October 29, 2012 7:25am
"The wind is picking up a bit and work is officially cancelled."
The wind was really blowin by this time, I was honestly surprised at how loud and constant it was all day. The wind in Oklahoma is steady on a daily basis, but not quite like this. We just sat around all day watching the news and waiting...and waiting...basically the exact opposite of a tornado!
October 29, 2012 6:38pm
"I think it's almost here...wind is really blowin now. Just praying the trees don't blow over..."
We have a large tree in the backyard and two in the front. I was very scared that one or all of them were going to come directly into our house. We don't have a garage so we were also hoping that both of our cars would stay damage free during the storm. One was parked in the driveway and the other we parked down the street, as far away from the trees as possible.
October 29, 2012 11:06pm
"just lost power :( going to bed and hoping this calms down by tomorrow"
I'm honestly shocked that we didn't lose power earlier, seriously. We packed up our stuff and moved to the bedroom for the night, hoping for the best in the morning.
October 30, 2012 10:53am
"We are so blessed! We made it through the storm, so far. The wind and rain is still going, but it's dying down. We don't have power and our phone lines are out, I'll keep everyone posted via Facebook as long as we have cell phone towers.
Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes!"
I was so extremely excited that our house wasn't damaged. Our cars made it through with only some minor scratches and crapload of leaves on them. We spend the majority of the day talking to the neighbors and listening to the news. The paper wasn't delivered so we had only seen a few pictures of the damage online...like these...
This is the PATH station in Hoboken. I have walked by that elevator, put my Metrocard in, and rode the train to Manhattan or back to Jersey City.
This is Point Pleasant, NJ ... the beach we took my parents and brother to during their trip in NJ...it kinda looked liked this...
Sunny, warm, and a very clean beach.
October 30, 2012 6:33pm
"We are still here and doing well! the apartment has stayed rather warm and we stocked up on candles before the storm.
I'm so bored that i have started to reorganize my closet by candlelight, but thank god we are safe and we had no damage to our personal belongings.
Please pray for those that lost their home, cars, and even their lives to this horrible storm."
We had spent part of the day cleaning out our two spare bedrooms, of course this could only be done during the daylight hours. I did do my closet at night with the help of 6 candles and 1 amazing flashlight, it looks mighty awesome.
We also realized that everything in the fridge was done or almost done. So we cooked up an entire package of turkey bacon. I ate my on a sammich with some mayo, husband added some cheese to his.
We through everything else away, our greatest loss.
October 30, 2012 10:21pm
"Wanna test your cooking skills? Try unplugging your fridge, microwave, and toaster oven! Fun times.
We are officially out of refrigerated and frozen food, minus a small cooler that we are hoping stays frozen until we get power. Time to bust out the Ramen noodles! yum!"
I found out that you can toast bread in a skillet and it actually tastes better.
October 31, 2012 7:27am
"Work is closed again today and we still have no electricity. The houses on the next block have power and they predict that we will get it back today.
I guess we are lucky to live near a major post office, NJ Transit Railway, and two busy roads. Right now, I would much rather hear the sounds of the train...the emergency sirens are just overwhelming as I think about where they could be going."
By this point calling to see if work was open was partial hope for a place to go to keep warm and the other part was fear of how horrible I would like if I were to go in. I hadn't been able to use a blow dryer in days and the ponytail look was gettin old.
The entire neighborhood was hopeful for power soon. Directly to the west about two blocks is a major sorting center for USPS and we can also see the railway. We spend hours discussing this with our newly found neighbor friends.
October 31, 2012 4:15pm
"Keeping myself occupied with this awesome book! seriously, highly reccomend it!"
If your not a major baseball fan, or at least a fan of the Mets, you probably don't know who R.A. Dickey is...hey I didn't until we saw him pitch in 2011 at CitiField! I probably actually saw him pitch while he was in the minor leagues in OKC, but I can't be sure. This book is a great read for anyone that loves baseball and/or needs a little hope that there are people that are still willing to dream and work hard for their dream.
The Mets just signed R.A. for another year! whoop!
October 31, 2012 4:36pm
"classy dinner time...still waiting on power"
Horrible dinner, horrible. I have 6 of these in my pantry and they make me sick everytime I look at them.
October 31, 2012 4:49pm
"Obama says we will get power back today...he best be right, my toes are gettin cold!!"
A few hours earlier we heard Marine 1 and the other helicopters fly over our area...how crazy is that? I never thought I'd be in a natural disaster zone and have the President fly over. He stopped off in Wayne to see the flooding and then down the Jersey Shore. I wonder if the people of Staten Island, Long Island, and Hoboken are pissed. Just a thought.
October 31, 2012 8:36pm
"turning the electricity on in 15 second intervals is just plain mean. come back sweet power!!!"
While reading the book pictured above the pretty lights in our apartment came on! We could hear our downstairs neighbors celebrating, even some whoops from across the street...and then blackness.
About 5 minutes later we rinsed and repeated the same story above.
And the power stayed off.
October 31, 2012 11:03pm
"Still no power...Obama promised power to JC by the end of the day. You have ONE hour mister!!"
Husband went to bed and I held out hope that the promise President Obama felt he needed to make during his press conference earlier that day would actually come true...all of Jersey City would have power by the end of the day!
**Spoiler Alert**
It didn't come back on...and still isn't on for some people in Jersey City.
November 1, 2012 10:27am
"3rd day without power. Work is open, but the roads to get there are blocked. It's starting to get chilly in here...we might have to put a sweater on Miss Sophie Jean!"
I woke up Thursday morning to learn that work was open, but the roads to get there were blocked or were at a standstill. I also learned that I had a migraine. I think that it was from the tension of sleeping in house that was around 50°F.
My father-in-law had to work at the airport that morning so he offered to come by and pick me up...they have a generator so their house was at least 68°F or warmer!
We had to detour a number of times and I saw a few parts of Newark that I hadn't seen before, but we made it out there. I was able to work a little bit and finally saw some pictures of the damage.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I heard that Hoboken was flooded, but I could see the restaurants, bars, and the PATH station that I have been to with water still high. I learned from facebook that Point Pleasant was bad, but to see the reporter walking down the same beach I had sat on just 4 months ago was crazy.
Not too long ago I took a flight to California from JFK and I could see the streets and homes in the area that were damaged...
November 1, 2012 5:02pm
"finally made it out to the in-laws house where they have a generator! yippee!! still no power at our house (17 hours after we were promised!)
Continued prayers for those in Hoboken, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and the entire Jersey Shore...damage is beyond belief and imagination.
We just were informed that gasoline will only be given to Police, Fire, Utility Companies, etc...NJ and surrounding areas will suffer a great shortage in the coming days."
Mr. E came to join me and Sophie at my in-laws house for a nice warm dinner!
A lot of the places you see on TV I have been to and a lot of them I haven't been to, but to see the people that literally lost everything is heart breaking.
I spent the first part of the evening working and after dinner I just sat and stared at the TV as Mayor Bloomberg said that the Marathon was still going to take place, but that lower Manhattan shouldn't expect power before the end of the weekend. All of this was signed by the worlds most enthusiastic English/ASL translator I have ever seen...and then translated by the Mayor himself in amazingly horrible Spanish.
The Governor of New Jersey gave constant updates about the status of New Jersey, the state that took the brunt of the blow of Sandy. Chris Christie is a bad word in my husband's family, since he attacked the Firefighters, but overall I have to say that his attitude and blunt nature is appreciated by this gal, in this situation at least. He was upfront and didn't hold much back...especially to the Mayor of Atlantic City.
November 1, 2012 6:44pm
"I cannot believe they are going to have this event (NYC Marathon). As an aspiring runner that would one day love to run this exact race it's obviously not because I dislike the road closures or the sound of a starting gun. Way to go Bloomberg"
For reals, dumb move. I'm glad they opted to cancel. Many of the runners are helping to clean up after the storm. KUDOS!
November 2, 2012 11:15am
"On our way back to the apartment, we hear we have power now! whoop!
Drove behind these wonderful people! thanks for the extra ambulances Philly!"
I can't get the photo off of facebook from some reason, oh well. Our neighbor texted early in the AM to let us know that the power had been turned back on! WHOOP!
We ate some breakfast at then started the trip back to Jersey City, many detours and alternate routes later we pulled up to see that we did in fact have power! Oh, sweet power!
November 2, 2012 2:16pm
"I have to say that my favorite things about this situation are the nice neighbors that we have met and Mayor Bloomberg's horrible Spanish, it's hilarious!"
If you happened to catch SNL I hope you saw the impression of Mayor Bloomberg, while I found it to be just a bit racist and I know they wouldn't have ever done the same skit in the wake of Katrina, the Spanish part was quite funny.
All in all, I hope that my first hurricane is my last. It wasn't Golden and it wasn't great. I will selfishly choose power and a dry home any day.
My in-laws finally got power back on November 4th and many others still do not have power. I am sure that NJ and NY will be recovering from this storm for a long time to come. I pray for those that lost everything, for those that still don't have power as the weather gets colder.
