We Made it Through the Storm

[MX]

Like I said in my note, my family is deffintly wishing you all the best and thinking of you, your family, friends and neighbors.

But I did fail to mention (even though I should not need to) if there is anyway I can help, just let me know.

Tim

 

[broblues]

It's sometimes is hard to remember your primary objective is to drain the swamp when you are asshole deep in alligators.

Stay safe!

 

[DeputyDawg]

After readying your story all I can say is Wow! Unbelievable.

Sir I hope your recovery goes well. Thoughts and prayers are sent.

You see this stuff on the television, but until you get a personal perspective, it is hard to understand.

Thanks for taking the time to tell us your and your families ordeal.

 

[Smokin'Sims]

Glad to hear you are all safe. Let us know how we can help.

 

[engspot]

Gary, I'm glad to hear you and your family are OK.

 

[vortex]

Sounds like you were lucky but prepared very well for it, Gary. I'm glad it turned out alright for you.

 

[CigarMan Andy]

Glad you are doing better. You are still welcome in CA when ever you want bro.

 

[H311oLHD]

What an incredible story. Thank you for sharing that with all of us. Prayers to your friends and neighbors. Really glad you and your loved ones are okay!!!

 

[stogieman]

Glad to hear that you are doing better brother. Sorry to hear you had to get rid of a lot of your stuff along with losing your cars. Like everyone else already said, let me know if there is anything you need...... :thumbs:

 

[tone-ny]

Glad to hear that you guys are safe and sound. The material stuff you can replace.

 

[ironpeddler]

Thanks Charlie...and all you guys. It really does boost one's confidence and courage when you hear such supportive comments and offers of help from everyone here. I can't thank you all enough.

It's getting a little tense all around our area as everyone's patience has worn thin even thought they all know there is nothing better that can be done. The state started gas rationing a few days ago, FEMA ran out of bottled water and hopefully they will restocked today. We've had regular patrols from the Toms River PD and State Troopers around the clock since last Wednesday. They check every person that comes into our neighborhood and escort them to the exact house they say they are visiting. People were coming in to take pictures to sell to TV stations (we heard from them) and they want to prevent any looting. The Fire Department makes frequent rounds of our houses to ask if we need anything at all...water, medical assistance, or food. The jackets they are wearing are from all over the place...NJ, PA, MD, DE, NY and even a far as Ohio.

Not a rental car to be found in about 150 mile radius. Getting claims into our insurance companies are very difficult because most of them are still without power and running on backup generators just to get their phone lines to work...let alone using fax or email services. The damage is far worst than even the pictures show on TV. While you may see a house or neighborhood standing and looking untouched from the air, it had it's windows blown in from the wind and flood waters and it's under water inside. The barrier islands are pretty much destroyed. They started letting people back into the area of Seaside Heights/Point Pleasant yesterday and will allow the people onto Long Beach Island today. I have friends on local Police departments who were sent there this morning and what they are seeing is complete destruction, impassable roads covered with 6ft of sand, no power lines or wires at all..they're all gone and washed into the bay, poles and all. The reason for the delays on getting back there was that it took the gas company 6 days to turn off the gas feeds as they were either buried under an avalanche of debris or destroyed. We're all coming together as a unified community like I've never seen before...strangers helping strangers...it's so inspiring and is what is driving us all to move forward and have hope once again.

Good news is we got garbage pickup this morning which was freakin' awesome!...and we had mail delivery yesterday too...can you believe it? The downtown Toms River post office was completely destroyed our mailman told us when he was here. They've been meeting in large, dry parking lots outside of town where they bring in tractor trailers of mail and hand sort it out to the local carrier's trucks. Unbelievable...I'll never trash talk USPS again because my package is here a day late!

Most of the people in our neighborhood still don't have power like we do...we're on a different circuit than the other folks. We've been powering our neighbors behind us refrigerators & wells for the past 5 days with extension cords strewn across our lawns and over fences like orange spaghetti. A strange thing though, when it gets to be late at night and I lay in bed trying to collect my thoughts about what I have to do tomorrow, you can hear the sounds made by all the different generators running all around the neighborhood...2 cycle, 4 cycle, diesel...what a very sobering reminder of how everyone is still struggling to get back to 'normal' while trying to clean up all around us. I instituted a plan of siphoning the gas from our flooded vehicles to distribute to the folks with generators. Finding the ones where salt water didn't get in was a challenge...but we found quite a few. Gas cans are at a premium as most of them floated away when our sheds were over run by water...but we found them...in trees, behind shrubs, and inside demolished houses!

More good news...our well is starting to clear up from the saltwater contamination of the flood waters. We had to run the pump for almost 48 hours straight before the intense salt taste dissipated. We then had to drain all the salty water out of the house and hot water heater, but once we were done, that first shower in a long time never felt so good...and you forget what it's like to wash dishes by hand with fresh water instead of using the dishwasher! It also seems that our cell coverage is almost back to normal. Where it got better later in the week with those portable cell towers that are run by generators, they had to take some of them down to transfer over to the new towers being erected and it's almost back to normal. Text messages go right through instead of hanging up for minutes at a time or never going through at all. It's nice to hear the phone ring again...like music to our ears. Now if only one of them was from my car insurance company :laugh:

Gotta run for now. Thanks again for the positive thoughts here at CP, via text messages, and by phone from my CP brothers...it really means a lot!

 

[broblues]

Gary,

I for one appreciate your blow by blow description. I sure can feel your emotion and your frustration. I'm sure we all wish we could help to ease your burdon. A little at a time Gary. Take care of yourself!

 

[4cbln3]

To see you post here means your sanity is in check, Gary. It's relieving to hear neighbors all around are working together and public safety teams are coming in from all over. Makes me proud to say I live in the UNITED states of America.

Give us a post when you think USPS can deliver regularly, I want to send a care package to you and your neighbors. I'm so far away, I feel helpless.


Dave

 

[MX]

Gary,

Looks like round 2 is inbound. Once again our thoughts are with you and yours.
In the middle of all this, don"t forget to stop and reflect on how lucky you really are that you are standing there with your family and loved ones.

..oh yeah, and nub one down if you get a chance!

Tim

 

[4cbln3]

Give us a post when you think USPS can deliver regularly, I want to send a care package to you and your neighbors. I'm so far away, I feel helpless.

:whistling: :whistling:

 

[ironpeddler]

Well, just when you think it can't get any worst, it got worst. With the snow storm last night, there are now 163,000 additional people without power because of the weight of the heavy snow on the power lines and trees. Some people just got it back within the last 2 days. A friend of mine got his back at 4pm yesterday and now it's out again. My daughter called to say her power was out and on the main road by her house, New Hampshire Ave, there are over 20 trees down and in the road. The power company (JCP&L) is getting hammered with complaints from both the residents and the politicians which I guess prompted them to bring in additional help from any neighboring state. There is now a shortage of telephone poles in NJ that has slowed down the recovery efforts to get peoples power back. Other power companies are sending their supplies over that they can spare. At the Paramus Park Mall in Northern NJ, almost the entire parking lot is covered with power utility trucks from other states now. With the increase in imported workers from other state's power companies, they have erected two massive heated 50,000sf tents to house and feed the electrical workers. They'll include cots to sleep on, a kitchen/cafeteria area, hot showers, and a area to relax in. They whipped these together in less than 2 days.

My buddy that works at the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst said that FEMA has mobilized an incredible amount of trailers, generators, and emergency vehicles at an unbelievable rate. He said the equipment covers the entire area where the Hindenburg blimp crashed and giant blimp hanger occupy....and let me tell you, that's a HUGE area! They have cranes picking the stuff up and loading it on flatbed trailers to distribute around the state. They are utilizing Fort Dix as well.

The helicopters are filling the sky along the coastline again this morning...I guess surveying what happened last night as a result of the snow storm. They are also probably coordinating by air the people being allowed on the barrier island of Seaside Heights as those residents are being allowed to visit their houses for the first time...but only within a 4 hour window. They are ONLY ALLOWED to bring in 2 suitcases to fill and then have to leave immediately. They held a township meeting on the mainland last night and the people that lived on the barrier island are at the end of their ropes with patience and I can't blame them. For the folks that only had flooding and who's house weren't completely destroyed, they can't get in there to rip out the carpets and start stripping the sheet rock to prevent further leaching of the water. All this snow and frigid cold sure doesn't help.

The township has hired area contractors with dump trucks and excavators with either grapple buckets or thumbs to remove all the debris from the front of everyone's houses since last weekend. That's now stalled because of the heavy snow covering everything AND the fact that those dump trucks (if fitted with plows) are now clearing the roads. When can we catch a break?

We are so lucky to have power and heat. Numerous times a day we get these big pulses through the house where the lights go brighter, then dim, then return to normal...we just had one as I'm typing this post...very strange. We only have our laptops working as they have batteries to smooth out these glitches. We are constantly unplugging our TVs even though they have protective power strips as we don't want to take any chances. The compressor in the fridge is taking a beating with this power phenomenon, each time it happens it's making strange noises louder and louder.

Finally got a hold of my car insurance company a few days ago. The adjuster said the insurance companies are writing off and towing an average of 2,000 cars a day in Southern New Jersey alone. Still don't have a rental car yet, but we are working our way down on numerous lists I'm on...averaging around 200-225th place on them now....heck, we were at 325+ just 2 days ago. Making progress little by little. Every day we give thanks we came out OK and having the ability to now use our cell phones on a consistent basis has helped ease the anxiety as we try to comfort each other. We don't look for good days or bad days any more...we just look to have a good few hours at a time to boost our spirits. Shortening the expectations has really worked in keeping us sane. Can't wait for the distraction of tonights football game to sit down and have a scotch and smoke a couple of cigars...short term goals dangled in front of ourselves like a carrot in front of a horse's nose! That seems to be working so far.

We're sure not in a hurry to get outside this morning to continue the cleanup efforts...it's freakin' cold out there for these old bones! :laugh:

 

[broblues]

You will be a changed man when this is over. You will have learned alot and created or strengthened relationships. Stay positive. That....is important! :thumbs:

 

[ironpeddler]

One down, 2 to go...we had to take the chrome wheels off of the car because the salt water ate away at the finish and all 4 tires went flat. On went the original tires that we finally found as they floated out of our back yard, through the gate the wind blew open by ripping the lock apart, and the tires drifted into the neighborhood. We originally found 3 and days later an unnamed neighbor dropped the other one off in front of the house with a note saying..."Look what I caught fishing in my front yard!" Good thing we had the other 3 leaning up against the garage door. :laugh:

 

[broblues]

One down, 2 to go...we had to take the chrome wheels off of the car because the salt water ate away at the finish and all 4 tires went flat. On went the original tires that we finally found as they floated out of our back yard, through the gate the wind blew open by ripping the lock apart, and the tires drifted into the neighborhood. We originally found 3 and days later an unnamed neighbor dropped the other one off in front of the house with a note saying..."Look what I caught fishing in my front yard!" Good thing we had the other 3 leaning up against the garage door. :laugh:

So is there any normalcy getting back to your life yet?

 

[ironpeddler]

One down, 2 to go...we had to take the chrome wheels off of the car because the salt water ate away at the finish and all 4 tires went flat. On went the original tires that we finally found as they floated out of our back yard, through the gate the wind blew open by ripping the lock apart, and the tires drifted into the neighborhood. We originally found 3 and days later an unnamed neighbor dropped the other one off in front of the house with a note saying..."Look what I caught fishing in my front yard!" Good thing we had the other 3 leaning up against the garage door. :laugh:

So is there any normalcy getting back to your life yet?

Sort of Steve. We have good days and bad...it's a crap shoot. Just when you get on a good roll, something screws it up. The insurance companies are low balling everyone on everything. Our car values, home contents values, whether items are covered under the 'Flood' provision of your policy or not, what deductible values are based on a 'natural disaster' or some other claim name and how they are applied....the list goes on & on. Just getting an adjuster to the house to look over the car & house damage is taking so long but is to be expected during times like these. But when you factor in the time taken for them to first get there to survey everything, file their report, send it over to their Total Loss Department, then they send you over their paperwork for you to sign, then to negotiate with them to a closer fair value after they lowball you, then they have to resubmit all the paperwork back at the higher number, send the amended numbers back to us for a signature, and then the time frame in processing a check to START the repairs or to go out and buy a new car....it's mentally exhausting. I just got done doing this for my car and I'm finally FedExing the paperwork back to them TODAY...almost a month after the storm.

Prices of new & used cars are through the roof as the dealers and private sellers are taking advantage of the situation....the building and repair contractors too. Can't say as I blame them as both industries have been in the toilet for the last 4-5 years....but the obvious gougers are the ones to watch out for. Out of state building contractors are everywhere and have no issues doubling or tripling their quotes to us locals...and with so few contractors still around due to the economy, these scammers are making out. Some have been caught and fined by the State but return under another company name they had already in case this sort of thing happened....which I'm sure it did when they were at another part of the country during those disasters.

Then when you get through all that, there is still what is all around us. Piles of debris the size of mountains in large parking lots and vacant building lots around each town....dump trucks by the hundreds speeding around all over, smashed boats in the boat yards...the wreckers towing cars that look brand new on the roads in everyone's neighborhood you visit...endless piles of debris in front of most people's house as the rip outs continue...these sights are a constant reminder of the lack of normalcy....but they are also a sign of progress! They're talking about having the Seaside Heights boardwalk partially ready for Memorial Day weekend which I think is a stretch when you see it.

This was the widest part of the boardwalk that had park benches lining it with railing and stairs leading down to the sand.

The roller coaster that you see on TV is on the other side of this pier.

The water was higher than the doors as you can see the discoloration on them

This is the Life Guard shack...can't believe it made it through the storm!

This is Rt. 35 on the barrier island right after Seaside Heights headed towards Ortley Beach...they left about a foot of sand on the road because there are sink holes developing. They're in the process of digging the sand out of each hole and filling them with blue stone once they they are located. The National Guard is standing watch on the island with duce and a halfs all over the place with warming tents, porta potties, and temporary barrack tents set up on side streets in front of destroyed homes.

BUT, we had a great Thanksgiving filled with good food, drinks, family, friends, and cigars! That day was truly a blessing and reminded all of us just how much we have to be thankful for. :thumbs: