Sandy's coming - everyone be safe

[jsaliga]

Our power went out on Monday night and just came back on about an hour ago.  So we spent the last three nights in the dark.

I had doubts that our power would come back this quickly. When Irene came through here last August we had no power for a week.  So it looks like the extra manpower they brought in for this storm has improved the restoration time.  There's still about 300,000 homes in CT without power.

In the last 12 months there have been three statewide power outages in CT that took some towns a week or more to recover from.  I bought a 10K watt generator yesterday and an electrician is coming by later today to install a transfer switch.

I have been catching up on the news coming out of NJ and NYC and the devastation is heartbreaking.

--Jerome

[shadowlight]

We got the power back around 9pm yesterday after being out for around 50+ hrs.  Here is hoping everyone else gets their power back soon 

[Response Audio]

I am glad to hear that everyone appears to be okay. Property can be repaired....lives can't.

Anyone in the NJ area know how our friends over at Par-Metal are doing? They are on Ewing Ave in N. Arlington NJ.

I haven't heard from most of my NJ or NY customers and hope it is ony due to power outages.

[TooManyToys]

It's like spotlights of security shined down on our assets.  Nothing really happened to any of the family; our house and it's property were untouched, my wife's salon had the ocean come within 1,000 ft but the only thing lost was the street sign, the 1775 farm house at the farm only lost a screen door and the nursery sign, and at our son's home in Mays Landing where the storm's center came close to was only like a rainstorm, mostly due to the hurricane like destruction early this spring down there leaving only the strong trees up.

At my mothers apartment they have been on generator since Monday and without heat or hot water.  Their GenSet only covers emergency light and fire so that's been an issue.  I've been running back and forth over to it with food, blankets and hot water as I've had a generator.  People were huddled downstairs in the lobby during the day to keep warm but then we had to help them up the stairwells to get to their apartments on some night.  Their GenSet normally would work one elevator, but then they were having problems with it so everyone had to have flashlights.  Under this case people would be evac'd to other locations, but other sites were just as bad save the hospital.  They are back to normal as of 6p yesterday and now I've had some more hours sleep.

I'm sure you've all seen the images on the news, and it's worse in person.  While my wife's salon was fine and it remarkably has power, it's only this little 5 business center that has power in a mile radius.  Other areas like my house now has power but those are very small areas.  The news is showing NYC and the shore, but inland is hurt too.  This has a wide destruction zone as the eye caused a lot of water surge at the shore while areas around us 60 miles away has a lot of wind damage.  Talked briefly to a friend in Franklin Lakes and he has a lot of trees down with no power 100 miles away from the eye.  Both cell and landline phones are having issues.

I drove to Barnegat on Tuesday, and Wed to FedEx to the west by Deepak's to get another Generator (couldn't deliver) and the amount of trees and power lines down is amazing.  They do not have enough barricades or tape to warn you about roads blocked due to trees and the power lines they took down, so driving somewhere is like being in a maze especially if you are unfamiliar with the area.  I've had three chainsaws in the back of my truck so I can continue on my way if it's only a tree or limb down.  There are power line crews out here from as far away as Wisconsin, but this is going to take a serious amount of time to restore.

There are neighborhoods everywhere I've driven that may have one tree down every block, or one or several trees down at every home.  A good many homes have been tree hit as well as cars, business or other structures.  The gas station lines are as what you have seen on the news and people are making it worse with their anxiety.  You can drive 40 miles south and they have electricity with the stations pumping fine.  It's like the bread and milk storm panic for getting gas when the best thing would be just to stay home for a few days.  Not that I'm following my own advice.

From what I've seen on the news I'm not sure this storm is still as bad as what I remember as a child from the March '62 Nor'easter, where on Long Beach Island the ocean broke through in three locations.  Although I think closer to home in Bayhead – Mantoloking – Seaside they may have gotten the worst of it surge wise.  That is where most of my wife's clients are from and she has already talked to some who have lost their homes entirely.  Another woman's home in Normandy Beach was left untouched around a path of destruction.
About the only bright spot out of this is this region was having a 10% unemployment rate, and while some are going to be out of work as small businesses have been lost, the construction business is going to be very busy with cleanup and rebuilding.  I've already have people asking if I want to sell my 1952 bulldozer for use on the island.  That's pretty desperate although it was used to restore LBI in '62.

Anyway this is going to take some time to recover and once EPA / DEP gets involved, some ocean front land where homes stood may never be refilled.  Growing up here by the barrier islands I'm fine with that.  These are barrier islands that historically every 50-80 years had been washed over.  It wasn't until the 1930's-40's that people started to build heavily with the real peak after WW2.  There was a reason why people did not live there during the earlier centuries, but we've gotten smarter.

[shadowlight]

Jack, good to hear that you made out ok.

[Putz]

Still no power in Bridgewater. I'm at the Library which is packed. We lost 9 trees but none hit the house. Generator is running. Only using it 12 hours a day to conserve gas.

It's like a war zone with trees & power lines & traffic lites down everywhere. All the schools are closed and JCP&L nowhere in sight (Pete--send help!!)They told us we might be out for another week.

Everyone be safe.

[rollo]

Our prayers are with you all. We had the good fortune of having power during the storm. Our block was spared as most others around us had no power.
    My concern now is gas for our cars. The lines ar long are the supply very limited. Food as well apears to be limited as deliveries are not being made. Power is out for most supermarkets who do not have generators.
   It is going to get tougher if gas and food are limited next week. Hang in there.



charles
   P

[TooManyToys]

Power and stations are fine down south.  If you have the fuel and time you can drive down to South Jersey.

I've got a new genset that showed up late and since we have power I've offered it on CL.  But it's a top of the line Honda and people don't have cash.

http://jerseyshore.craigslist.org/for/3380625941.html

No electricity, no net so kind of hard for people to see it.

[richidoo]

Special thanks to the helpers. Pete, Evan, everyone else who is helping. We each do what we can to help, but some do much, much more. Thank you!
Rich

[etcarroll]

Glad to hear you're ok Jack. Nothing much happened here in SE PA, just a bad nor'easter was all it amounted to, even though eye passed just a few miles south of me.

Now the property in Ortley Beach on Jersey shore I spent time at each summer for last decade - it's gone. Sea busted through dunes right in front of it, took the house, a few more on each side as well. Not damaged - GONE! Sad.

[TooManyToys]

Gene,

Oh I know gone seeing LBI firsthand when I was 8 after the March '62 storm.

These are barrier islands; they get washed over.  Just think how you feel when a wave catches you not looking standing in the water.

If you see pictures of the Mantoloking bridge the ocean and bay met there.  That used to be an inlet that was filled in.  Same thing happen on LBI in '62, both in Holgate and Harvey Cedars, following where inlets used to be.  Man can fill these areas in but they do not have the same soil structure underneath that millions of years created.  Even houses on pilings are not exempt from the force of waves on these islands. 

This could have been much worse had not the storm doubled its traveling speed.  People who lived through the '62 storm on LBI told of slowly watching houses and sand wash away as the days went by.

We've not been able to get to where the real destruction is, and that's fine.  Been there, done that 50 years ago.

Staten Island really got hit too.

[TooManyToys]

Just got back from northern Manalapan delivering the generator I was selling.  There are power lines down everywhere.  It is going to take a long time to restore all the infrastructure in that area.

[satfrat]

Sure hope you'll all be getting your power back real soon as there is a potenial of a 2 day Nor'easter coming up the coast that will be hitting you guys with more heavy winds, colder air and coastal flooding come Wednesday/Thursday period. Folks will be needing their electricity more than ever by then. Hopefully all the additional power utility help from the neighboring states & Canada will get the power back up and running in time.   

Cheers,
Robin

[Werd]

I am glad every body around here is Ok  . Good to hear that Canada is offerring electrical service. Its probably coming down from the northern Quebec generators.

[jsaliga]

I might be wrong, but line crews are needed more than power generation.  I believe the Canadians have provided crews to help repair the damaged power distribution infrastructure in the areas affected by Sandy.

--Jerome