East coast weather

Thank you, Mike, and I hope and pray for the same. Northern Westchester County, NY, where I live, largely dodged a bullet.

I was going to post a related subject: How best to protect basement layouts and trains from floods and excessive moisture. This could include sump pumps, French drains and a dehumidifier, all of which I have, and possibly other things.

Water came through my below grade window behind the layout.  Looks like some scenery will have to be replaced.  Can't assess until floor is cleaned and dried.  Could have been much worse but piwer stayed on and sump pump performed well.  Time to install a battery backup.

Got a little crazy here in Staten Island  9 inches of rain

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Thank you, Mike, and I hope and pray for the same. Northern Westchester County, NY, where I live, largely dodged a bullet.

I was going to post a related subject: How best to protect basement layouts and trains from floods and excessive moisture. This could include sump pumps, French drains and a dehumidifier, all of which I have, and possibly other things.

My friend Greg had all of those in hurricane sandy   He even had styrofoam under the layout to float the whole thing  Unfortunately the water filled the whole basement and part of the first floor  The layout was pinned to the ceiling

I dont know if you guys remember Mark Spadaro   He lives in Rockaway and went through the same thing  He saw box cars floating on his first floor  Just saw him last week and he is starting to get back into trains after a long layoff

@mike g. posted:

Hi all, just wanted to let you know I just seen all the bad flooding and weather out there. I am praying for you and your family's!

I hope your trains were off the floor?

Thanks Mike....in Yonkers NY....heavy rain-high wind-flooding-threat of tornado...just another day in the empire state...Semper Fi   joe krasko USN LCCA 17199

Route 1 off of 295 was flooded out. Could barely see the median, I had to take alternate route.

I appreciate Ben’s comments, and, truthfully, I can absolutely feel for those who’ve had their homes and cars flooded. Sandy was a gut wrenching experience, BUT, I lost only stuff. Stuff can be replaced. Six of my neighbors died directly due to Sandy! One can always rebuild. Family members cannot be replaced. Back then, many on this forum, essentially spearheaded by Ben, offered trains and money for me and others affected by Sandy. I’d like to suggest we start a go fund me for current members who lost their cars, basements, trains, contents of their garages, etc..

This one was ugly all over.  Streets flooded around the corner from me with a couple cars floating in them, and then there's this from my neighbor!

@bluelinec4 posted:

Got a little crazy here in Staten Island  9 inches of rain

Look at that!  Jaws is swimming down the street!

Jon

Yeah, just not good. My one coworker had seen a woman walking in a bit of a daze. He asked her if she was okay, told him that her grandfather and two children were in the car and pointed back to it. Water was just coming up the door before the window. Her brother showed up he said, and the two of them got the kids and the grandfather out of the car to safety. That was yesterday evening some time. Some real scary *$&+ out there. Yeah, I censored myself, but needed to out it into perspective. I think it had said a bit ago on my phone that 8 people between NY & NJ lost their lives. Seeing some of the footage, I know that is going to get to a worse number.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

This one was ugly all over.  Streets flooded around the corner from me with a couple cars floating in them, and then there's this from my neighbor!

Your neighbor forgot the flex seal.

Pete

This past May, I had routine inspection of my plumbing and it was suggested I replace the sump pump, which I did. Glad I did. Trains are in the basement.  No damage with Ida. There were a few small areas of basement  ponding of about an inch as the French drains were over-worked and they went down when the rain lessened. I had expected future storms and I consequently put my stored train possessions on top of cinderblocks and wood planks in containers. I also have a generator as back-up. Lesson:  I am happy my area of SE PA did not receive a direct hit of the wind from the hurricane, but that is no guarantee for the future, as wind may cause a power outage and my sump pump goes. The issue with the generator is that extra gas may not be available if there is a wide-area power outage. We lost power four days with Hurricane Sandy in 2012, but I had enough gas by going to Tamaqua, PA outside of the affected area, about 75 miles away. There are now digital generators, which are powered by the natural gas line into the house and are tied into the electrical box. They go on immediately if there is a power failure.  And there is flood insurance, but that is expensive. Clearly, this is a new era. I never had to worry about "once in a 200-year storm" occurring more frequently. I have been into trains my whole life. Never have I felt so vulnerable.  Mark

4.5 inches in Southwick Mass.  I live on a sand pit of a town, figuratively and in reality.  It could rain 20 inches and it will never flood here.   My daughter who's in Brooklyn has to go to work for the first time in a year and half.  With the subways in chaos I don't see how.

Stay safe everyone.

@KOOLjock1 posted:

Look at that!  Jaws is swimming down the street!

Jon

Only one barrell   We have to get him a few more times  LOL

@Norton posted:

Your neighbor forgot the flex seal.

Pete

That may not have been enough.

@bluelinec4 posted:

Only one barrell   We have to get him a few more times  LOL

You think that's 'funny' - my wife is from New Orleans and has many family members still living in New Orleans, Metairie and Baton Rouge.  Check out this video of a dolphin in a residential neighborhood the other day:

https://www.wdsu.com/article/w...rricane-ida/37433989

Never say never!

-Greg

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

I appreciate Ben’s comments, and, truthfully, I can absolutely feel for those who’ve had their homes and cars flooded. Sandy was a gut wrenching experience, BUT, I lost only stuff. Stuff can be replaced. Six of my neighbors died directly due to Sandy! One can always rebuild. Family members cannot be replaced. Back then, many on this forum, essentially spearheaded by Ben, offered trains and money for me and others affected by Sandy. I’d like to suggest we start a go fund me for current members who lost their cars, basements, trains, contents of their garages, etc..

Mark, that was a great thing Ben and others did.

Replying to Mike's initial question.  Those of us north of Pittsburgh only had moderate rain.  There was a lot of rain south and east of Pittsburgh causing a lot of flooding and water in basements.

Best wishes to everyone with damages. Keep the faith. 

A quick 7 inches of rain at my northwestern NJ home .... but all good at my house on the side of the hill. . Rivers will be cresting/overflowing later.

Taking a break from work now to work on my little layout and relax. Thankful, but thinking of others.

Tornado came through southern NJ. No one hurt or injured ... tornado warning came at dinner time ... people had time to go to basement.  Many storm deaths around the state, however. We don't see this kinda stuff. Fourth tropical system to come to NJ this summer. Unheard of.

Hope this bad boy doesn't hit the US ... big and powerful ...

@bluelinec4 posted:

Only one barrell   We have to get him a few more times  LOL

I get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

South central PA here - we got hammered with 6+ inches of rain.  Third highest single day record. 

My basement was okay, 1 little bunny rabbit got trapped in the basement egress well and nearly drowned.  Mrs. Z did her best to save it but it died overnight.

Only way in and out of work right now is through the flood access road which takes us over the NS mainline heading into Harrisburg from the south. WE have to coordinate with NS to ask for a slow order and set up flagging for automobiles since its an unprotected crossing.

Here's the water in the area.  This leads into the Susquehanna.

Usually you can drive right up to the base of the railroad bridge pier seen here.  I would say there's usually about 3 more courses of stone visible plus a couple feet of dirt above the normal surface of the water.

I realize in the post above you can't see the RR bridge.

I live in Brooklyn Heights, NYC, which is on a hill overlooking the NY harbor—and the basement of my building flooded. Water couldn't drain off fast enough.

Coverage from Gothamist:

https://gothamist.com/news/lea...verwhelms-nyc-region

Where I am (near Morristown) we had about 6" but didn't experience any ill effects. My sump pump was going, but it handled it fine. I live in a supposed once in a hundred year flood plain, so we don't have that kind of issue with water. However we have a high water table, everyone has french drains and sump pumps pretty much because of that. Flood insurance doesn't cover if your basement floods because of high water table and let's say you lose power, they only cover external flooding, like from a river or something.

You can get separate insurance to cover stuff in the basement on your homeowners, I hear it is pretty expensive (the federal flood insurance isn't cheap either, I live in a once in a hundred year flood plane, which pretty much means 0 risk, and it like 600 a year).  Been around these parts a long time and it is definitely getting screwy with the weather, this is like the 4th storm this year with tornado warnings and touchdowns,  in the past you literally almost never saw them, might see once every 10 years and usually the warning didn't pan out.

I have a standalone backup generator for my pump that can last a while running gasoline and where I live when we lose power we usually get it back in a day or so, but the way things are going, I think I will prioritize an automatic standby generator running on natural gas. FWIW, as an alternative you can get portable generators that run on natural gas, propane or gasoline (tri fuel) that you could run off natural gas in the house (would require getting a plumber to drop a natural gas line you could connect to) and use that to run the pump if you have natural gas available in your house, beats gasoline or propane especially if it is an extended outage.

@bigkid posted:

FWIW, as an alternative you can get portable generators that run on natural gas, propane or gasoline (tri fuel) that you could run off natural gas in the house (would require getting a plumber to drop a natural gas line you could connect to) and use that to run the pump if you have natural gas available in your house, beats gasoline or propane especially if it is an extended outage.

No natural gas in my neighborhood yet, but I installed a tri-fuel kit on my portable generator anyway (easy job) and keep a supply of BBQ propane tanks on hand, and rotate through them grilling and stuff. Easier and safer than gasoline. (Propane derates the generator a bit, but not much)

I agree with you ... maybe it's time for automatic standby generator, when they do run gas mains on my street. Especially as my wife and I age.

I feel for you guys. My brother-in-law lives outside of New Orleans, in a very nice wooded neighborhood. Had a tree fall on his house and opened 2 holes. Fortunately, he and a neighbor were able to put a tarp and plywood over the holes, about 3 ft by 4 ft, and prevented a lot of damage to the inside of the home.

As for us in Northern California, we would love to have half of the rain you guys are getting - no let me rephrase that - ALL the rain you are getting.

Some of us who are attempting to conserve water, flush only every 4 days, shower once a week (reminds me of when I was a kid back in the 50's) and letting our grass turn brown! And don't even think about washing your cars.

RAY

Although here in northeastern Massachusetts, we were warned by the Weather Bureau to expect heavy rain last night into today the cities along the Merrimack River received about 3 inches last night and the sun came out about 9:30 AM. My wife and I went across the border into New Hampshire to have breakfast with 3 friends and to do some shopping at a supermarket and we saw no noticeable puddles, both on the road and off it.

Same her just north of Boston - lots of dire predictions yesterday, but none of it materialized. 

Ray: Your water conservation techniques sound a little like those of some of the more 'interesting' characters you see at train shows.......in all seriousness, I wish the rains would come there, nothing really to joke about......

@Ray of sunshine posted:

As for us in Northern California, we would love to have half of the rain you guys are getting - no let me rephrase that - ALL the rain you are getting.

Some of us who are attempting to conserve water, flush only every 4 days, shower once a week (reminds me of when I was a kid back in the 50's) and letting our grass turn brown! And don't even think about washing your cars.

RAY

As I sat in my living room near Mobile (150 mi east of N.O.), being grateful that this one decided to not hit us (we had Sally last year - not as bad, but bad enough), and listening to the torrential rains from one of Ida's feeder bands pounding my roof (I got 6" in 36 hrs; many got more), I was watching the news, showing them fighting the fires in California, being thankful that I don't live in that part of the world, and wishing that some of this rain could be piped out there. I tell 'ya - not many fires could stand up to these sheets of water. You might even get a few of our gators out of it.

It does keep things nice and green, though.

Not too bad in my area of northeast PA, (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton). There are 3 creeks that run through Ashley, and all 3 breached their banks. Minor road flooding, trapping those of us who live in a section surrounded by 2 of these creeks. Basements flooded, and sewer backups were the main issues. State bridge inspectors were out this morning checking the bridges that span the creeks. One section of roadway leading to a Walmart warehouse buckled trapping vehicles above the area where the road was damaged. Crews were out to do repairs, but not sure how long it will take. All creeks have reseeded, and roads are clear, except for one road in a low-lying area where a large creek had a major overflow. No reported damage to any Rail lines in the area.

After many years of water problems in one residence or another I bought a house at the top of a hill. If I get flood waters in my house the houses across the street will be under water. Which will indicate a much bigger problem. Behind those houses the ground slopes down pretty quickly. If anything we would get wind damage but so far, no worries  (knock on wood).

My heart goes out to anyone with water in their home. It has happened to me numerous times and I very much understand the heartache and the loss it causes.

Frank

I live in the SF Bay Area.  We wish that we could get just some of the rain that you are experiencing.  We don't want it all at once.  That causes mud slides and other issues.  My trains are in the attic since there are almost no basements in CA houses.  Attics have their train issues but at least they usually stay dry.  I really feel for those of you experiencing all the flooding.  

CA needs a lot of snow in the mountains.  Snow acts as a reservoir and provides a measured amount of water year around as it melts during the summer.  This usually prevents serious flooding.  Our rivers do have large flood plains and there have been major major floods in the inland cities such as Sacramento.  Sacramento and other cities are protected by high seawalls.    

Isn't it always the case that there is too much water where it is not needed and not enough where it is really needed.  NH Joe

Any report on the NJ Highrailer's layout?

The west coast is high and dry. Lakes out there are drying up. Maybe we should build a pipe line. It could run it from the east coast to the west coast. Every time we get hit with all this rain, maybe we could pipe it to the west coast.

@jim sutter posted:

The west coast is high and dry. Lakes out there are drying up. Maybe we should build a pipe line. It could run it from the east coast to the west coast. Every time we get hit with all this rain, maybe we could pipe it to the west coast.

Remember, the earth has the same amount of water as it has had for generations, it just gets moved around.

@dkdkrd posted:

Any report on the NJ Highrailer's layout?

NJHR is on the second (or third) floor, so flooding unlikely. Roof and/or window leaks???

After reading all the post, I am glad to hear everyone is doing ok. A little water here and there. I seen on the news tonight that there were several deaths from the floods.

I live in White Plains, and we got over 9 inches of rain, It was unbelievable. Basement had alot of water, but the trains are high up. Metro North still is not running and probably will not for a couple of more days. No Amtrak service either..it is crazy.