I’m creating this thread for our Dopers to check in, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, to let us know you and your family are okay.
All is well here in Suffolk, Virginia, for the most part. We had some coastal flooding near the bridge on Main Street, but the power never went out. A meeting at work scheduled for Monday was postponed until Friday. But overall, none the worse for wear.
Norfolk and Virginia Beach are pretty messed up, though. And I hope my friends in Newport News are all right.
I’m ok. Not sure anyone knows I live in the path of Sandy here. My power was out for 24 hours but it’s back. Most of my town is still dark. Very few working traffic lights or gas stations. A bunch of trees blocking various roads. It seemed a lot more tame than Irene so I’m surprised at all the damage. We pretty much lost all our trees last time so no damage to our property in this one.
Lost it about 530 or so day of. Lots of wind but not lots of rain. Tree limb took out our generator :smack: but it looks like mrAru can fix it. Power restored about 2 hours ago. Not thrilled at several days without power - but happy to get it back.
I am one of the very lucky Northern NJ people who did not lost anything other than cable. We’ve had flickers but it has miraculously stayed on. Meanwhile much of my town lost power. It’s gradually coming back on in bits and pieces. My daughter has not been to school since Friday. Roads are still blocked off and traffic lights are still down within a five mile radius of my home. My husband is going back to work in downtown NYC tomorrow and I’m worried as hell about his safety.
Lost power about 1430 Monday, got it back around 1030 the next morning. Older girl will finally go back to school tomorrow, but her sister won’t. (They go to school in different towns - neither of which is the one we live in. Hurray for magnet schools!)
Only real problem was the neighbours’ willow tree, which ended up on top of my car. One branch was just long enough to hit a 1x2 on the porch railing and break it, but that was the only damage to the house. Car is totalled, though…
Checking in from WV. We got a foot of snow and lost our power for a couple days but we’re all right. Got the power back this afternoon and boy am I glad—sitting down on an ice cold toilet seat is one awful way to wake yourself up in the morning!!
Checking in from LI. Power still out (since Mon 15:25) - no heat - managed to top off my gas tank yesterday. No water damage but trees down and fences smashed.
Beachfront in North Wildwood, NJ:
Whole island had several feet of water. My condo is second floor. Whole building turned out fine.
Our island is known for deep beaches and massive dunes. Also, we have a bulkhead behind the dunes.
Properties with no elevation did sustain water damage and are shoveling sand out.
New Brunswick, NJ. I’ve already been posting in the other thread. We got a lot of wind damage and a lot of big trees/power lines down. There are still roads blocked and traffic lights out. For some reason the damage seems to really be concentrated in Edison and right outside our apartment complex. Still no power, internet, or hot water at our apartment. We’ve been staying in a hotel in South Jersey for the last 2 days and I am trying to work like a normal person, but it’s a challenge. I’m not really sure what we are going to do Saturday. I think at some point we have to go back. I’m worried about my cat (my neighbors are checking in on him, but still.)
An 80 foot pine tree (and we’re not talking a skinny one, we’re talking White House Christmas one) that was uprooted is now lying in the intersection a block from my house. Destroyed the power lines.
I’ll probably be one of the last ones to get power back.
Well, this blows. They are saying 7-10 days before we get power back. I think we are going to have to move to a cheaper, crappier hotel for next week. Actually, it looks like I will be staying alone through the end of next week while my husband looks after the apartment. Starting tomorrow they are rationing gas in my county. There is much panic here about a gas shortage. I admit it worries me a bit. I still don’t understand how Maple Shade can be so normal and not an hour northeast it’s just a complete disaster. We took a well-deserved “date night” and had dinner and a movie, and it just blew our minds how normal everything seemed. Like people just have no clue.
I thought very hard about taking some vacation time and going home to the Midwest, but for some reason I really feel the need to focus on my job. I never thought I’d say this, but I don’t want to leave New Jersey.
I’m sure nobody missed me since I barely post anymore (I’d really love to, I just don’t have the time lately…), but I survived the storm. I live in the North Bronx now, and my neighborhood miraculously never lost power or cable or water (even though there are some places just a couple blocks from me which are STILL dark), and aside from some wind which knocked down a bunch of tree branches, there was very little damage here.
Ha, me too olivesmarch4th. Good luck with your kitty!
I live in East Brunswick and I had to leave Wednesday with my 94 year old mother and her cranky cat for DC where my brother’s place has electricity and warmth. We’re coming back on Sunday so I can do a couple of reports on Monday and we can vote on Tuesday. I want to check on my bird and fish too.
I’m hoping the power is on. I *think *the power is on because I have Skype set to automatically answer when I call my mom from work. The computer part is not available, but the phone rings. I don’t think it would do that if there wasn’t any power - it would just say call failed. Right?
At any rate, if the power is not on in East Brunswick, I hear it is at Rutgers. If we can’t find a hotel, we’ll just settle down in my office on some cots we bought, go vote and then come back down to DC until the power returns. I am thankful that our losses are minimal and hope everyone stays safe!
I’m OK. So are my friends and family, thank heavens. My area didn’t lose power or have flooding. I feel incredibly lucky.
Yes, power is on at Rutgers. It looks like I may be going off the grid again after all. I’m afraid to go back there. Irrational, all-encompassing fear of what will happen. This is how vulnerable we of the modern era can be. We have no idea how to survive without electricity and gasoline.
I’m heading back downtown to continue clean-up…which consists of pouring gallons of salt water out of expensive electronic equipment before discarding it. And tallying the replacement costs in my head…OUCH OUCH OUCH !!!
And our fiscal year-end was Tuesday, the day my partner and I usually write ourselves bonus checks to get the bank account zeroed out. Luckily I didn’t spend this before I got it.
Not this year…that money will probably go towards replacing inventory. I am way luckier than lots of business people in that I actually have (had) a cash business that I ran at a profit without incurring ANY debt and I have a large unused credit line.
And cleanup seems futile when it conmes to drying things out…it is cold, wet and dark inside although my partner ( who handles the business end of the business, I am the tech specialist ) did a good job, we have 2 generators driving some basic lighting, a few phone lines and an internet server.
And like I posted in the other thread I feel lucky that I can get home at days end to a home with electricity, TV, clean water and hot/cold food as desired. Most of the employees at work have been making there way in ( rather heroically, I think ) to help with clean-up when virtually NONE of them have power at their homes.
We have semi-frequent power outages around here, including a week-long outage after Ike a few years ago. Basically it is just really boring and hot/cold depending on the season. And all your fridge food goes bad. Read a lot of books, go to bed early, and wear lots of layers and wrap up in blankets if the temp drops.
We lost power about 6:30 on Monday. 7-10 days from the day of the storm is what they told us too (I’m on Long Island) but we got ours back last night. I’m grateful because my 91 year old mother in law (who we live with) and her 87 year old sister (who is staying with us so she won’t be alone) were cold and very unhappy.
But we have a gas stove so we been cooking what’s in our freezer as it thawed and we never lost hot water which was really nice.
It’s a mess around here. Trees down and power lines down on just about every block. But they’re cleaning it up at an impressive pace.
We didn’t think about the fact that our coffee grinder requires electricity and that we only have whole bean coffee so on Tuesday morning we found ourselves dusting off Grandma’s antique hand crank coffee grinder. It did the job for 4 days and I am very grateful to Grandma.
The little bodega near our house was open and had ice on Tuesday morning so that was another huge plus. We were able to keep our perishables cold for the most part and only had to throw away a few items.
No one seems to remember that when a street light is out you’re supposed to treat the intersection like a 4 way stop and it’s a little tricky driving. Not to mention various roads and intersections being blocked because of downed trees or power lines but the main grocery store plus the Home Depot near my house is open.
The hardest part was keeping my phone charged. The car charger takes forever and I didn’t want to waste the gas.
WE HAVE POWER!
Light! Heat! Internet!
I even saw some functioning traffic lights…
I am in Queens and never lost power. The office building where I work is pretty fuxxored.
I would like everyone affected to know of two free hotlines.
Disaster distress hotline - 1-800-985-5990
or Text TalkWithUs to 66746
Hurricane Sandy Disaster Legal Services - 1 800-699-5636
You can get information and register for FEMA assistance online at disasterassistance.gov . Register by phone at 800-621-3362.