Oh Sandy!

[dianed]

Just got this email from the local news station:

The Obama administration has ordered the purchase of up to 12 million gallons of unleaded fuel and up to 10 million gallons of diesel fuel for distribution in areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

Yappa Dappa Do !!!

[dianed]

I found this post on Craigs List in the NY section. It was written by a Floridian. Anyone on this board living in Florida will get a kick out of this and hopefully the people that were affected by this storm can at least chuckle for a moment.

We're about to enter the peak of the hurricane season. Any day now, you're going to turn on the TV and see a weather person pointing to some radar blob out in the Atlantic Ocean and making two basic meteorological points.

(1) There is no need to panic.

(2) We could all be killed.

Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in New York. If you're new to the area, you're probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for the possibility that we'll get hit by "the big one." Based on our insurance industry experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan:

STEP 1: Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days.

STEP 2: Put these supplies into your car.

STEP 3: Drive to Nebraska and remain there until Halloween.

Unfortunately, statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay here in Florida. We'll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items:

HOMEOWNERS' INSURANCE:

If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance. Fortunately, this insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home meets two basic requirements:

(1) It is reasonably well-built, and

(2) It is located in Wisconsin.

Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area that might actually be hit by a

hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to pay YOU money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you'll have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal to the replacement value of your house. At any moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss.

SHUTTERS:

Your house should have hurricane shutters on all the windows and all the doors. There are several types of shutters, with advantages and disadvantages:

Plywood shutters: The advantage is that, because you make them yourself, they're cheap.

Sheet-metal shutters: The advantage is that these work well, once you get them all up. The disadvantage is that once you get them all up, your hands will be useless bleeding stumps, and it will be December.

Roll-down shutters: The advantages are that they're very easy to use, and will definitely protect your house. The disadvantage is that you will have to sell your house to pay for them.

HURRICANE-PROOF WINDOWS:

These are the newest wrinkle in hurricane protection: They look like ordinary windows, but they can withstand hurricane winds! You can be sure of this, because the salesman says so. He lives in Nebraska.

HURRICANE PROOFING YOUR PROPERTY:

As the hurricane approaches, check your yard for movable objects like barbecue grills, planters, patio furniture, visiting relatives, etc...You should, as a precaution, throw these items into your swimming pool (if you don't have a swimming pool, you should have one built immediately). Otherwise, the hurricane winds will turn these objects into deadly missiles.

EVACUATION ROUTE:

If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your driver's license; if it says "Florida," you live in a low-lying area).

The purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being trapped in your home when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped in a gigantic traffic jam several miles from your home, along with two hundred thousand other evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely.

HURRICANE SUPPLIES:

If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy them now! Florida tradition requires that you wait until the last possible minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over who gets the last can of SPAM.

In addition to food and water, you will need the following supplies:

23 flashlights. At least $167 worth of batteries that turn out, when the power goes off, to be the wrong size for the flashlights.

Bleach. (No, I don't know what the bleach is for. NOBODY knows what the bleach is for, but it's traditional, so GET some!)

A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a hurricane, but it looks cool.)

A large quantity of raw chicken, to placate the alligators. (Ask anybody who went through Andrew, Katrina, Jeanne, Charlie, Frances; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate alligators.)

$35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.

Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next to the gulf or ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for everybody to stay away from the gulf or ocean.

Good luck, and remember: It's great living in NY and NJ!

[blackhawkpat]

Happy to hear that everyone is alright, as I have finally heard from many here, on Facebook, texts, or emails. Heard from Lew Bundles today, who has no power, but is okay, too.

Concerned that we still haven't heard from Bernie or Darlene, though.

I'm telling you, everyone needs to move to Chicago! As long as you can dodge the bullets, you are safe here!

[RaspBen]

Oh geez Pat nice way to describe our beautiful city!(Even though you are probably right)

Monica

[MikeC]

Much needed gas supplies are on the way, shortly.

Engineers were already sent out last week to help from other states.

Anheiser-Busch company has alread relabeled cans to send as six-packs of water.

Generators have been given out.

Clothes and food already sent.

One of my friends said that snow, supposedly, is on the way.

I heard from three people who live in New York. One said his parents lost their home. They already found an apartment. It will take one year to build, because of the amount of houses needing rebuilding. He was out to dinner with his wife saturday, when I talked to him a second time. He lives on the bay, and had some water damage. Gas lines were still five hours waiting.

All of the generators were sold-out, as I told him that would be his greatest investment, from $ 600 to $ 1200 dollars, or less.

[LobsterLvr]

We're still out of power in our section of Princeton, NJ. We escaped to NYC for a few days (warming ourselves at my sister-in-law's apt). Returned on Saturday. (4 people in a one bedroom is a bit too close for comfort). House is now 52 degrees. We sit around the fireplace, bundled in blankets, eating crappy takeout food (cha-ching!), we perk our coffee on the bbq grill (that stopped being fun a long time ago), our clothes smell like DuraFlame Logs and pine trees. We go to the library to charge our devices. We're drinking too much wine. But we're safe...we had no damage...and we're still smiling (most of the time). I gotta go now and buy some Chapstik. Dave (and Annie) in Princeton, NJ

[Dave from Equinox]

Our power was out from Tuesday morning to early Saturday morning. Had a foot of snow in the yard, and our home's elevation is around 1800 ft. - the really high elevations got up to 3 feet of snow or more. There were buildings whose roofs collapsed down in Nicholas County, and there are still a lot of folks in the outlying areas of WV without their electric.

[James]

Diane,

Great posts. Your writing is so good I felt like I was there experiencing this with all you guys.

Keep the posts coming. I´ll keep the prayers coming.

P.S. You should have been a reporter.....you can articulate probably better than anyone I´ve ever read. Especially when you are passionate about something.

P.P.S. The James Harem members are also praying for the East Coasters (there is power in numbers)..

:-)

[The Kiwi Connection]

HUGS and PRAYERS for all our friends caught up in the horrors and aftermath of Sandy.

Kiwi and Muzza.

[Tony Cartmill]

On a related note, I was able to not wear socks to bed for the last 5 sunny, warm days...so we are recovering well from our battle with mother nature too.

Where's Darlene and Bernie?

[Craig Benfer]

So has anyone heard from Darlene or Bernie?

[blackhawkpat]

I just heard from Darlene! She is okay, after seven days without power, but the lights are back on!

[darlene]

Hi everyone! We lost power on Monday Oct 29th at 8 PM and were out almost 8 days till 3:30 PM today. I practiced in my cold music room about 10 hours a day because it took my mind off the storm. No heat nor lights but we were safe. There was no damage to our house and we were cold but extremely lucky. People lost homes, family members and children. Washing dishes and clothing by hand gets old but we were safe the whole time.

Thanks SO very much for all the well wishes and prayers. I know they got us through. Candlelight dinners are cool, but not when they're a necessity.

Today the dishwasher, the automatic washer and the heating system seem like gifts from God. And they are. Our hearts go out to those who have suffered real devastation from this storm. SOOOO very glad that Diane, Bernie and everyone else in NJ and the path of the storm made it through and are safe. Praying that everyone stays safe, and thanks again for the well wishes.

--Love, Dar

[Kirk]

So good to hear you guys made it through o.k. I kept looking at different maps trying to figure out if the water would reach any of you...some pretty big rivers not too far from away from a few of you.

[angelina]

Thank Goodness Darlene.............I know it's been very difficult this past week!

[Raspbernie]

Just got heat and power up today—and none too soon! It's been unbearably cold at night. We got through the storm with just some minor damage. Many here in Sayreville and nearby were hit with devastating consequences: homes washed away, foundations cracked in half, trees crashed through bedrooms—a nightmare of "disaster movie" proportions! With no heat, electricity, cel phone service or internet for over a week, it's taken a toll—both physical and psychological. Glad to be warm again and feeling like there might be a return to normalcy sometime soon. Thanks to everyone who texted, emailed or asked how I was doing.

Bernie

[Kirk]

B-man, I'm glad you're dry...you were one of the people I was afraid might be too close to a big river. The really good news is Tony can cancel his flight to NJ- he had bought some scuba gear and was ready to troll the river looking for floating EC memorabilia

Hey, when things get back to normal, check out the link to 'Universe' that I sent you.

[Tony Cartmill]

Damn!...I mean, glad you are safe Bernie! I knew you were, because if something bad happened, I know you would have some really cool timer-triggered tribute to yourself that we could all see when logging on...Bernie does EVERYTHING first class!

[Tony Cartmill]

On a related note, in SoCal, we might have to wear socks to bed starting Thursday, when the nightime temp might go below 55.

Why me, God? Why me?...

[Aventurine]

Glad all of you are safe

[hossy]

WELCOME BACK!

[LC]

Bernie,

Really glad to hear you made it through the storm without major losses and damage, although going a week with no power is more than just an inconvenience these days.... The six days we were powerless a year ago seemed like six months.

Well, I hope the current nor'easter goes easy on you (and on us too), although I just saw one weather report (CBS) that was forecasting 6 to 8 inches of snow in parts of New Jersey. Ouch!

Best,

LC

[JuliaAllByMyself]

I am so relieved everyone is safe and sound after such a traumatic experience !

Take care

All the best

Julia

[dianed]

So glad to find out that Bernie and Darlene are okay !! It was one hell of a week, wasn’t it? And it’s still not over. It’s snowing like crazy here right now !!

It’s still horrible on Long Island. There are still so many places without power. Trees are still down, most traffic lights are still out and some roads are still closed. We are starting to get food deliveries to the supermarkets but the prices seem much higher this time around. For example…..29 cents EACH for a banana !!! If I remember correctly back to only two weeks ago, they used to be sold in bunches and priced by the pound. Everybody has a hand in our pockets !!

The gas situation is very bad and I don’t see it getting better anytime soon. I was up this morning at 5:30 and on a very long line by 6:15, only to be told at 9 o’clock that the station had run out of gas. I drove for about a 5 mile radius looking for other gas stations and not one of them had any gas. I have enough gas to get to work and back for tomorrow and then…that’s it !! I was planning to get to a neighborhood this weekend where I worked for 18 years that was literally demolished by the storm. I still keep in touch with many people from there but now I have no way of contacting anyone. During the power outages in my area, I used the daylight time to go through whatever I had. I have bags of coats, blankets, socks, sweatshirts and sweatpants, toiletries and tons of canned foods. I wanted to volunteer this entire weekend and get down to the shelters and help out with cooking and passing out of much needed items for these people…but I can’t get any GAS !! Oh…and the gas here is at $4.79 for regular unleaded. I assume that this weekend it can be priced as high as $5 a gallon. THIEVES !!

If a storm of this magnitude had touched down on some dirty and dusty third world country, our government would have been dropping people from planes with their arms full of food, water, clothing and OUR money. I always thought charity starts at home. Silly me !!

Catastrophes can bring out the best in people, but they also bring out the worst in people. I have been seeing a little of both, mostly more of the latter. There are constant fights at the gas lines so now there are two police cars in each gas station during a delivery and they stay there until the station runs out of gas. If you are on line with a gas can, you are on your own once you leave the station. People have been robbed walking back to their homes or cars while carrying their gas. It’s really nuts around here !

[GMan]

Glad to be back all. I am so happy to know Bernie and Darlene are ok. This has been the worst Jersey has ever been hit. Lots of friends didn't fare as well as I. I was just mildly inconvenienced...no TV...no heat...no power are just little bumps compared to what lots of my fellow Jerseyans have endured. May God bless them all and all my friends here who were concerned. Love you guys. G