Aftermath

Seaside NJ on the bay side

It was bad for New Jersey.     Many lost homes, a few perished including children, the saddest of all.
One couple we know spent two days on top of their kitchen table as water poured into their house. Being elderly they knew hypothermia would get them if they tried to walk thru that water.
It got suddenly very cold.. unusual  as during hurricanes the weather is always hot and very clammy.

 Homes were dragged out to sea, in one town a whole block of homes burnt down because transformers blew up. Beautiful shore front restaurants are gone.
Mantaloking, a very upscale town on the pennisula is on fire as gas line exploded and the roads to the town are impassable because they are under the ocean.  These are multi million dollar homes of the rich and very famous as well as the homes of "regular' people.
Some places are unreachable due to water and we just don't know what is going on there.
The little island near me is badly battered and changed as is , I hear, most of the NJ coastline.
 Trees are uprooted, blown over and cracked. Boats cracked up and lost.
 Millions are without power. Many of us operating on generators. Stores are closed, roads closed, no traffic lights, gas stations mostly closed.

 Schools are closed until further notice and streets closed by the bay until they drain and washed out bridges are repaired and man, do we have a ton of those.
The hard headed who stayed on the barrier island, Long Beach Island and the pennisulas are being rescued and I hear helicopters flying back and forth from the air force base to the island all day long now. Not sure what is going on.
Governor Christie is keeping on top of things, however.

We just got some power back so I may not know as much regional news as those outside do. That was a hard part during the storm as I forgot D batteries for the radio!!!

 I spent yesterday at my daughter's house around the corner as they have a fireplace and it was cold and no heat in my house anyway. Trying to get it working today, but, no luck yet. I have a space heater going and I turn that on a bit , then off,as I am afraid of them really

My old fish never flooded out!The large ones are 15  years old having been bought as tiny fry for 10 cents a piece! Now they are gorgeous long fan tailed beauties in orange, white and yellow. Glad they weathered the storm.

 My little street was one of the only streets that did not flood at all! Thank you for prayers as I know that is why.  So I want to thank  God for his care and mercy during this time and all of you for your continued prayers and thoughts. They mean the world to me, more so than I can tell you and helped me stay strong when times got rough.

It is also why the thick pine barrens which surround me on 3 sides also gave a lot of protection as the winds stayed high and while the trees swayed badly (what a bad poor description that is!) my house never shuddered even once and the number of trees that came down in this little neighborhood is relatively small and damage relatively small compared to other places.
 In the Perfect Storm, which this little house also weathered, the walls shook and swayed badly.

I did hear a report by Whitley Strieber who wrote the book on which the movie "The Day After Tomorrow"  was based and he was saying the reason for this kind of freakish storm was that the gulf stream has moved farther north and that we can expect these things to happen again and perhaps worse if it does not move back farther south.  " Go South Young Stream.. Go South!!"

The store shelves here for miles around are empty. There is not a battery or water to be found anywhere.
So prepare  because these things happen quickly and then it is too late to get in what you may need. Not everything comes with a warning.
Now comes the job of cleaning up the yard and the ponds which is nothing compared to what some have to do.
I am okay so far and I thank you for your love and concern. It means so very much to me and I will never forget it.

With Love,