Sandy boost surf, surfing

Posted at: 10/30/2012 4:19 AM
By: Associated Press | WHEC.com

Hurricane Sandy didn't just drive heavy wind, rain and waves into the East Coast. It also drove loads of people to the internet.

There was a big "storm surge" of internet surfers who went online to track the huge weather system's movement. One site which saw a huge spike was The Weather Channel. It streamed its TV feed on its own website as well as on YouTube. And it paid off, drawing its biggest audience ever - 200 million page views as of yesterday evening.

The storm not only knocked down some structures, it blew away the paywall some news sites set up. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Baltimore Sun all allowed Internet surfers full access to their sites - so people who don't pay were able to get the latest news.

Meanwhile the storm also produced a run on a site for those who wanted no part of storm coverage. Netflix reports video streaming was up 20 percent compared to last Monday, with most of the added traffic coming from the New York, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston areas.

A Netflix spokeswoman says there were a lot of children's titles streamed - mainly because schools along much of the east coast are closed because of Sandy.

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