Super Storm Shenanigans
Hopatcong, NJ was hit by Hurricane Sandy on October 29th, 2012.
My grandfather was evacuated from LBI on the 26th, my sister was evacuated from Atlantic City on the 27th.
Day 1: Monday, 10.29
heavy rain, winds gusting to 80mph, flooding
The state of NJ was already closed down, so I showered, dressed in warm layers, and tried to get my internet fix in before the storm made landfall (which it did around 6:30, 7pm). We lost power at 8 or 9 that night due to winds gusting at 80 mph. It wasn't so bad, especially since we--thankfully--had no trees fall in our yard. My sister in law (who lives right next to us) had a tree fall and take out her front porch. My parents, who live in the same town, but on the other side of the lake had a tree take down their power, phone and cable lines and block them into the driveway (thankfully missing the car).
Fast forward to the next morning:
Day 2: Tuesday, 10.30
light rain in the am, winds gusting up to 30mph
We were prepared. We had canned goods, and had evacuated our refrigerator contents to a generator run fridge. We have a fire place, and we had stocked up on wood. We had car chargers, flashlights, candles, batteries...the works. However, we were trapped in our block; trees were down blocking our access to main roads. And the main roads were blocked, too, with live wires and trees that people were actually attempting to drive under. The town High School (which both my fiancee and I graduated from) is the only school in the area with a Solar Initiative (they are 90% solar), so it became the Red Cross Disaster Relief Center, run by the volunteer organization CERT. But, since most of our devices were charged, and the fireplace was warm, we hung out at home, cooking various things like waffles and hotdogs over the fire. Still no check in from Grandpa or my sister.
Day 3: Wednesday, Samhain/Halloween, 10.31
cold, windy
They cancelled Halloween! No trick-or-treaking until Monday! I mean, yeah, safety issues, but how sad. I heard they handed out candy to the kids who are staying at the High School (I don't know if I mentioned it, but they offer 24/hour housing, hot meals, the showers, and some entertainment. It's the closest aid shelter, so it's PACKED, and offering medical rooms for the disabled kids and people who were on respirators and such.)
By now, the novelty of no power was wearing off. Joe and I moved into the living room, setting up the air mattress and, like, 50 blankets in front of the fireplace to keep warm over night. We also had discovered ways to cook hotpockets over the fire (it's amazing what you will resort to for a hot meal).
The radio was saying that people were fighting over gas and supplies since 90% of the gas stations were still out of power and gas...and I was pretty much done. I'm all for the zombie apocalypse, but that's because most of the population would be shambling masses, not mobs of usually (maybe) rational people who think that knives and guns and threatening families is the best way to get gas. And that night, I even had to check in on my parents: people were stealing gas from cars and generators from houses. Stupidity.
No check in from Grandpa, but my sister is ok. Her apartment appears to be completely gone, though.
Day 4: Thursday, 11.1
clear, cold
And I needed to shower--no more boiling water on a camp stove because a) it takes forever and then cools too quick and b) it takes forever, thus using up the propane in the camp stove. So Joe and I trekked to the high school around 3 pm to shower. It was weird enough being back in the gym locker room (I even managed to get my old locker), but weirder realizing that I couldn't shower without walking completely naked through a room of strangers. You see, the shower was set up as a room with no door and shower heads along the walls. Zero privacy. And you had to leave your towel in the adjoining room if you wanted it to stay dry. I'll leave out the embarrassing details, but let me tell you, I was not the only one having second thoughts about showering, realizing the circumstances. And the idea of a HOT WATER shower was better than modesty...or so I told myself. I'm not ashamed of my body, I work at it, but I don't think I'll ever be rushing into another group shower any time soon. I think people really need to change their view: us americans are fucking prudes. We treat nudity as something to be censored, avoided, and in situations like this, it really fucks with you.
By this time, my parents were cleared to cut down the tree blocking their street, and had hooked up their generator to the boiler and heating systems. Of course, after we had to do the public shower thing. Joe and I took a drive out to get McDonalds. We saw lines for gas stations that were miles long. One of my friends waited for 9+hours to get his tank filled. Thankfully, we drive a Scion which is good on gas, and had filled up completely before the storm hit. Also, my parents had given us a can of gas they had filled out in PA when they were picking up another generator. The McDonald's line was nearly as bad. So many people wanted a hot meal, and this little sprawl of stores was one of the few that had power--it was still nearly 20 minutes away from us. There were people that were running extension cords outside their houses with signs that said: 'We have power. Feel free to charge your phone'. People amaze me sometimes.
I wanted to get pictures of the damage and such, but with all the people swerving and driving like asses to get around debris, Joe couldn't slow down enough for my stupid ass camera to actually take recognizable pictures. ::shrug:: This is why I don't take pictures.
Found out the cell towers are running on batteries, which is why the signal sucks so bad, and why we can't get in touch with our Southern State relatives.
Day 5: Friday, 11.2
cold, clear
Joe was out of the house most of the day again, helping clear the fallen trees and chop them for firewood. I chilled in the car and watched Netflix all day, using the car charger to keep my phone charged and turning on the car as needed for heat. We had dinner at Joe's grandparents' house (which we have been doing since Tuesday because they have a line from their neighbor's generator to keep their fridge and heat), and played more Monopoly. Honestly, board games should be standard disaster supplies. Seriously.
Joe's dad (who lives right behind us...we live in a little cluster with Joe's dad, Joe's sister on the corner, and us behind his dad's house, but our yard intersects with...you know, we live in a cluster.) Anyway, Joe's dad got two generators: one for his parents' house, and one for his. Joe's dad ran lines to both Joe's sister's and our house. We could only plug in our fridge or A (as in ONE) light and/or charge something. But, light! Until 11:30pm!
We finally got a hold of my grandpa: he's fine. His house, however, was in one of the worst his parts of LBI (which is now 4 islands instead of 1). Many friends of mine down south have been able to check on their houses, but are unable to return. My grandfather can't make it to check on his house until they clear the boats off the highway. Boats. On the Highway.
Day 6: Saturday, 11.3
cold
It got COLD. Really, really cold. My parents insisted we come over, and we did to shower and warm up. It was awesome. We also picked up some other board games from them, to play at night. By now, 47% of Sussex County is still without power, and we found out that the entire GRID for Hopatcong went down: it will be a while before any power can be restored. There are also news reports that we're getting power company crews and vans shipped in from all over the country. Which is kinda awesome.
Also, today starts the gas restrictions: as of noon, if you have a license plate that ends in an odd number or a letter, you can only buy gas on odd days of the month; even number at the end, even day of the month. I'm so gloating that my parents can't keep bringing up the 70's gas shortage anymore: I've lived through it too.
Day 7: Sunday, 11.4
cold
Governor Christie made the power companies give a town by town estimate of when we will have power again. Today, 36% of Hopatcong is supposed to get power, with 6% more getting it on Monday, and the rest getting it by Wednesday. Hardest hit areas aren't expected to have power for another week to two weeks, and some coastal towns are going to be out indefinitely. I'm happy that the storm and it's damage is being taken seriously. I won't get political, but helping states when they are hit with disasters is a BIG thing, and I'm certainly taking it into consideration.
My grandfather's house may be alright, but his neighbor wasn't allowed to check on it--the National Guard will only let people with proof of residence onto the island, and they escort you to your house, and from your house.
Another chill night, dinner at Joe's Grandparents', and then went back home and watched netflix until Joe's dad turned off the generator.
Day 8: Monday, 11.5
cold
My other little sister had work today, so I went over to my parents' house early to shower while Joe fixed the fire place (it was starting to melt in places from constant use. Seriously, there has been a fire in that fireplace since Monday morning). I took her to work, and went back to the house, where Joe was showering, so we could go to the store and McDonalds again. My parents were home by now (they had driven into PA on a gas run), and we chatted for a bit before Joe and I headed out. At McDonalds, I was one of many there just for the free wifi (I have an addiction to facebook games. And Pokemon.). Joe left me there while he went grocery shopping, and then we went home.
It was a pretty routine and boring day. Joe went out to help with more storm cleanup, and I chilled with the cat.
And then we got power back.
It scared the fuck outta me! First the TV snapped on, then the printer, then the microwave beeped and the overhead light flicked on. 5:50pm. You could hear people screaming in joy. It was awesome. We were part of the 6% who got power! We celebrated by cooking with the microwave that night. It was so awesome. However, we didn't move back into the bed room because we didn't feel like having to undress and redress the mattresses.
The Aftermath
Day 9: Tuesday, 11.6
cold
Today we opened our home to anyone without power or heat to come and warm up.
My parents and Joe's mother still had no power, despite the fact the town center (which they are two minutes from) has power. So we took my youngest sister with us while we attempted to get to my doctors appointment in Sparta. However, we were soon thwarted: there were no passable roads out of town in that direction. Besides that, there were work crews blocking every road beyond those. We did get an excellent tour of the damage (the amount of trees down all over is staggering), and saw some horrible scenes of houses destroyed by the trees. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch, and then went to Walmart. We only needed new sheets (I wanted flannel sheets for the next time we lose power) and a new blanket, but we took a long walk around the store. All the candles were gone, all the flashlights, air mattresses, lanterns, cooking aids--everything was gone. The only full departments were the electronics, clothing and toys.
We got back home, and I went to start cleaning up the house, while my sister immersed herself in internet. My parents had her stay with us until 9:30 that night, because she was not taking the absence of power or internet well at all (she's autistic, and she has her set routine. This past week was hell for her). We had a Doctor Who marathon, and talked about the coming Nor'easter. We voted. We had a blast.
Day 10: Wednesday, 11.7
cold, snowing, winds gusting at 40mph
And this is why I continued this blog after we got power: we had a second storm hit us, which was supposed to bring down already weakened powerlines and trees. Many homes that took damage in the first storm would be getting more secondary damage from this one. 20% of Hopatcong is still without power or heat, and it's going to snow. My parents thankfully got power around 7pm, and it hasn't gone out yet.
Day 11, Thursday, 11.8
cold, ground is snow-covered, wind gusting at 20mph
We got 3 inches last night. By 2pm most of it was melting, and we have huge patches of green in our yard. However, people I know who had power have lost it again. There are people in town who had to sit through that storm with no heat or power to begin with. The worst is not over, and as we head deeper into November, and the colder weather starts, it's going to get really bad. Not only will work crews have to deal with ice and snow, but people who are already displaced might not be able to return to their homes for months. One of my friends had to move back in with her parents because her apartment complex will not be open for another 6 months.
The kids of Hopatcong won't have school till November 12th, and that's only if every person seeking aid at the shelter has gone home, and Halloween was completely cancelled.
I was very lucky: I was only without power and heat for 8 days and I had family with generators. There are hundreds of people in this town without power still, thousands across the states hit by Hurricane Sandy.
People still need help. I urge you to check out
Occupy Sandy Relief
Sandy Relief Online Donations
for ways you can still help out. The Red Cross does not take donations like canned goods and clothing, and honestly, we have those. What people need are things to cook on, hot food, blankets. And these things can't be shipped in, as that creates the problem of transporting it to disaster areas.
And thank you in advance :).
My grandfather was evacuated from LBI on the 26th, my sister was evacuated from Atlantic City on the 27th.
Day 1: Monday, 10.29
heavy rain, winds gusting to 80mph, flooding
The state of NJ was already closed down, so I showered, dressed in warm layers, and tried to get my internet fix in before the storm made landfall (which it did around 6:30, 7pm). We lost power at 8 or 9 that night due to winds gusting at 80 mph. It wasn't so bad, especially since we--thankfully--had no trees fall in our yard. My sister in law (who lives right next to us) had a tree fall and take out her front porch. My parents, who live in the same town, but on the other side of the lake had a tree take down their power, phone and cable lines and block them into the driveway (thankfully missing the car).
Fast forward to the next morning:
Day 2: Tuesday, 10.30
light rain in the am, winds gusting up to 30mph
We were prepared. We had canned goods, and had evacuated our refrigerator contents to a generator run fridge. We have a fire place, and we had stocked up on wood. We had car chargers, flashlights, candles, batteries...the works. However, we were trapped in our block; trees were down blocking our access to main roads. And the main roads were blocked, too, with live wires and trees that people were actually attempting to drive under. The town High School (which both my fiancee and I graduated from) is the only school in the area with a Solar Initiative (they are 90% solar), so it became the Red Cross Disaster Relief Center, run by the volunteer organization CERT. But, since most of our devices were charged, and the fireplace was warm, we hung out at home, cooking various things like waffles and hotdogs over the fire. Still no check in from Grandpa or my sister.
Day 3: Wednesday, Samhain/Halloween, 10.31
cold, windy
They cancelled Halloween! No trick-or-treaking until Monday! I mean, yeah, safety issues, but how sad. I heard they handed out candy to the kids who are staying at the High School (I don't know if I mentioned it, but they offer 24/hour housing, hot meals, the showers, and some entertainment. It's the closest aid shelter, so it's PACKED, and offering medical rooms for the disabled kids and people who were on respirators and such.)
By now, the novelty of no power was wearing off. Joe and I moved into the living room, setting up the air mattress and, like, 50 blankets in front of the fireplace to keep warm over night. We also had discovered ways to cook hotpockets over the fire (it's amazing what you will resort to for a hot meal).
The radio was saying that people were fighting over gas and supplies since 90% of the gas stations were still out of power and gas...and I was pretty much done. I'm all for the zombie apocalypse, but that's because most of the population would be shambling masses, not mobs of usually (maybe) rational people who think that knives and guns and threatening families is the best way to get gas. And that night, I even had to check in on my parents: people were stealing gas from cars and generators from houses. Stupidity.
No check in from Grandpa, but my sister is ok. Her apartment appears to be completely gone, though.
Day 4: Thursday, 11.1
clear, cold
And I needed to shower--no more boiling water on a camp stove because a) it takes forever and then cools too quick and b) it takes forever, thus using up the propane in the camp stove. So Joe and I trekked to the high school around 3 pm to shower. It was weird enough being back in the gym locker room (I even managed to get my old locker), but weirder realizing that I couldn't shower without walking completely naked through a room of strangers. You see, the shower was set up as a room with no door and shower heads along the walls. Zero privacy. And you had to leave your towel in the adjoining room if you wanted it to stay dry. I'll leave out the embarrassing details, but let me tell you, I was not the only one having second thoughts about showering, realizing the circumstances. And the idea of a HOT WATER shower was better than modesty...or so I told myself. I'm not ashamed of my body, I work at it, but I don't think I'll ever be rushing into another group shower any time soon. I think people really need to change their view: us americans are fucking prudes. We treat nudity as something to be censored, avoided, and in situations like this, it really fucks with you.
By this time, my parents were cleared to cut down the tree blocking their street, and had hooked up their generator to the boiler and heating systems. Of course, after we had to do the public shower thing. Joe and I took a drive out to get McDonalds. We saw lines for gas stations that were miles long. One of my friends waited for 9+hours to get his tank filled. Thankfully, we drive a Scion which is good on gas, and had filled up completely before the storm hit. Also, my parents had given us a can of gas they had filled out in PA when they were picking up another generator. The McDonald's line was nearly as bad. So many people wanted a hot meal, and this little sprawl of stores was one of the few that had power--it was still nearly 20 minutes away from us. There were people that were running extension cords outside their houses with signs that said: 'We have power. Feel free to charge your phone'. People amaze me sometimes.
I wanted to get pictures of the damage and such, but with all the people swerving and driving like asses to get around debris, Joe couldn't slow down enough for my stupid ass camera to actually take recognizable pictures. ::shrug:: This is why I don't take pictures.
Found out the cell towers are running on batteries, which is why the signal sucks so bad, and why we can't get in touch with our Southern State relatives.
Day 5: Friday, 11.2
cold, clear
Joe was out of the house most of the day again, helping clear the fallen trees and chop them for firewood. I chilled in the car and watched Netflix all day, using the car charger to keep my phone charged and turning on the car as needed for heat. We had dinner at Joe's grandparents' house (which we have been doing since Tuesday because they have a line from their neighbor's generator to keep their fridge and heat), and played more Monopoly. Honestly, board games should be standard disaster supplies. Seriously.
Joe's dad (who lives right behind us...we live in a little cluster with Joe's dad, Joe's sister on the corner, and us behind his dad's house, but our yard intersects with...you know, we live in a cluster.) Anyway, Joe's dad got two generators: one for his parents' house, and one for his. Joe's dad ran lines to both Joe's sister's and our house. We could only plug in our fridge or A (as in ONE) light and/or charge something. But, light! Until 11:30pm!
We finally got a hold of my grandpa: he's fine. His house, however, was in one of the worst his parts of LBI (which is now 4 islands instead of 1). Many friends of mine down south have been able to check on their houses, but are unable to return. My grandfather can't make it to check on his house until they clear the boats off the highway. Boats. On the Highway.
Day 6: Saturday, 11.3
cold
It got COLD. Really, really cold. My parents insisted we come over, and we did to shower and warm up. It was awesome. We also picked up some other board games from them, to play at night. By now, 47% of Sussex County is still without power, and we found out that the entire GRID for Hopatcong went down: it will be a while before any power can be restored. There are also news reports that we're getting power company crews and vans shipped in from all over the country. Which is kinda awesome.
Also, today starts the gas restrictions: as of noon, if you have a license plate that ends in an odd number or a letter, you can only buy gas on odd days of the month; even number at the end, even day of the month. I'm so gloating that my parents can't keep bringing up the 70's gas shortage anymore: I've lived through it too.
Day 7: Sunday, 11.4
cold
Governor Christie made the power companies give a town by town estimate of when we will have power again. Today, 36% of Hopatcong is supposed to get power, with 6% more getting it on Monday, and the rest getting it by Wednesday. Hardest hit areas aren't expected to have power for another week to two weeks, and some coastal towns are going to be out indefinitely. I'm happy that the storm and it's damage is being taken seriously. I won't get political, but helping states when they are hit with disasters is a BIG thing, and I'm certainly taking it into consideration.
My grandfather's house may be alright, but his neighbor wasn't allowed to check on it--the National Guard will only let people with proof of residence onto the island, and they escort you to your house, and from your house.
Another chill night, dinner at Joe's Grandparents', and then went back home and watched netflix until Joe's dad turned off the generator.
Day 8: Monday, 11.5
cold
My other little sister had work today, so I went over to my parents' house early to shower while Joe fixed the fire place (it was starting to melt in places from constant use. Seriously, there has been a fire in that fireplace since Monday morning). I took her to work, and went back to the house, where Joe was showering, so we could go to the store and McDonalds again. My parents were home by now (they had driven into PA on a gas run), and we chatted for a bit before Joe and I headed out. At McDonalds, I was one of many there just for the free wifi (I have an addiction to facebook games. And Pokemon.). Joe left me there while he went grocery shopping, and then we went home.
It was a pretty routine and boring day. Joe went out to help with more storm cleanup, and I chilled with the cat.
And then we got power back.
It scared the fuck outta me! First the TV snapped on, then the printer, then the microwave beeped and the overhead light flicked on. 5:50pm. You could hear people screaming in joy. It was awesome. We were part of the 6% who got power! We celebrated by cooking with the microwave that night. It was so awesome. However, we didn't move back into the bed room because we didn't feel like having to undress and redress the mattresses.
The Aftermath
Day 9: Tuesday, 11.6
cold
Today we opened our home to anyone without power or heat to come and warm up.
My parents and Joe's mother still had no power, despite the fact the town center (which they are two minutes from) has power. So we took my youngest sister with us while we attempted to get to my doctors appointment in Sparta. However, we were soon thwarted: there were no passable roads out of town in that direction. Besides that, there were work crews blocking every road beyond those. We did get an excellent tour of the damage (the amount of trees down all over is staggering), and saw some horrible scenes of houses destroyed by the trees. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch, and then went to Walmart. We only needed new sheets (I wanted flannel sheets for the next time we lose power) and a new blanket, but we took a long walk around the store. All the candles were gone, all the flashlights, air mattresses, lanterns, cooking aids--everything was gone. The only full departments were the electronics, clothing and toys.
We got back home, and I went to start cleaning up the house, while my sister immersed herself in internet. My parents had her stay with us until 9:30 that night, because she was not taking the absence of power or internet well at all (she's autistic, and she has her set routine. This past week was hell for her). We had a Doctor Who marathon, and talked about the coming Nor'easter. We voted. We had a blast.
Day 10: Wednesday, 11.7
cold, snowing, winds gusting at 40mph
And this is why I continued this blog after we got power: we had a second storm hit us, which was supposed to bring down already weakened powerlines and trees. Many homes that took damage in the first storm would be getting more secondary damage from this one. 20% of Hopatcong is still without power or heat, and it's going to snow. My parents thankfully got power around 7pm, and it hasn't gone out yet.
Day 11, Thursday, 11.8
cold, ground is snow-covered, wind gusting at 20mph
We got 3 inches last night. By 2pm most of it was melting, and we have huge patches of green in our yard. However, people I know who had power have lost it again. There are people in town who had to sit through that storm with no heat or power to begin with. The worst is not over, and as we head deeper into November, and the colder weather starts, it's going to get really bad. Not only will work crews have to deal with ice and snow, but people who are already displaced might not be able to return to their homes for months. One of my friends had to move back in with her parents because her apartment complex will not be open for another 6 months.
The kids of Hopatcong won't have school till November 12th, and that's only if every person seeking aid at the shelter has gone home, and Halloween was completely cancelled.
Click to viewI was very lucky: I was only without power and heat for 8 days and I had family with generators. There are hundreds of people in this town without power still, thousands across the states hit by Hurricane Sandy.
People still need help. I urge you to check out
Occupy Sandy Relief
Sandy Relief Online Donations
for ways you can still help out. The Red Cross does not take donations like canned goods and clothing, and honestly, we have those. What people need are things to cook on, hot food, blankets. And these things can't be shipped in, as that creates the problem of transporting it to disaster areas.
And thank you in advance :).