6:10am – fell asleep around midnight to the sound of sirens and gusts of wind (which were gradually growing quieter). Awoke this morning to quiet: no sirens, no wind gusts. The power is still out but I’m able to get online with my phone at this time without difficulty.

Got a text from a friend: “Just read something online about a geographically targeted emergency text system. Probably what you received. It knows where your phone is.”

I’m in the back side of an apartment building on the ground floor, and just out my windows there is a small patio area with other tall buildings just beyond. So, it’s unusually dark and quiet where I live. I’ve found this to be a nice feature in a Manhattan living space…up until last night, that is, when I really wanted to be able to look outside to see what was going on. All I could see out my window was the flicking of candles and flashlight beams in the building across the patio. I definitely wasn’t about to head outside, however, particularly after receiving the emergency text.

I’m curious what I heard directly after the power went out last night. I called it a foghorn but it was more like a vuvuzela – those stadium horns that became famous in the last World Cup.