Courtesy of Larry Doyle.
As I sit here this morning waiting for an unwelcome visit from a bitch named Sandy, winds are picking up outside but overall there is an eerie sense of silence.
The storm is expected to make landfall later tonight in southern New Jersey but she has a wingspan that runs from the lower Mid-Atlantic all the way throughout New England. As such, this bitch is being compared to The Great Hurricane of 1938.
That storm, also known as The Long Island Express, devastated coastal communities due to an unprecedented storm surge. This bitch is forecast to have a storm surge along Long Island, Metro New York City, and southern Connecticut of potentially 11 feet, which would be comparable to that seen back in ’38 and approximately three times greater than the surge experienced by Hurricane Irene in 2011.
The winds from Sandy are not forecast to be as strong as those experienced back in 1938. We hope the winds miraculously die down and spare us even greater devastation. That said, sustained winds of 80 mph certainly can pack a wallop and cause tremendous destruction.
Lower Manhattan and coastal communities are under evacuation orders. The NYSE is closed today and I would expect it will be tomorrow as well. What might happen with the New York City subway system and power grid in the face of massive flooding is anybody’s guess.
In terms of our Presidential election, Sandy will certainly dampen early voting and likely overall turnout. The election is clearly important for our future but currently is off the radar screen and runs a distant second place to the safety and well being of our fellow citizens impacted by Sandy.
Please offer a prayer and a blessing for everybody up and down the eastern seaboard.
Larry Doyle
