Hurricane Sandy

[billfury]

durango

[resq302]

My family and I are ok.  I was stuck at my police dispatching job till 8 pm on Monday night.  Luckily, I had everything picked up the day before and had the generator all set incase we needed it and even showed the wife how to start it up and told her where the extension cords were (she said it was too much money for a transfer panel..... more on this later!)  I ended up going home in the heart of the storm and on I-287, it looked like someone took a wood chipper and blew it all over the highway.  As it was something flew up and cracked my windshield on my truck.  Oh well.  I end up going home over and around trees (thank god I have a 4x4) and got about a block away from my house only to have to turn around because of a down tree.  I tried to go in the back way to my house and got 3 houses away and came upon a two large trees down with wires.  Being that I was only a couple houses away, I decided to put the 4 ways on in my truck and hop over the trees and make it home.  I get about 50 feet away from my house and I hear this loud crack.  Here is this huge pine tree directly across from my house coming down and going to hit the wires so I run towards the side of the street where the base of the tree is knowing I would be away from any power lines that come down.  After it landed, I got inside, hugged my wife and kids, got the generator fired back up (since she didnt fill it with gas when she started it) and then decided to throw my fire turn out gear on and head back to my truck with my chain saw and at least get one lane open enough so I can get my truck back in my driveway before another tree decides to fall on to it.  I gotta say it was scary as hell being out there with all those trees and that strong as hell wind!  We were very lucky at my house.  No damage from the wind or storm even though we had 3 large pine trees on my property uproot and fall (1 almost took out my wood shed).  My neighbor next to me lost a bunch shingles on his roof and his neighbor had 2 trees come down and go through his roof.  I will try and post some pics as soon as I can copy and paste them from my wifes facebook page that she took when we were driving around.

Gas situation up here is horrible!!!!!!!  Stations that have power are running out of gas and there are lines up to 2-3 hours long only to get there and find out it is cash only!  Some limit it to 10 gals, others there is a $ limit.  I ended up doing a big no no but at this point in the game... I don't care.  I took some empty 5 gal spackle buckets which were clean and dumped my red 5 gal gas cans into them so I could end up refilling my gas cans when I had the chance.  I ended up giving me an extra 10 gal capacity for reserve fuel and now I just fill up a can whenever I am out passing by a station that is open.

All in all it could have been worse although, we are still without power, cable, internet, and phone, we are managing and thankful for what we have and happy that none of our friends, neighbors, or family got hurt.

[bobs66440]

We lost a bunch of shingles off the roof but no damage otherwise. We finally got power back yesterday, but we were on a generator in the meantime so all was good. We were so lucky to have one. Many here are still waiting in the dark though and, as mentioned, the lines to get gas are crazy and the price gouging is insane.

I went through a neighborhood in Pearl River yesterday and the damage from fallen trees was terrible. Power lines and trees down had roads closed everywhere. And there were no crews working that I could see. Local estimates for power restoration is another 8 days in many cases. Those poor folks in NJ and NYC are in real bad shape. Just terrible...

[ODZKing]

My family and I are ok.

I was thinking about you Brian ... glad everyone is fine.

[BananaDan]

Geez Bill, you boys in SI got hammered.  I'm glad you, Chris and your families are safe.  We're on night five of no power with little word from our local gov't and utility.  Gas rationing with odd/even plates starts tomorrow per the Governor.  I went out last night at 11:30pm to get gas, as did the rest of NJ.  I filled up my car and gas cans, got home and back into bed by 4am.  The days are starting to get blurry.

Stay safe everyone.

[71charger_fan]

We just had our night five with no power. Utility is saying "most" customers in my zip code should be restored by 1800 today. What's nice about having a hard-wire phone and answering machine is that I can call the house. If the machine doesn't pick up, I know we're still without power.

[BananaDan]

Terrible.

http://millburn.patch.com/articles/images-destruction-in-sea-bright-62796605#photo-12017644

http://photos.nj.com/njcom_photo_essays/2012/11/hurricane_sandy_before_and_aft.html#incart_maj-story-1

http://photos.nj.com/njcom_photo_essays/2012/11/gallery_1_top_nj_hurricane_san_1.html

http://photos.nj.com/njcom_photo_essays/2012/11/gallery_2_top_nj_hurricane_san_1.html

http://photos.nj.com/njcom_photo_essays/2012/11/gallery_1_top_nj_hurricane_san.html

http://photos.nj.com/njcom_photo_essays/2012/11/gallery_2_top_nj_hurricane_san.html

http://photos.nj.com/njcom_photo_essays/2012/11/gallery_3_top_nj_hurricane_san.html

[jb666]

Terrible.

http://millburn.patch.com/articles/images-destruction-in-sea-bright-62796605#photo-12017644

http://photos.nj.com/njcom_photo_essays/2012/11/hurricane_sandy_before_and_aft.html#incart_maj-story-1

http://photos.nj.com/njcom_photo_essays/2012/11/gallery_1_top_nj_hurricane_san_1.html

http://photos.nj.com/njcom_photo_essays/2012/11/gallery_2_top_nj_hurricane_san_1.html

http://photos.nj.com/njcom_photo_essays/2012/11/gallery_1_top_nj_hurricane_san.html

http://photos.nj.com/njcom_photo_essays/2012/11/gallery_2_top_nj_hurricane_san.html

http://photos.nj.com/njcom_photo_essays/2012/11/gallery_3_top_nj_hurricane_san.html

Absolutely heart breaking ... Wow...

[NHCharger]

I've been reading about the stories coming out of NY and NJ. Unbelievable. Why hasn't the our government sent some of our military in there to help? It blows my mind that another country suffers a major hit like this and the next day the US is sending in help. This is quickly becoming another Katrina-like situation but I don't see the press ripping the government for their lack of response.

Glad you guys in the impact zone came out okay.

[JB400]

Word is just now getting out.  Guiliani is making headlines today on his criticism of O..... because he hasn't done anything there yet.  They are still praising him though for what one governor said though.

[bill440rt]

Checking in very briefly here. Spoke too soon again, power went out in my entire neighborhood, we're now going on day 4 with no power... and we don't own a generator. Posting this from my phone.
We do have a gas fireplace, but can't leave it running all night long. Bowls of ice in the fridge to keep food cold. PSE&G is in our area, we're hoping to have power restored soon.
Gas lines are a nightmare.
I'll check in again soon. Take care everyone.

[resq302]

Just  checking in.  Thankfully one of the gas stations in the town where I work opened up for police department members only so we could get gas to come to and from work.  However, prior to letting us pump, he got a fax from "corporate Shell" with a price increase of 20 cents per gal for regular!!!!!!   Well, I guess I should be thankful as I got to jump a head of the people in line and got to fill my truck and 3 5 gal gas cans for my generator!

Update from Orange and Rockland Electric (part of Con Edison) - power expected to be restored by Nov. 11th!!!!!     

[BananaDan]

I've been reading about the stories coming out of NY and NJ. Unbelievable. Why hasn't the our government sent some of our military in there to help? It blows my mind that another country suffers a major hit like this and the next day the US is sending in help. This is quickly becoming another Katrina-like situation but I don't see the press ripping the government for their lack of response.

Glad you guys in the impact zone came out okay.

Word is just now getting out.  Guiliani is making headlines today on his criticism of O..... because he hasn't done anything there yet.  They are still praising him though for what one governor said though.

I have heard and seen pictures that there are three Navy ships stationed in or just outside of NY Harbor to assist in getting supplies into the docks and to provide supplies and helicopters to the local gov't efforts.  There are National Guard from all over the NE across NJ and down the shore and I thought I heard they were on Staten Island also.  FEMA is here with water, ice and has relief/aid stations setup in the hardest hit areas plus they are bringing in 1,000 massive generators for critical gov't functions and water treatment plants along with 500,000 gallons of diesel.  They're also partnered with our Governor to make sure that gas stations that have gas but no power get generators so they can dispense gas and Hess, a NJ-based oil company, has 91/97 NJ stations up and running and is providing fuel to competitor gas stations so they have supply to dispense.

My local gov't has been sucky through this ordeal, but I have more than pleased with what our Governor and President have been doing.

As for us, going into night six without power.  They have power two houses away and on nearby streets.  I hope it something simple like replacing the transformer on the pole nearby.  We should have juice soon I hope.

[NHCharger]

Dan, glad to see some response by our government. The weather forecasters were 100% right on this one (for a change) so there was plenty of time to prepare for this. Of course prepping is one thing, dealing with the aftermath is another. I don't think anyone could have envisioned the extent of damage from this storm.

[69rtse4spd]

Unbelievable, speechless. Glad your guys are alright.

[resq302]

Dan,

At least you are seeing progress.  I havent even seen ANY signs of an electrical company (be it our energy supplier or mutual aid outside source) anywhere in our town.  Its a disgrace!  Its like they completely forgot about West Milford.  Last update for us was Nov. 11th.  At this rate, my daughter will not be in school going on a second week.

On the upside, everyone in my house is still alive and healthy and we still have our generator.  On the down side, my grandmother was admitted last week on Tues night with what they thought was congestive heart failure only to find out later it was a minor heart attack.  Dad told me that my aunt and cousin were there last night and she was halucinating really bad.  You begin to wonder what one persons breaking point is with times like this......

[firefighter3931]

Hang in there guys !   

Been watching the news and it's heartbreaking to see all that damage 

Glad to hear all our members are safe & sound 


Ron

[Fred]

Hang in there guys !   

Been watching the news and it's heartbreaking to see all that damage 

Glad to hear all our members are safe & sound 


Ron

Ditto.   

[bill440rt]

Power came back on finally yesterday afternoon. Nice to at least have heat again.
Lots of cleanup around here.
Hope everyone else is doing OK.

[grdprx]

Power came back on finally yesterday afternoon. Nice to at least have heat again.
Lots of cleanup around here.
Hope everyone else is doing OK.

Good to hear!! 

[41husk]

I guess there is more bad weather on it's way, not like Sandy, but god you guys have been through enough.  Stay safe!

[BananaDan]

Yeah, a Nor'Easter is coming with rain/snow and 50mph winds. Yay for us. Apparently North Jersey had a small earthquake this morning too.  Still no power here, going into night eight.

[Ponch ®]

ok, which of you guys is doing this? 

People trading gas for sex on craigslist

[JB400]

Doesn't surprise me.  Read farther down on the replies.  I like the letter to Obama

[Ponch ®]

Doesn't surprise me.  Read farther down on the replies.  I like the letter to Obama

aww shit. I didnt read through the comments. Wasn't trying to make a political post. Mods? Ruling on this one please.