Why Not?

When The Levee Breaks:

And, at 9:29AM, we’re in the eye and the sun is shining.

Update, 9:48AM: Con Ed power outage map for the city.

Update 11:17AM: No rain, but the wind has really picked up. To repeat something I said in the comments, areas with hard-rock streams north and west of the city are getting real flooding from the rain. B^4 emailed me some pictures that don’t look fun.

Update 11:49AM: It’s windy but actually quite clear below the low clouds:

And, from a friend in England: “Startling insight from the BBC’s on-the-spot Laura Trevelyan: ‘You can see why the mayor made the New York subway system shut down, because the subway system is right below the ground level in New York.’  Guess that’s the kind of dead-eye analytical shrewdness that made the beeb what it is today.”

Update 1:50PM: Still windy, still cloudy, no rain. I’m listening to Mayor Mike’s latest press conference, and it occurs to me that he believes in, and is making the argument for, comprehensive government services. The various city agencies involved, the Office of Emergency Management, and state agencies (like the MTA) have planned for problems, were expected to be present and act professionally, and did their jobs. Evacuation was largely handled by public transit to publicly-provided shelters.

Fuck the invisible hand and privatization.