Is this hurricane about to hit New York?

Joe wrote: Update from some friends in upstate NY and NH. Windy and rainy, short power outages of less than an hour, lots of tree branches down, not really too bad inland so far.

A friend's Northampton house is without power, so her husband and 5 of his friends are trying to eat everything perishable.

These are trying times…

Irene Sweeps Through New York

MTA Transportation Service
Remains Suspended
Subway, bus and rail service remains suspended as Hurricane Irene makes its way through the region. Do not attempt to travel on the MTA's public transportation network until further notice. Suspensions and restrictions are also in place at MTA bridges and tunnels (see service status on the left of this page).

The process of assessing the damage from the storm cannot safely begin until the storm passes locations around the MTA's 5,000-square-mile territory. Thousands of personnel and the necessary equipment have been positioned at key locations so that workers can begin this process as soon as conditions allow. In addition, Governor Cuomo has directed the National Guard to assist in the recovery efforts and helicopters will be provided to quickly assess damage.

There are already reports of flooding and down trees across the region, and the storm surge and heavy rains may cause additional widespread flooding, mudslides, washouts, fallen trees and downed power lines that wreak havoc on the MTA's signals, tracks, stations, under-river tunnels, catenary wires and other infrastructure. Restoration of service will be implemented as quickly as possible without compromising the safety of our customers, employees or equipment, but it is expected to be a lengthy process that will begin with damage assessment and could include significant repairs.

Source

Live feed of coverage from WABC TV in New York:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/livenow?id=7115498

NYC evacuation order to be lifted at 3 p.m., per Mayor Bloomberg.

Hurricane Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm Sunday with diminished winds and in some areas little rain, but officials warned the worst is yet to come in many cities where flooding along the Eastern Seaboard has become a major concern.

Full Article

New York City’s public transportation system remained paralyzed on Sunday afternoon even after Hurricane Irene moved away from the city, and the authorities expected a lengthy recovery that would most likely leave many commuters stranded on Monday morning.

Transit workers were still waiting for winds to die down before they could inspect the entire system. But an initial survey revealed flooded subway tracks, powerless commuter rail networks and fallen trees and branches that had rendered some rail routes impassable.

“You’re going to have a tough commute in the morning,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said at a news conference on Sunday at City Hall.

Full Article

MTA Assessing Storm Damage
MTA crews are reporting widespread impacts following Hurricane Irene, including track and yard flooding, downed trees and power outages across our region. We are moving as quickly as possible to restore service while ensuring the safety of our customers, employees and equipment. Determinations about the timing of restoration of services will be made after assessments are complete and in consultation with the Governor and Mayor.

These conditions are affecting different parts of the transportation network in different ways. Low-lying yards and depots where trains and buses were removed were flooded. It will take time to get equipment back into position and personnel in place. In some parts of our system, especially heavily flooded areas outside of New York City, restoration of service may be a lengthier process. Our assessment and recovery efforts are being assisted by Governor Cuomo's allocation of National Guard members.

Full Article

But, but....

Vice Lord wrote: You watch- They'll be running just fine for tommarows (sic) rush hour...Mark my words..Rush hour will go off without even the slightest hitch tommaro (sic) morning.

Obama is going to speak at 5pm Eastern time, probably tell us what a great job he is doing on the Hurricane.

10 minutes to speech time.