Hurricane Troubles

A hurricane is threatening the East Coast, causing storms this weekend and making landfall about Monday. This may mean power outages that could last for hours or days, depending on the severity of the winds, and the priorities of the repair crews should there be a lot of damage to the power grid. As a few SL Newser reporters are in it's path, including the editor, there is the possibility the SL Newser will stop updating, aside from what was uploaded ahead of time, for a short time.

Check out weather.com, or other sources of information on the latest.  For a look at weather in Second Life, check out NOAA Virtual Weather (2011 article).

Book Island Holds Charity Event for Hurricane Sandy Victim

Book Island recently held a "Charity Trivia Contest" for a Second Life resident whom was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. The event was mentioned in a group announcement as hosted by Dedee Longfall, "Help Rain Weather the Storm."

We'll be hosting this event at our studio and we'd like to invite all of you and your friends to come over for an hour.  The event is for a lovely SL kitty and talented RL woman, Rain Ninetails, who lost everything in Hurricane Sandy.    There'll be plenty of off the wall trivia for an hour AND you can win prizes too!  Rain has  been a long time SL builder and much beloved member of the Trivia community in-world. Please stop by and join us for a bit of laughter, friendly competition, and a chance to help out an SL neighbor.  All donations go STRAIGHT to Rain :-)

Dropping by the event, there were about a dozen avatars over. The donation jar had over 110,000 Lindens at the time, or over 400 US dollars. All the while, Dede read out the trivia questions, in which the winners got prizes, "Back when stagecoaches existed as the pinnacle of transport, the seat immediately next to the driver was reserved for individuals acting as a guard. Such a strategic spot allowed the protectors to better ward off any bandits attempting to loot passengers." "Shotgun." "Shotgun!" "Shotgun!" "Riding shotgun  As engineering marched on into motor vehicles, the vernacular designation for the coveted spot stayed the same."

The tip jar will remain at Book Island, "it will stay here for the week. I'll put it on the dock." The event was held at Book Island (133, 2, 24)

A few other locations have held Hurricane Sandy benefits. Even World of Warcraft is getting into the act with plans to offer a "fire kitten" for sale with a promise the cash goes to relief efforts.

Bixyl Shuftan

Reporter Grease Coakes Temporarily Out of Action

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, a number in the area hit by the storm are still unable to access the Internet, sometimes from lack of power. Among them, Grease Coakes, who emailed us from a library, saying he still didn't have Internet at his house.

On another note, Xymbers Slade, whom has been taking a break, recently informed SL Newser that some real life problems have come up that will demand his full attention for some time. So he has been given an indefinite leave of absence.

Hopefully both will be able to write again soon.

Both Grease and Xymbers (and others) had tangles with a hurricane last year with Irene.

SL Enquirer: The Perfect Storm to Administer a Smackdown to the Northeast

 A Superstorm named Sandy is being tracked as it makes landfall in Virginia, bringing heavy rain and wind. it is expected to turn back inland overnight towards regions of New York, New jersey, New England and well into Northeastern Pennsylvania; directly in my path!  Ahhhhhhh!
 The perfect storm as it is being called by weather watchers has already prompted New York City to shut down subway and transit systems ahead of the storm. Schools within it’s path have made their cancellations, low level land and coastal regions are also being evacuated at this time.  Electricity outages are estimated to be in the millions during this historical storm! 

Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, reported, “An extremely rare and dangerous storm will turn in from the Atlantic, affecting 60 million people in its path and could lead to billions of dollars in damage”.“ Hurricane Sandy remains on track to become a historical storm for the mid-Atlantic and southern New England with New Jersey and New York City bracing for very dangerous conditions and catastrophic damage.The impact from Sandy will reach hundreds of miles from the center of landfall, including areas well inland and well ahead of the storm's landfall Monday night”.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/updates-sandys-catastrophic-im/746423


Read Lanai's full story Here.

The "Frankenstorm"

Just as when the East Coast in the United States is looking forward to Halloween comes a scare from Mother Nature. Usually hurricanes don't come this way after Labor Day, so it was a surprise when Hurricane Sandy began heading this way. To make matters worse, it's expected to merge with a cold front system. This collision of a tropical storm and the cold front has been described as a "perfect storm." Coming so close to Halloween, it was dubbed "The Frankenstorm" by some.

High winds and flooding are expected, and exactly where the worst will be is not clear due to the unpredictable nature of hurricanes. Power could potentially be out for days in places. A few SL Newser writers, including the Editor, are in it's path. So there is the potential of updates being down for a few days.

Check out weather.com, or other sources of information on the latest. 

For a look at weather in Second Life, check out NOAA Virtual Weather (2011 article).

Bixyl Shuftan