The online buzz about Hurricane Irene and commercial buildings

One could track Irene’s path up the East Coast by following comments on Twitter from people in the eye of the storm to those still waiting for its arrival. People used social media sites to post warnings, concerns and bits of information, from local road closings to the number of people affected by power outages.

More directly relevant to commercial real estate, in the last 3 days, our CREOpoint data-mining tool identified 152 relevant online posts. As expected the most mentioned market was New York City. Others included (in order of occurrences): North Carolina, Long Island, Washington, New Jersey, Florida and Connecticut.

More Information

Jim Rosenbluth, MD Crisis Management at Cushman & Wakefield and Frank Williams, Executive MD of Colliers International Project Management Group were the most mentioned CRE professionals (Mayor Bloomberg was the most present personality online, followed by President Obama and NJ Governor Chris Christie).

Damage, power, flooding, winds and evacuation were the most used words. “Banks” were also a highly used word but one has to be vigilant in data mining given the different meanings (banks in lower Manhattan, river banks, “Outer Banks” in the Carolinas). Interestingly there was not much discussion about insurance, roofs or windows...

Core Facts

Here's some sample posts before the storm hit: “New York’s GDP is about 1/10 the US GDP — so if much of the city were to become dysfunctional for months, the damage to the global economies would be almost incalculable. The property value of NY City real estate, meanwhile, is estimated to be about $800 billion, and property damage represents only a portion of the overall economic loss that might be incurred from a catastrophic hurricane.”
“At the 1 World Trade Center site where workers are racing to finish the 9/11 memorial plaza, contractors were ordered to tie down loose debris, cover electrical equipment, store tools and secure netting. Crews also were preparing to use pumps and sandbags to control flooding”
The Building Owners and Managers Association recommended in its check-list that “landlords fasten or remove all loose material; secure roof-mounted equipment such as flashings, roof vents and cooling units; secure on-site cranes against high winds; and clean out all drains and catch basins.” It also suggested they “set up Twitter accounts and Facebook pages for emergency information.”
Yesterday Sunday Aug 28th afternoon I read more cynical posts on Twitter such as: - “Hurricane Irene is Category 1. CNN hype is Category 4” - "We just broke the world record for talking about the weather, congratulations everybody!"
Today, CREOpoint's data mining shows that the buzz is naturally about the aftermath: - "Irene: Wet, deadline and expensive, but no monster" - "Insurers: storm might have been worse"
"Mostly a storm of hype (Hurricane forecasters acknowledged that they did not quite call the storm right. The threat from its storm surge, which officials had once worried might turn Manhattan into Atlantis, was epitomized by television news reports showing small waves lapping over reporters' feet.")
"Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, whose offices in New York’s evacuation zone escaped major damage, are among Wall Street banks that have resumed business today Monday as exchanges also reopened. Employees still face a gauntlet getting there….”

Quotes

"It’s the calm after the storm as the sun is shining outside the windows in my home office north of New York City this Monday August 29, 2011. The freeways are flooded and I can't take the train to my Manhattan office. However not everyone made it out of Irene’s path so easily: across the Eastern Seaboard, millions of people are without power. At least 25 people have lost their lives. We’re looking at estimated economic damages of $7+ billion."

JC Goldenstein, CREOpoint CEO and CREObuzz™ Founder

"My thoughts are with all of you who were affected by Irene. Hopefully, damage and loss in your area are minimal. Please do let me know how you are doing"

JC Goldenstein, CREOpoint CEO and CREObuzz™ Founder