I got off of work this morning, and hesitated.
Should I go to Hillsborough, and get a few hours of sleep, a decent shower and maybe a good meal? Or, since I had prepared well ahead of time to stay at my job site for literally days if need be, should I not chance it, and stay put? That would mean finding a quiet place where I could go to sleep, and probably having either a back ache, headache, or both. Plus, I have been feeling sick, and this storm has not been helping matters, frankly.
But as uninviting as staying may have seemed, the prospect of going to Hillsborough, as inviting as it seemed, posed it's own problems. Not in actually being there, but in getting there and, more importantly, in heading back to work later in the day, since that was precisely when the storm was supposed to gain traction and pick up in intensity.
Visions of white knuckle driving, of something happening, and then regretting it for a long time afterwards, kicking myself for my stupidity. All of those things were weighing on me.
Why not just stay put, then?
I talked it over with Basia. What to do, what to do?
The problem with Hillsborough,.specifically, from what a couple of people have told me, is that when there are heavy rains, it is surrounded by flood zones, so it becomes almost like an island. You can't get in, and you can't get out.
In the end, I decided to go ahead and aim for Hillsborough. The idea of sleeping in a bed, getting a chance to wash up and be comfortable, and maybe, hopefully, seeing Basia, proved too tempting. Despite my internal warnings, I decided to just go ahead, since the storm had started so late. Hell, I would stay up, and if it got bad, I would leave right then and there.
The trip there was not actually bad. I got there. it took some time, but there were no incidents. The most alarming part was driving along 287, when I felt the slight hydroplaning of the car, which caused me to slow down and become the slowest driver on the highway for while (I will admit to being on the opposite end of that spectrum in most cases, but not usually during inclimate weather conditions like this). Also along that highway, there was a sign that read: State of Emergency In Effect. That also was a wake up call.
Otherwise, nothing.
So, I got there, and it was indeed a comfort to be in familial surroundings. I was tired, and knowing that it would be a good idea to get as much sleep as I could while I could, went to bed. Sleep was not forthcoming, so I turned on the television, watched an episode of Frasier, and before too long, I fell asleep (I like Frasier, and in no way is this a comment on the show, but my fatigue was strong by that point).
Awoke to a phone call from my boss, asking me to come in a few hours early, and that I would be expected to prepare to stay for a long period of time, which I had understood well before he told me that. Plus, I had been expecting to come to work well before my expected start of shift (midnight, under normal conditions), but now, I would be paid extra to do so. So, that was good. But that also meant sleep was more essential than ever.
Unfortunately, there was no more sleep, however. After a while, I gave up on being able to sleep again and, after accidentally rolling over on top of the dog, it was time to get up, physically. So, I got up, reluctantly, and turned on the tube, and just relaxed. Watched the latter half of a movie that looks quite funny, called Hot Rod, and then watched the first part of the 40 Year Old Virgin, when it was interrupted by a phone call.
Basia, again.
She told me to turn on the news, and reluctantly, I did so. Road closures everywhere, flooding reports were widespread, and the storm was obviously projected to get worse. it would make landfall somewhere in New Jersey approximately at around either 8pm or 9pm, and that would be when everything would really hit the fan. The news anchors were urging everyone to stay off the roads, of course. The pictures of the roadways that they did show mostly abandoned highways, which seemed a little eerie, frankly.
A bit nervous now, wondering if I had waited too long (it was about 2pm or so, by then), it was not time to start getting going. I finished eating, washed the dishes, and took a shower. Filled the bathtub up with water afterwards, just in case she would lose power for some duration thereafter. Got another call from her, saying that she was nervous about driving, and could I bring the dog to her workplace? Of course I could, no problem.
So, I went, and actually got to see her, however briefly.
Then, it was time to drive all the way back. I drove slowly, and encountered nothing major until I got to the highways, particularly Route 287, when the presence of strong winds began to make itself felt. But I pushed forth, and got to Route 1, closing in on Rahway, where I work. Slowly, I trudged along, stopping to get gas to fill the car. if there was widespread flooding and/or power failures, there was a chance I might not get to fill up with gas for a while, so why not?
Finally, I got there.
Relief.
Now, I could really relax, and just stay put. Gathered my belongings, which would hopefully serve as the comforts of home away from home for likely the next day or so, at least, and dropped them off. Then, I returned to my car, and crashed for a few hours of shut eye, and that felt really great!
Until I woke up, almost three hours later. There was something wrong. Things seemed weird, somehow, but I could not immediately place it. Then, slowly but surely, it became obvious, as I stepped out of the car and into the parking garage that protected me from the elements. It was completely dark outside, in all directions.
Completely dark? No, not completely. There were the flashing police lights on the main roadway, and inside of the campus, as well.
A power failure, obviously. I would later find out that it had happened maybe fifteen minutes prior to my getting up from the nap.
Initially, I could not even get out of the damn parking garage, until my card was able to open a side door. That meant walking outside for a few minutes, to get to the main entrance. That was when I caughta glimpse of the town, completely blacked out, almost. Very weird.
Also, it gave me a feel for the storm at it's most powerful, and it was bad. I had to squint the entire way, shielding my face at times with my hands from the pelting rain.
Got to the main gate, and was stopped, obviously. But they knew who I was, and I was provided a ride, and then started work shortly thereafter.
Got to check the internet a bit, and scoped out the extent of the damage. It was worse than I thought.
There were power failures that were widespread. I saw somewhere that at least three million people were without power and, it seems, most of Manhattan could be counted among those numbers. There was an explosion at a power plant in New York City that could be seen on Youtube (I'll try and add the link below, at the end of this blog). A crane was damaged because of the storm, and from a picture that I saw of it, it seemed not to have fallen down entirely, but it forced the evacuation of numerous buildings down below. New Jersey's coast got flooded, with Atlantic City receiving a lot of damage. The waters rose above the boardwalk, and caused considerable damage to them. Much of that city was flooded, as were numerous coastal communities. Further north, Hoboken and Hackensack both saw some major flooding, as well. There were numerous highway closures - the one that got me moving and heading back to work were reports of the Garden State Parkway being closed - both sides - for essentially the entire southern half of the state.
And that was just this area. The storm did considerable damage, and is already considered one of the worst, and possibly the worst, that this area, and perhaps the northeastern United States, has ever seen. From what I can gather, it was not the strength of the winds, as much as it was the ability of the storm to push the water inland, that packed the real punch to this storm.
So now, here I am. The storm seems to be tapering off, slowly but surely. The rain is not coming down as relentlessly, and the winds have tapered off, from 90mph in some spots, to around teens and 20's presently. Hopefully, this does not sound overly cliche, but it appears that the worst is behind us.
Now, as the storm clears, we will get a clearer assessment of the damage.
Here is the link to that video that I mentioned above. This is from ABC, but if you go to Youtube and enter the words "Sandy Con Ed (or Edison) Explosion, you will get other options:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX0sbp1hK-A
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