This one actually had more than one nickname that the media were giving to it. It was, of course, "Hurricane Sandy", but it was also known as the "Frankenstorm". Then, some people said it was "The Perfect Storm", the first since 1991, which had the famous movie by the same name made about it. Also, people were saying that this was a "Hundred Year Storm".
Whatever name it is given, it wound up being a hell of a storm. The scope of the damage, while still largely unknown, is nonetheless far greater than almost any other storm that we have seen. So, the name of the storm, signifying the level of severity, surely fits, right?
The thing is, these huge impact storms seem to be occurring these days with an increased level of frequency. This is hardly the first such storm that we have seen and, I am guessing, it will not be the last.
Still, right now, I am not looking just yet to the next big, huge, epic storm that will be projected to be the biggest one ever, yet again. Just trying to take it one day at a time in the aftermath of yet another "One Hundred Year Storm". What does that makes this, number three in the last fifteen months, or so? At least, here in the northeast, it does. We had Hurricane Irene in August of 2011, which was a huge storm that did a considerable amount of damage - although it should be noted that, for many people, that storm did not live up to it's billing. Then, there was the freak October snowstorm, where we got almost a couple of feet of snow, which weighed down trees that still largely had their leaves, and did quite extensive damage. That came after maybe ten or so weeks after Hurricane Irene.
Now, Sandy.
Plus, it should not be forgotten, that this area has seen some huge snowstorms and rainstorms in the last two years or so, which caused all sorts of havoc and flooding. I never saw as much flooding in my life as the past year and a half to two years, or so.
But it seems that we perhaps are getting used to it. At least, we should be.
Yup. We seem to be getting used to these huge, epic storms.
Maybe there's something to this global warming "theory", huh?
In any case, I have to be thankful for getting through it as easily and painlessly as I did.
When I wrote that last blog entry, I was at work. It wound up that I had to be there for about 24 hours. I slept there for a few hours, using someone's little cot. Everyone was stranded there, although some people actually did try and make it home. I did not, just resigning myself to staying there, and hence, sleeping on that cot. We were provided food (mostly sandwiches with cold cuts, and some soda and fruit). There even were some showers available in the men's locker room, and although the water was cold, it felt good, and was far better than nothing. It was not exactly deluxe accomodations at the Waldorf Astoria, but considering how bad some people had it, I hardly have a reason to complain.
I had to be there until about 4pm, just in case the one guy did not show up. But when he showed up, I was free to go.
Once again, I found myself on the drive to Hillsborough. This time, he drive was eerie.
There were downed trees everywhere. Some had collapsed onto electric lines, some had landed on homes, and some were blocking roads. Some even took the roots with them, meaning that sizeable chunks of land came along with them. Hardly anyone seemed to have power, and so there were no traffic lights that were actually working. It was all so strange.
I made it home to Hillsborough after a careful drive. Even that place looked alien, with numerous trees downed from the storm, as well. One big one had taken a chunk of the earth with it, while another had fallen right to one of the apartments. It was surreal.
Yet, as I approached the apartment, I heard something weird, and even saw a light from inside. Once I got in, it was confirmed: we had full power, full heat, full water.
And so, there was the blessing of a surprisingly comfortable evening, safe and sound in bed. It was nice to have a good meal, and a nice, warm bed to rest in.
Want to know something amazing? I slept until 11am the next morning, which made it well over 12 hours of sleep that I got. Woke up with a start, and amazed at just how late it was. I rolled out of bed with a sense of urgency.
The thing was, I had not been able to contact anybody in northern Jersey. Here, I had expected Hillsborough to be hit worse, but we had power and everything (the worst complain for that place was that we did not get all of the channels). But my son? My parents? How were they?
I tried again this morning, but still nothing. So, it was time to go on the road.
It took me an hour to drive what normally would have taken me ten, maybe fifteen minute, tops, to drive. But finally, I managed to get onto I-287. Before that, it was a maze, trying to get around with so many road closures and back ways. So many downed trees and flooded roads. Also, so many damn cars on the road. When I passed some malls, I noticed that there were a lot of people going shopping. Just hope that they were shopping for necessities, and not frivolous, mindless shopping, which seems in poor taste, given the nature of those who lost so much from this storm.
From the point of getting onto 287 onwards, however, things went quite smoothly, and I got to Route 23 without any further incident. Some traffic, of course, and the traffic lights were all down. Also, I noticed that all of the gas stations were either closed, or were filled with people, and pretty much all of the open gas stations seemed to have lines of people. Having filled up just prior to the worst of the storm, that did not affect me.
Checked on my son first, and he was at home, enjoying himself. Having a good old time, frankly. He was tumbling, going crazy.
"Watch this, dad!" he said, before rolling from the sofa to the floor. He was happy, elated. Not at all shaken up that school was closed, or that there was no foreseeable date when it might reopen. In fact, despite the severity of the storm, he seemed in fine spirits, and almost as happy and energetic as a person could be. It made me long for childhood once again. There was water, but no electricity. Estimates were that it would be 7-10 days before electricity was restored.
Thus reassured that he was okay, I went to visit my parents, who are about ten minutes drive away, under normal conditions. But on the way there, numerous road closures, and so I had to take Route 23, which was a parking lot at first. Eventually, however, it freed up, and I was able to make some better time the rest of the way.
There were a lot of trees down everywhere in the area. I live in northwest New Jersey, which tends to be mostly wooded foothills. So here, there are a lot of trees that could potentially cause a lot of havoc for the telephone poles and wires and, generally, they did.
My parents seemed okay, but they had no electricity or water. You could really feel the chill inside, and I felt bad. There was not much that I could do, however. My mom had not been able to either make it to work, or to call work. She was not even sure if it was open. I had tried calling the number as well, and had not met with any success.
Still, they were okay, so things certainly could have been far worse. This storm took numerous lives, and rendered many others homeless. Some people seemed to lose everything with this storm. Atlantic City was underwater, and it's historic beachfront looked more like a disaster zone. Nor was it alone. All up and down the Jersey Shore, boardwalks were destroyed, and beachfront property homes were invaded by the ocean water.
In New York City, whole sections were submerged underwater, and that included some underground garages, which were filled with cars that were, presumably, ruined. The subway system took a major hit, as well, and became seemingly swamp land. There exists some unbelievable footage on Youtube, and some jaw dropping pictures that I saw on Facebook.
Just an unbelievable storm! It probably is the storm that has done the most damage in this area in a long, long time. Surely, the worst during my lifetime (I'm thirty eight years old).
That said, this still is the 31st of October, and that does mark a holiday. Governor Christie announced that trick or treating would be postponed until November 5th (this coming Monday), which seems appropriate enough. So, despite all of the headaches and heartaches that have dominated these last few days for so many people in this area, I will end with a little levity in wishing everyone a Happy Halloween. Wish I could say it under better circumstances.
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