Crisis Mode
I usually reserve this blog for kid stuffs, but since this will be read by the kids one day, I want to make sure that I note important events for them, as well.
Where were you when Sandy hit? That will be the stuff that conversations will be made of for years.
So, where was I? I was at home. Almond Drive. Holding down the fort as Miss Sandy barrelled towards the Jersey Coast. Throughout the day, I would open the blinds, just to check the progress. The kids were wondering what was going on, and I tried to explain as best as I could. A big storm is coming, and it's going to be dangerous. Little did I know how big and how dangerous it would be.
The rain slowed down at about mid afternoon. Thank goodness there wasn't more of it, or else we would have had more problems than we would have known how to deal with. I say "we", and I mean my state. My beautiful Garden State. When one of us is down, we all are. And, man, are we down right about now...
Anyway, I'm losing focus. Once the rain slowed, the wind picked up. By nightfall, there had to be gusts of 70-80 miles an hour and this was supposedly just the beginning. My power utilities run underground so I was fortunate enough to not lose power. All of the areas surrounding me, however, were not so lucky. I remember looking outside at one point and what I saw was a night ski lit up in various shades of blue. Transformers exploding EVERYWHERE. I remember hearing the scraping of aluminum very loudly. Turns out, it was the gutters of a few of the units here, just flailing in the wind. Trees toppled over. Telephone polls, Street lights...they were tossed around like toothpicks. I remember watching helplessly, the TV broadcasts of my Jersey Shore. A shore that will now be completely changed. It's devastating, and sickening.
The next morning brought light to all of the destruction. HUGE oak, willow, and pine trees were uprooted. Power lines down everywhere. It looked like a warzone. And we were the lucky ones! Entire shore towns are gone. Houses have disappeared. Boats were tossed around like rag dolls. The most haunting images that I've seen are of beloved shore sights: Casino Pier, Point Pleasant Boardwalk, the AC Coastline. It's unfathomable. I can only imagine how daunting it must be to actually see it in person, for it knocks the wind out of me just seeing it on TV or online.
The Red Cross is here. The President visited. FEMA is helping out. There have been evacuees, and the National Guard, and looting. This is happening here. In New Jersey. My state. It's hard to comprehend, and to be honest, as I sit here 6 days later, I'm still having trouble understanding the devastation of it all. We are having to ration gas due to many shortages. 6 days later, people are still without power. It's just hard to wrap my head around.
It wasn't just NJ. All up and down the East Coast, Sandy unleashed her fury. NYC went dark. It was underwater. The images of water flowing into the subway...haunting. It looked like a movie. Staten Island. Poor Staten Island. Last I heard, they were still pulling dead bodies out of houses.
Whereas the magnitude wasn't nearly the same, this is our Katrina. It's our Katrina in the sense that we will be talking about this forever. It's going to take a long, long time to rebuild. But rebuild we will. We have to. We have no choice. We are New Jersey! We are down, but we certainly aren't out. We are a crass bunch. A stubborn group of people. We can be aggressive at times, and we may not always be the friendliest. But we are tough, and we are resilient and we are strong. JerseyStrong, to be exact. And with our backs to the walls, we are going to come out swinging, so watch out!
The beautiful Jersey Shore
To my state. I love you! We got this!!!
Where were you when Sandy hit? That will be the stuff that conversations will be made of for years.
So, where was I? I was at home. Almond Drive. Holding down the fort as Miss Sandy barrelled towards the Jersey Coast. Throughout the day, I would open the blinds, just to check the progress. The kids were wondering what was going on, and I tried to explain as best as I could. A big storm is coming, and it's going to be dangerous. Little did I know how big and how dangerous it would be.
The rain slowed down at about mid afternoon. Thank goodness there wasn't more of it, or else we would have had more problems than we would have known how to deal with. I say "we", and I mean my state. My beautiful Garden State. When one of us is down, we all are. And, man, are we down right about now...
Anyway, I'm losing focus. Once the rain slowed, the wind picked up. By nightfall, there had to be gusts of 70-80 miles an hour and this was supposedly just the beginning. My power utilities run underground so I was fortunate enough to not lose power. All of the areas surrounding me, however, were not so lucky. I remember looking outside at one point and what I saw was a night ski lit up in various shades of blue. Transformers exploding EVERYWHERE. I remember hearing the scraping of aluminum very loudly. Turns out, it was the gutters of a few of the units here, just flailing in the wind. Trees toppled over. Telephone polls, Street lights...they were tossed around like toothpicks. I remember watching helplessly, the TV broadcasts of my Jersey Shore. A shore that will now be completely changed. It's devastating, and sickening.
The next morning brought light to all of the destruction. HUGE oak, willow, and pine trees were uprooted. Power lines down everywhere. It looked like a warzone. And we were the lucky ones! Entire shore towns are gone. Houses have disappeared. Boats were tossed around like rag dolls. The most haunting images that I've seen are of beloved shore sights: Casino Pier, Point Pleasant Boardwalk, the AC Coastline. It's unfathomable. I can only imagine how daunting it must be to actually see it in person, for it knocks the wind out of me just seeing it on TV or online.
The Red Cross is here. The President visited. FEMA is helping out. There have been evacuees, and the National Guard, and looting. This is happening here. In New Jersey. My state. It's hard to comprehend, and to be honest, as I sit here 6 days later, I'm still having trouble understanding the devastation of it all. We are having to ration gas due to many shortages. 6 days later, people are still without power. It's just hard to wrap my head around.
It wasn't just NJ. All up and down the East Coast, Sandy unleashed her fury. NYC went dark. It was underwater. The images of water flowing into the subway...haunting. It looked like a movie. Staten Island. Poor Staten Island. Last I heard, they were still pulling dead bodies out of houses.
Whereas the magnitude wasn't nearly the same, this is our Katrina. It's our Katrina in the sense that we will be talking about this forever. It's going to take a long, long time to rebuild. But rebuild we will. We have to. We have no choice. We are New Jersey! We are down, but we certainly aren't out. We are a crass bunch. A stubborn group of people. We can be aggressive at times, and we may not always be the friendliest. But we are tough, and we are resilient and we are strong. JerseyStrong, to be exact. And with our backs to the walls, we are going to come out swinging, so watch out!
The beautiful Jersey Shore
To my state. I love you! We got this!!!
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