Check Out This Strongly Worded Message From NOAA About Hurricane Sandy

This is a statement from NOAA for the Mount Holly area of New Jersey. Pretty much it’s a huge “I told you so” for anyone who refuses to heed warning. This was issued on Sunday, October 28th, warning you to actually consider the danger and think about your loved ones. The attitude in the 2nd note, which is listed under the Important Notes, is what really gets the point across.

It’s hard to feel strongly about something if you’re not, in someway, connected to it. So to connect you, here is a video feed (sound included) of some areas along the East Coast. You can even see a live video feed of Times Square in New York with almost no people in the picture.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
241 PM EDT SUN OCT 28 2012

...AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM TO IMPACT THE AREA...

SANDY IS EXPECTED TO SLAM INTO THE NEW JERSEY COAST LATER MONDAY 
NIGHT, BRINGING VERY HEAVY RAIN AND DAMAGING WINDS TO THE REGION. 
THE STORM IS A LARGE ONE, THEREFORE DO NOT FOCUS ON THE EXACT CENTER 
OF THE STORM AS ALL AREAS WILL HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS.

THIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE AN HISTORIC STORM, WITH WIDESPREAD WIND 
DAMAGE AND POWER OUTAGES, INLAND AND COASTAL FLOODING, AND MASSIVE 
BEACH EROSION. THE COMBINATION OF THE HEAVY RAIN AND PROLONGED WIND 
WILL CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR LONG LASTING POWER OUTAGES AND SERIOUS 
FLOODING. 

PREPARATIONS SHOULD BE WRAPPING UP AS CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO 
WORSEN TONIGHT AND ESPECIALLY ON MONDAY.

SOME IMPORTANT NOTES...

1. IF YOU ARE BEING ASKED TO EVACUATE A COASTAL LOCATION BY STATE 
AND LOCAL OFFICIALS, PLEASE DO SO.

2. IF YOU ARE RELUCTANT TO EVACUATE, AND YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO RODE 
OUT THE '62 STORM ON THE BARRIER ISLANDS, ASK THEM IF THEY COULD DO 
IT AGAIN.

3. IF YOU ARE RELUCTANT, THINK ABOUT YOUR LOVED ONES, THINK ABOUT 
THE EMERGENCY RESPONDERS WHO WILL BE UNABLE TO REACH YOU WHEN YOU 
MAKE THE PANICKED PHONE CALL TO BE RESCUED, THINK ABOUT THE 
RESCUE/RECOVERY TEAMS WHO WILL RESCUE YOU IF YOU ARE INJURED OR 
RECOVER YOUR REMAINS IF YOU DO NOT SURVIVE.

4. SANDY IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM. THERE WILL BE MAJOR 
PROPERTY DAMAGE, INJURIES ARE PROBABLY UNAVOIDABLE, BUT THE GOAL IS 
ZERO FATALITIES.

5. IF YOU THINK THE STORM IS OVER-HYPED AND EXAGGERATED, PLEASE ERR 
ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION.

WE WISH EVERYONE IN HARMS WAY ALL THE BEST. STAY SAFE!

$$

NWS MOUNT HOLLY, NJ

Here’s a satellite image of Hurricane Sandy…

Here’s the latest from the AP Wire…

Whether you call it Frankenstorm, Stormpocalypse or simply Hurricane Sandy, the giant weather system barreling up the East Coast is a favorite topic of conversation on social media from Facebook to Twitter. As people post updates to friends and family, relay emergency information and lighten the mood with humor, it’s clear that discussing natural disasters on social media has become as much a part of the experience as stocking up on bread and batteries.

As of early afternoon Monday, the hashtag Sandy had 233,000 photos on Instagram, the mobile photo-sharing service owned by Facebook. “Hurricanesandy,” meanwhile, had 100,000 photos and Frankenstorm had 20,000 and growing.

As they waited for the storm to hit over the weekend, people posted photos of hurricane-preparedness supplies ranging from canned goods to board games and bottles of wine. Empty grocery store shelves where bread should have been also showed up on Facebook and Instagram.

“There are now 10 pictures per second being posted with the hashtag sandy – most are images of people prepping for the storm and images of scenes outdoors, said Instagram CEO Kevin Systorm in an emailed statement. “I think this demonstrates how Instagram is quickly becoming a useful tool to see the world as it happens – especially for important world events like this.”

By Monday, dispatches about storm preparations gave way to messages of anticipation and real-time updates. Among U.S. users, the terms “Sandy”, “Hurricane Sandy” and “Hurricane” were the most-used terms on Facebook, followed by “stay safe” and “be safe.” In fact, all of the top 10 most-mentioned phrases on Facebook related to the storm in some way among U.S. users, the company said. “Power,” ”cold,” ”my friends” and “prayers” were also in the top 10.

To gauge how much its users are talking about a particular topic, Facebook uses a measurement tool it calls the “talk meter,” which ranks terms around a topic or event on a scale of 1 to 10. Tops that generate the most buzz receive a 10. As of Friday afternoon, Sandy-related chatter was at 7.12, the company said. In comparison, the San Francisco Giants World Series win on Sunday night measured at 6.71 on Facebook.

On Twitter, Frankenstorm, FEMA — for Federal Emergency Management Agency — and New Jersey were among the top trending topics in the United States. Forecasters expected the hurricane’s center to come ashore in southern New Jersey Monday evening.

Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley reminded his more than 53,000 Twitter followers to “ALWAYS BE CHARGING.” Millions of East Coasters could experience electric power and landline telephone outages. As a result, power-hungry smart phones, laptops and tablet computers may become only way to communicate.