brings two possibilities for knocking out electricity. For one, hurricane-force winds of at 74 mph could send tree branches into power lines, or even topple entire trees and power poles. Those left standing could succumb to snow, which could weigh down still-leafy branches enough to also topple trees.