<p>CNN is reporting that the MTA will shut down as of noon tomorrow, so those of you in , or headed to, NYC need to keep that in mind.</p>
<p>^^That is just what I heard from my DIL. Who lives in Brooklyn, in an area designated one of the “highest risk of flooding from ANY hurricane in the NYC area.” Oy.</p>
<p>Nice map here. There must be millions of people affected by potential flooding. </p>
<p>[WNYC</a> Map | NYC Hurricane Evacuation Zones](<a href=“http://project-s3.wnyc.org/news-maps/hurricane-zones/hurricane-zones.html]WNYC”>http://project-s3.wnyc.org/news-maps/hurricane-zones/hurricane-zones.html)</p>
<p>The [NYC</a> Mayor’s Office twitter updates](<a href=“http://twitter.com/#!/NYCMayorsOffice]NYC”>http://twitter.com/#!/NYCMayorsOffice) are helpful for anyone living in or planning to travel to NYC.</p>
<p>SodiumFree, you fussed that someone posted that all of MTA would be shutting down and that it was not true. It is true, surely the tweets are announcing this…</p>
<p>Everyone–I’ve lived in FL all my life and been through hurricanes. Unfortunately NY has such a large population that no matter how small the storm is the greater the impact it can have on your life (food, ice, power, transportation).<br>
Please get over the “my kid needs to move in” mode and just stay safe. Honestly, think about the worst case scenario–we weren’t there the first day of school vs glad I’m not there at all.</p>
<p>sunnyflorida, the shutting down of the MTA had not been announced at the time of my post, and was not true then. I was also “fussing” about the statement that all of NYC would be evacuated, which was and still is wildly inaccurate. </p>
<p>Since my post, yes, as other people have noted and as the official cites I gave now indicate, public transportation will start shutting down at noon tomorrow, and a mandatory evacuation has been ordered for Zone A, which is about 250,000 people.</p>
<p>It was never my intention to downplay the seriousness of the situation. I just think it is important not to spread rumors, and to have official cites to back up statements that people might rely on.</p>
<p>ETA: Zone A areas are spread throughout all five boroughs, so it is not as if 250,000 thousand people have to leave one concentrated area all at once. As another poster noted, moving to safety could easily involve walking a few blocks. If my area (in a Zone B) is ordered to evacuate, I could walk to a shelter in about 15 minutes, or to my brother’s apartment in about 30 minutes. </p>
<p>Again, I am NOT saying this is not serious, but I also think it’s important not to panic.</p>
<p>The eastern portion of the US surely has had its share of nasty weather over the last year.</p>
<p>
I completely agree with you, but I think the MTA information started coming out before you posted. Its website isn’t always the most up-to-date, believe it or not. Often the newspaper websites get the information from the MTA’s press releases onto their websites before it does. So by the time you posted, that information had already been disseminated by reputable news organizations. Mandatory evacuation will certainly not be for the entire city, but there will be a lot of people being evacuated in real numbers. I’m told that the MTA and the Port Authority will be closing all bridges into and out of my borough tomorrow afternoon, as well. The ferry, of course, will stop running.</p>
<p>Haverford College switched move-in day originally scheduled for Sunday up to Friday and Saturday and is strongly urging all returning students to get back to campus early if possible. They’re planning to start classes as scheduled on Monday. Delta Airlines canceled my D’s Sunday am flight into Philadelphia and moved her up to a Saturday am flight. It may be raining by the time she arrives in Philadelphia late Saturday morning, but the worst of it isn’t expected until Sunday. </p>
<p>Check for other airline flight cancellations. From the NYC evacuation map it looks like both LaGuardia and JFK are in flood zones but not in mandatory evacuation zones. I wouldn’t necessarily count on those Monday flights, either, if there’s a lot of flooding. Might be wise to do what Haverford is doing and push thing up, rather than back. The aftermath of a hurricane can be a big mess that doesn’t just disappear in a day. The reason they’re closing the NYC subway is fear of flooding in subway tunnels. If the tunnels flood, it might be a long time before service is fully restored.</p>
<p>Posted in the music majors thread: Colleges and universities are very slow to move, especially during both unexpected and expected natural disasters. As parent of a (then sophomore) student who barely got out of New Orleans during Katrina…I say go with your gut as to whether or not the situation at your school will be safe. Don’t wait for directions from administration. Students should have their own personal,specific evacuation plan. D was in her apartment trying to find out what her school suggested. Officially she was directed to the Superdome. She called her voice teacher and she told her just to get the hell OUT and do not go to the football stadium at any cost. Well we all know what occurred at the Superdome and (incidentally) days later D’s apartment was under 10 feet of water. Good luck to everyone. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.</p>
<p>I’m moving into Amherst tomorrow and my best friend is heading to NYU. Amherst is allowing students to move in earlier or later. Some are already in their dorm rooms right now. Also, from the maps I’ve seen Irene isn’t supposed to hit until Sunday afternoon?? So maybe we will have the “calm before the storm” during scheduled move in (9-12 on Sunday morn.) I don’t know how my friends fight Sunday morning to LaGuardia is going to work out though :/</p>
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<p>I can believe that. Sorry, I did not mean to come off as cranky or fussy. I think because this most likely will affect me (we are just a few minutes walk from a Zone A area!), it is just really important to me to have accurate info. So “they say” statements make me nervous, because it’s hard to know who “they” are and whether what “they” are saying is accurate. But if the source of the info is given, that is a big help.</p>
<p>Thanks for your info about the MTA plans being announced earlier by the news organizations.</p>
<p>
The center of the storm will hit Amherst around noon-ish on Sunday. </p>
<p>But the rain and winds can stretch out hundreds of miles from the center, and affect you hours before the center gets there. Currently, the hurricane-force wind speed line (74+ mph) appears to be about 75 miles out from the center, and the tropical storm force wind speed line is out at around 250 miles from the center.</p>
<p>The “good” news, maybe, for Amherst is that the majority of the models have shifted the path east by a bit, so Amherst will be to the west of the center. This means less wind and more rain.</p>
<p>
I’ve worked very closely with the MTA on some projects over the last bunch of years and I’ve come to learn that it is such an unwieldly organization that it just can’t move very fast. My husband also works for the city, so they get teletypes before even the news organizations! My personal observation is that the Daily News is usually first, followed by the Times, the Post, NY1, Fox (local) and finally the MTA’s website.</p>
<p>I am no expert, but I have lived in Florida for most of my life. I have experienced many hurricanes, including Andrew, Erin, Frances, Jean, Ivan, Charley and Wilma.</p>
<p>I am uneasy about everyone trying to get to their destination and move in EARLY rather than late. You really don’t want to get your kid there before the storm, only to have no power, no water, little food, and a college or U with little experience in dealing with flooding, storm damage, and lack of power, running water, and sewer services. The storm may bounce off the coast and not really hit land, it may veer off east, and it may hit major metropolitan areas hard. It is a LARGE storm, and it will have wind impact hundreds of miles from the eye. It will also bring an enormous amount of water with it up to a thousand miles from any shoreline. </p>
<p>The schools will understand if students arrive late. And if the school has no services such as power or water or sewer, they may send student BACK HOME. </p>
<p>This might be a terrible disruption. It may be no more than a hassle. But just understand that you do not want to be in any hurry to get to the areas that will be be potentially affected. It is not about getting there and getting moved in. You might be sending your kids into harms way. And even if the harm is only no power or running water, it will impact access to food, showers, and even flushing toilets. </p>
<p>Just consider waiting until after the storm “blows over” to send or take a student to school.</p>
<p>DITTO DITTO DITTO to Sunnyflorida!</p>
<p>Bates finally posted this afternoon and bolded that their top priority is that all kids arrive safely. Kids arriving late will get to go out on trips just might not be the one they signed up for. With kids trying to get to all the NE colleges from all over the country and internationally there are going to lots of late arrivals everywhere. JFK/Boston/Philly are going to shut down well before the worst hits as the airlines don’t want there planes stranded. And no school wants anyone to drive through a hurricane to get there. </p>
<p>Now all I have to fret over is the possibility that the big trees in my yard might crashed through the house.</p>
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<p>Me too.</p>
<p>I don’t have a student moving anywhere, but stay safe everyone. That has to be everyone’s top priority.</p>
<p>For those in the NYC metro area, my DH just called as while it hasn’t been announced yet they are going to start closing down highways, the NYState thruway, bridges, etc., starting at 9 am tomorrow morning. They want to make sure no one is on the roads by early afternoon. The thruway north from the Tappen Zee to Albany may be kept open a little longer but that too while eventually be closed.</p>
<p>emilybee, I really don’t understand that. How are those evacuating supposed to leave the city then?</p>