iradiophilly | News - Frankenstorm Sandy (Hurricane) hitting Philadelphia; Update Emergency Closures PA NJ DE

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Frankenstorm Sandy (Hurricane) hitting Philadelphia; Update Emergency Closures PA NJ DE

by: iradioal - Philadelphia, PA
started: 10/29/12 11:58 pm | updated: 10/30/12 12:02 am

Hurricane Sandy has now made landfall near Atlantic City in South Jersey. It is currently moving slowly across Southern New Jersey and will move up into Central Pennsylvania over the next day. Sandy has now become a post-tropical cyclone, it is no longer a hurricane by definition. However, don't be fooled, it still is packing winds of 85 mph at its center. Some are now calling it Superstorm Sandy.

This storm had been nicknamed â€œFrankenstormâ€ by many because of the pre-Halloween timing, but also because of how it was predicted to change. It became a hybrid storm. The cold front moving in from the west and a blocking high pressure off the coast interacted with Sandy and morphed the storm from a tropical Hurricane into an extratropical Nor'Easter. A large low pressure system moving in from the west has merged with the hurricane as it came close to shore. The change in type of storm occured because tropical systems get their energy by extracting heat from the ocean, while winter-type Nor'Easter's draw strength from temperature differences along fronts.

It is expected to bring high winds, heavy rain, widespread flooding, high coastal storm surge, and numerous power outages across the entire Philadelphia region, South Jersey, and Delaware. The worst of the high winds and rain will continue throughout the night into Tuesday morning. The heaviest rain will fall to points south of Philadelphia, but high winds will be felt throughout the region as the center moves through. This storm will be slow to move out of the area, continuing through Tuesday and lingering into Wednesday.

Mayor Michael Nutter has declared a State of Emergency in Philadelphia until Tuesday at 5pm. Nutter joined a conference call Sunday with various governors and mayors led by President Obama who assured that he would act quickly in provided help to the regions that will be affected. FEMA is also readying their aid. They've pre-classified Philadelphia as a Category 1 Hurricane zone. President Obama has already signed the State of Emergency declarations for Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The declarations will allow officials in each state to request federal funding and other assistance for actions taken in advance of the huge storm.

Philadelphia School District and Archdiocesan Schools will be closed again on Tuesday. The City of Philadelphia will also remain closed on Tuesday.

SEPTA service will also be suspended on Tuesday morning. They will start to assess the system in the morning and may or may not be able to restore service by the afternoon.

Free parking at PPA meters and kiosks will continue until Wednesday morning.

US Airways has canceled all flights at Philadelphia International airport on Tuesday. All other flights in and out of PHL have also been canceled for tomorrow.
Call your airline or check phl.org for the status of your flight.

Amtrak service along the Northeast Corridor remains suspended for Tuesday. amtrak.com/alerts

All highways around Philadelphia are closed 7pm â€“ 2am. That includes 476, 76, 676, 95, and Route 1. Also, DRPA bridges including Commodore Barry, Walt Whitman, Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross will be closed until 4 a.m. when they'll open to cars. Trucks and motorcycles will still be banned.

Wawa has announced that it will be closing stores in NJ, PA, DE, and MD tonight starting at 5 pm. For a list of closed stores: Wawa Statement

If you need anything during the storm in Philadelphia use the 311 system. Ask questions, report down trees and wires, clogged drains, etc. Leave 911 for emergency fire, police, and ambulance. All non-emergency calls should be sent to 311:
Twitter: @philly311 E-mail: philly311@phila.gov Phone: 311 Web: http://www.phila.gov/311/

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has already issued a State of Disaster Emergency in Pennsylvania. PECO has upped their staff by hundreds getting ready deal with massive power outages caused by high winds and falling trees/branches. PPL, PSE&G, and Atlantic Electric have also brought in extra crews from all around the country to deal with the widespread power outages. The Red Cross is prepared to serve. They have supplies such as water, cots, food, etc. in the event they need to open shelters. They can care for 26,000 people.

There have been record numbers of power outages. As of 11 pm on Monday, PECO had over 400,000 customers without power.

New Jersey has taken the brunt of the storm so far. Governor Chris Christie enacted a State of Emergency on Saturday and called for mandatory evacuations of the barrier islands from Sandy Hook to Cape May on Sunday. Many people did not leave however. He admonished those in Atlantic City and others on the barrier islands for not evacuating. He called out the Mayor of AC for encouraging residents to use a shelter in Atlantic City instead of evacuating. Brigantine also ordered people to stop evacuating earlier Monday. Now those cities are under water. Christie said that rescue operations will have to cease for the night. Those who chose to stay will have to hunker down and wait until the morning.

Most of the Jersey shore towns are experiencing heavy surf, high winds, and massive flooding. A 4-8 foot storm surge is combining with a full moon high tide tonight to create record flooding. Atlantic City is under water and larges parts of the Boardwalk have been washed away. Reports from all over the shore show that flooding and power outages are a major problem.

New Jersey Transit and PATCO service will remain suspended on Tuesday.

Delaware is also experiencing the same high surf and shore flooding along the coast. Delaware has also had most of the heavy rains throughout the day. Governor Jack Markell has ordered â€œLevel Twoâ€ driving restrictions in the state of Delaware beginning at 5 a.m. on Monday until further notice. That means that only essential personnel necessary to maintain the core functions of the government, health, and safety are allowed out on the roads. A first offense is $115 fine. DART service will be suspended again on Tuesday.

In New York City, they are experiencing flooding due to near record storm surge. Con-Ed preventively shut down power in Lower Manhattan to prevent damage to the electrical grid from the floods. Transit was suspended throughout the city, especially in case of subway flooding. Wall Street has also been affected. Nasdaq and NYSE were closed on Monday. They will be closed again on Tuesday. The trading floor of the NYSE is NOT flooded as rumored, however this will be the first 2 day weather related closure of the markets since 1888.

We can all expect some more rain with sustained winds over 50 miles an hour and gust up to 70 mph in some places over the next several hours. The most important thing to remember, now that the storm is here, Stay at home! Do not venture out unless it is an emergency.