PSA: Prepare for Sandy
Whatever Sandy is – a tropical storm, hurricane, post-tropical cyclone, or Frankenstorm – we know this: Sandy is heading our way and the next few days could be a total mess.
Philadelphia will likely see high winds (occasionally gusting to hurricane force) and long periods of heavy rain (5-10 inches) from Sunday evening through Tuesday. The worst of it is likely to be overnight on Monday into Tuesday morning.
Philadelphia is under a State of Emergency.
Mayor Nutter declared a State of Emergency for the city starting at 5pm on Sunday. He recommended that residents of flood prone neighborhoods evacuate Sunday by 2pm and that the rest of us shelter in place. (Here’s video of the Mayor’s press conference.)
Stay informed: Sign up for the city’s Community Alert System.
To stay up to date on emergency information, sign up for ReadyNotifyPA‘s Community Alert System for updates. You can also text PHILA to 411-911 to sign up. You can als follow the Office of Emergency Management on twitter @PhilaOEM.
The city’s list of flood-prone zones includes:
- Kelly, Lincoln andMartin Luther King Drives
- Eastwick
- Cobbs Creek
- Manayunk
- River Road
- Delaware Avenue
- Philadelphia Naval Base
- Linden Avenue at the Delaware River
- Pennypack, Poquessing, Tacony, Frankford and Wissahickon Creeks
Three emergency shelters will be open at 4pm Sunday:
- West Philadelphia High School, 4901 Chestnut Street
- Roxborough High School, 6498 Ridge Avenue
- Samuel Fels High School, 5500 Langdon Street
NOTE: Each of these shelters is pet-friendly. Don’t leave your pets behind.
SEPTA has cancelled all service effective 12:30am.
Don’t expect to get anywhere using SEPTA after the end of normal service Sunday night. SEPTA announced that after about 12:30am, all SEPTA service will be suspended until further notice. Stay put or head out on foot.
Parking meters will be free through Wednesday.
The Parking Authority will ticket for public-safety parking violations, but meters will be free through Wednesday morning.
Philadelphia Public Schools will be closed Monday.
For up-to-date schools information call 215-400-INFO (4636).
Before the rain sets in, be a good neighbor:
- Check the storm drains on your block.If you see that the gutters or drains are blocked by leaves or trash, clear them to help prevent street flooding. If there’s a badly blocked sewer drain, call 311 early on Monday morning.
- During heavy rain, don’t run water if you don’t have to. Do not run the dishwasher, take long showers, or do the laundry. Philly’s sewer system combines household waste water with water from storm drains. If we get half an inch of rain the combined sewer system is at capacity, and that means untreated combined runoff and sewage make their way right into the rivers. We could get 5-10 inches of rain. So don’t put extra stress on the system or the rivers.
- Secure loose patio furniture, trash cans, plants, bikes, etc.
Be safe out there folks.
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