Monday, October 29, 2012

Sandy Update #8: Power Outages, Flooding, 911 Use

Freeport,

At this point, evacuation is no longer possible.  That goes for everyone in the area.  At this point, just get to the top floor if you can, and make sure you ration food/water.  If it's not too late, and if you're at all worried about water, fill up your bath-tub.  Don't use elevators.

I'm watching Michael Bloomberg's press conference and he raised a really interesting point:  911 is not for things like downed trees.  Power lines is a grayer area since they can electrocute people, but general debris/flooding/fallen trees are not something you call 911 for.  911 is for emergencies.  Call the power company for power outages, and I would assume you call the Village in general for broken trees that block roads, etc.

Flooding:  It's being reported in the south, and the winds are pushing the water up the street.  This is what we, as Freeporters, have been born and bred to deal with, but it isn't easy.  It's going to be severe, some of the worst we've had in the past fifteen years.

POWER OUTAGE:  We've got reports coming in of a transformer fire near the CVS on Atlantic and Bayview, knocking out electricity to that area of the Village.  It seems like the outages are to the north and west.

Extending Cell-Phone Life:  Depending on your phone situation, you may or may not have a phone that works without electricity.  If you depend on a cell-phone and also have a laptop, my advice is to keep that laptop as charged as you can.  If you lose power, you can wait until your cell is low, then plug it into the laptop and let the laptop charge it back up.  That'll extend your ability to communicate by a half a day or more.

Finally, I'm getting a lot of flickers.  I've even had circuit resets.  This could be my last update for a while.  Be safe, take care of yourselves and each other.

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