patrick.net

elliemae says

It's really heartbreaking to see the headline about 40,000 people who have no power, with more winter weather on the way.

I think it's much more than that. In NJ, I'm pretty sure the number is in the hundreds of thousands. Same in Long Island and NYC

A guy I worked with at Sun left to join a company that was founded on math showing that it's actually cheaper to generate electricity locally via natural gas than from buying electricity from the electric company -- if you have more than, say, 100 people using it.

And probably more reliable too.

it's actually cheaper to generate electricity locally via natural gas than from buying electricity from the electric company -- if you have more than, say, 100 people using it.

The Bloom Box operates on that principle:

http://www.bloomenergy.com/

But in a hurricane, gas lines can become an even bigger hazard than electric lines. Some areas in New Jersey had to shut off gas because it was causing fires and burning houses down.

Eventually home solar should become more economical, though it depends on subsidies currently.

elliemae says

40,000 people who have no power

It's a good argument for more localized power generation.

Dependencies on centralized sources of anything are risky. Centralized sources are often cheaper because of economies of scale, but they leave you vulnerable.

by localized, do you mean generated at your house or in town. Outside of home generated power, everyone woulda went down. Literally, the powerlines on everyone's street got taken out.

I mean, say, one block or so. About 100 people.

Solar wouldn't help unless you have battery backup. By law, inverters need to be "non-islanding". When power goes out, they don't function. Reason being is if somone with a solar system were pumping electric back onto an otherwise dead line, the utility guy working on it could get zapped.

My contacts in NYC / NY / NJ metro say that there are still over a million without power.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/11/power_restored_to_1_million_si.html#incart_river

Call it Crazy says

Wait... don't tell me... did you actually move to Scotch Plains????

No--Westfield

EastCoastBubbleBoy says

Solar wouldn't help unless you have battery backup. By law, inverters need to be "non-islanding". When power goes out, they don't function. Reason being is if somone with a solar system were pumping electric back onto an otherwise dead line, the utility guy working on it could get zapped.

Ummm, that's why you trip your main breaker so you won't backfeed. Anyway, I'm guessing that with the amount of cloud cover we have had lately and typically do after storms a solar array would have only generated enough power to light a few CFL's.

Call it Crazy says

Unfortunately, the majority of solar power systems being "sold" by the solar used car salesman are grid-tied only

Are too stupid to switch off their main breaker???

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/20015067/plea-for-underwear-on-staten-island

Plea for underwear on Staten Island

Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro says the people of his community are in desperate need of fresh underwear.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/11/06/sandy-gas-woes-continue-people-trading-gas-for-sex-on-craigslist/

Sandy Gas Woes Continue: People Trading Gas For Sex On Craigslist

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Cops-New-York-man-filled-buckets-with-gas-in-4008927.php

Cops: New York man filled 30 buckets with gas in Conn.

I thought how this guy prepared for the storm was interesting:

Before:

Creative!

Family on the Jersey Shore just got their power back on Day 10.

I live in Japan and they were all telling me to move back home after the earthquake a year and a half ago. I'm thinking of inviting them out here!

the guy with the gas buckets got the idea from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

Call it Crazy says

Nah, I think that's how all the rednecks park their "weekend" car.. (while waiting for parts to fix it).

I was thinking that Nissan was his winter beater.

Condition of Atlantic City boardwalk post hurricane Sandy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vou3KqjLL8Q

It only shows the tourist area.

Call it Crazy says

I didn't see any cats??

As fast as they were traveling down the boardwalk I am not surprised. I'll be doing my own cat finding expedition in AC in December and will report back them. Supposedly the cats are still there.

That sucks. The rest of the country forgets that natural disasters (and unnatural ones as well) affect the victims for years. People are still displaced from Katrina, the Missouri tornadoes, etc.

From what I can tell from before and after photos, among other things, there is a lot of beach replenishment to be done in NJ.

Call it Crazy says

For those of you who think Sandy was a economic non-issue, here's report from just ONE county in NJ... there are many counties involved in NJ and NY....

Ocean County faces economic crisis post-Sandy

TOMS RIVER — An estimated $33 billion worth of taxable real estate in Ocean County has sustained catastrophic damage or been obliterated in superstorm Sandy, according to the Board of Freeholders.

“It is a catastrophe for those towns, it is a huge problem for the rest of the county, because the (ocean) beach is a third of the county’s tax base,” said Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr., director of finance on the five-member, all-Republican committee. “From Point Pleasant to Beach Haven, it is roughly 1/3 of the value of the entire county and a lot of that has been destroyed.”

There is the problem, the beachfront is 1/3 of the value of the entire county but only at best 2-3% of the land thanks to federal flood insurance. Without it the area would not be nearly as built up or as valuable. Your tax dollars supporting millionaires homes on the beaches.

Just got back from Atlantic City, and from what I could tell, the beach erosion was by far the most prominent difference. The beach bars were damaged as well, but it really didn't look like anything major once they are dug out. The beach replenishment that has occurred over the past year or so has been wiped out, and the beach pretty much looks exactly the same as it was before the beach replenishment (as in badly in need of beach replenishment, again).

I don't know how empty Atlantic City normally is on a Thursday night in December, but it was emptier than I have ever seen it (I had not been there in the winter before). There were no lines for anything, except at hotel checkout. The boardwalk had places that were boarded up for the storm and most likely just left that way for the season, but otherwise looked undamaged. It was cold, but above freezing but I'm guessing that the boardwalk was as thinly populated as it was because it was extremely windy.

I did feed some of the boardwalk cats. Specifically this one: