Hurricane #Irene in Brooklyn Heights Open Thread

By on August 26, 2011 1:05 pm in Weather

Leave your comments here regarding Hurricane Irene including any damage, hazards, closings or other relevant information you may have. Link to any photos, video you may have (if URL is long please use bit.ly or other shortening service).

For example, if you’re trying to find a flashlight and batteries Bruno’s on Court Street appears to be the only ones we’ve seen smart enough to stock up.

How are you preparing? Where do you think the wind and rain will pose the biggest threat? Do you remember the last big NYC hurricanes?

Brooklyn Heights this afternoon, waiting for Irene. Photo by M. Hermann/BHB

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  • El

    Looks like it’s official that the MTA is shutting down at noon tomorrow. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/27/nyregion/new-york-city-begins-evacuations-before-hurricane.html

  • Joe2: The Joe-ening

    I tried to stock up on C-cell batteries at the CVS on Henry last night. They were picked clean. Same with bottled water, though I was able to get one of the last cases.

  • Atlantically

    Looks like Zone A just got a mandatory evacuation.

  • http://www.youtube.com/goaliegal31 Beatlesgirl31

    My poor dog is going to have a hell of a time going “out” this weekend. Everyone with dogs, be smart!

  • Anon

    @Beatlesgirl: time to stock up on wee-wee pads!

  • lcd

    Anyone (Heather??) know if the Art of Brooklyn film/art festival at St. Francis will be on tomorrow??

  • Clintonious Wow

    As of an hour ago, Bruno’s was out of flashlights except little teeny tiny ones for your keychain.

  • Teddy

    I don’t expect the power to go out (didn’t go out during hurricane Gloria). However, cable and telephone may be another story.

  • Xyz

    Anyone on Columbia place planning on evacuating?

  • bklyn20

    Home depot on 23rd St in Manhattan is out of flashlights as of 6 pm. PATHETIC!

  • Y

    Smart people picked up flashlights and water when they saw it coming and didnt wait till the last 24 hours before. It has been talked about for days. Stuff doesnt just magically appear on shelves. there is just no way that 100’s of Home Depots along the East Coast can stock up excessive goods all at the same time.

  • Just A Neighbor

    Fruit bowl residents: Staying or Going?

  • Lee

    Can anyone explain why a NYC resident who lives below the 6th floor would need to purchase water for an emergency? Doesn’t gravity bring water up that high without electricity?

  • bklyn20

    Dear Y, I actually do have flashlights and batteries at home already; camping, scouting, etc. make them a necessity. All the storm hype (or possible hype) made me want to get more. Home Depot should have the buying power to seriously load up on these kinds of supplies, and presumably the store management has also been hearing about Irene for days, too!

    Yes, there is NO bread at Key Food on Montague. It looked like a GUM store in Moscow pre-glasnost. They are closing at 11:00 tomorrow (Sat) and the Starbucks on Montague is closing for the entire weekend. I think the Court & Joralemon Starbucks will close for the weekend as well. The thinking is that since employees might not be able to get home on the subway before the trains stop at 12:00 noon, it’s unfair to bring the employees in on Saturday at all. The neighborhood will have to get its caffeine the old-fashioned way.

  • Andrew Porter

    Lee, our wonderful water system is gravity fed, so unless you live above the 8th floor or maybe higher, the water will continue to flow. No electricity involved, except in taller buildings.

    I explained to a coupla people that I’d just bought an electric chainsaw that used 80 AA batteries. Some believed me.

  • Y

    My dear bklyn20,

    Indeed they should have the buying power. I overheard the following conversation of the store manager when I was @ Home Depot two days ago: “Hello, am I speaking to the flashlight manufacturing plant in China? I would like to order 4000 flashlights. …. Pause…. What do you mean they need 6 weeks to get to NYC from China? Can’t you just overnight them?”…

    Having the buying power doesnt mean there will be miracles to suddenly produce large quantities of goods within 24 hrs to be delivered to your doorstep. I understand we live in the USA and are a total service society, but then we should not really be worried about power outages either.

  • David on Middagh

    I can’t believe so many people don’t own a flashlight already.

  • Lee

    Thanks, Andrew. I thought it was the 6th floor but 8th makes sense. Someone suggested that the reservoirs and rivers could be contaminated in the storm-debris, pollutants, etc and that NYC water is unfiltered. If that’s the case I would assume any major upstate storm would create potability issues.

    I’ll bet all those batteries were heavy :)

  • x

    When do you think MTA services will be restored?

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Any idiot who doesn’t have a flashlight and basic needs at the ready at any time deserves what comes to them.

  • AEB

    To counter hysteria, the following shows that there’s only a 10% probability of hurricane-strength winds reaching NYC:

    http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/091823.shtml?hwind012?#contents

  • AEB
  • Livingston

    Kudo’s to Trader Joe’s. The staff worked all night re-stocking the shelves and re-opened at 6AM for customers. I was there at 7:45 to get a few last minute things (probably overkill) and they had plenty of everything. The lines were not as crazy as yesterday. They are closing at 10AM.

    EXCELLENT customer service and seriously responsive management & operations!

  • Bette

    The wind is probably the least of our worries! Flooded streets and flooded subway lines might make travel impossible for a few days (Remember, it’s a subway “SYSTEM” – meaning even if YOUR subway stop is fine, it will be affected by lines miles and miles away).

    Even a 20 mph wind could knock down our old trees, into power lines, causing power outtages or crushing cars parked on the street. Flooded streets could make it difficult for crews to make repairs even if it’s a lovely, calm, sunny day on Monday.

    Stores will be closed if subway lines are flooded because personnel can’t travel. Food will spoil in your refrigerator if the power goes out and elevators will not work if you live on a high floor. Air conditioning won’t work (also hard-driven rain may find its way into your apartment through your air conditioner so maybe good idea to wrap those babies in plastic). OMG – the TV won’t work!!

    Basements (apartment building storage units and car garages) might flood. I know ours on Henry Street is a prime candidate.

    So to scoff at the prospect of wind ripping roofs off and blowing out ones’ windows is totally legitimate – that seems completely unlikely! – but keep in mind that lots of rain, delivered quickly and steadily can be a huge problem with days of consequences.

  • Rubix

    If power does go out, keep the fridge closed. If it isn’t opened (not even once) it can maintain the temperature for 2 – 4 days, depending on how full it is. If you have ice in the freezer, or frozen things that won’t spoil if they defrost (think vodka, not chicken), pop that in the fridge on the top shelf as soon as the power goes out. Prop a chair on front of it so no one opens it, and everything should still be cold enough to keep from spoiling, if power is restored within 3 days or so.

  • x

    My 3rd floor neighbor from across the yard still hasn’t gotten rid of her balcony items yet.

    They will all end up being projectiles tonight and tomorrow.

  • Alanna

    I have water, canned food, 3 flashlights, Bread, etc. I should be fine.

    However…are there any food/convenience stores open later than 12pm in our neighborhood? Just in case?

  • AEB

    OK, here’s the Weather Channel’s prediction for the next two days:

    http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Brooklyn+NY+11201

    Note that the hurricane has been downgraded to a tropical storm and that wind estimates for the next two days are 36-48 MPH.

    So, turn off the TV weather reports and breathe!

  • AEB

    Alanna, Peas and Pickles.My sense is that the guys there will sleep on the premises before allowing the store to close.

  • Alanna

    Thanks AEB!

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