It's been over a week and things still aren't 100% back to normal just yet. Thankfully our area was not very hard hit however it has been absolutely unreal to see the destruction that occurred at the Jersey shore and other areas. Like most people in the tri-state area we were among the millions that lost power. Thankfully ours was only out for less than 48 hours so it was not too bad. There are still people today that are without power. Even the gym is still without power by us. Our power went out on Monday night when the storm hit land and then we got it back on Wednesday afternoon.
Day one was just about learning about the storm and the damage. We did go out on Tuesday morning to see what happened. In our little development the damage was pretty minimal but part of the siding off the peaks of the houses did come right off in the storm, but they've already come out and replaced it. The tree branches and damage up here also seemed pretty minmal. When I finally talked to my Mom on Wednesday she said the amount of trees down in the neighborhood by them was unbelievable and that Long Island suffered a significant amount of downed tree damage. They were able to get their power back on Wednesday morning, but Mike's parents were without power all the way through Saturday.
Our biggest quest on Tuesday morning was finding coffee since there was no power to make any. It took us about 2 hours of driving around to find a place that was open. We finally found a combination Burger King/Popeye's Chicken (such a strange combination) that was open and serving coffee, that was all we needed. It was warm and had power and coffee. I think I need to purchase a coffee pot like my Mother in Law has (that you can make coffee on the stove top) for going forward in case of any future power failures.
After we had our coffee and then stayed for lunch as well we returned back home to the cold, dark house. We spent the rest of Tuesday just on the couch. I was lucky enough to have my kindle and Mike used the radio on his phone to listen to the radio and pass the time. Finally when it was really dark we headed out to dinner, since the town right next to ours still had their power. The pizza place we originally wanted to go to was so crowded, since everyone else had the same idea, we decided to try the Italian place right next door. While we were able to get a seat right away we learned our lesson of why it was not crowded. At the end of our meal when our check came, I was shocked to learn that the mushroom ravioli special I had ordered was at the price of $25. That's right $25 for mushroom ravioli's. Our whole bill had come to $70 for one appetizer (stuffed artichoke), my mushroom ravioli, Mike had eggplant parm, and one glass of wine and a coke, and it was $70. I mean at least we were warm, but we will not be going back to that place again.
On Wednesday after we once again secured our morning coffee, we decided to venture out to the mall to pass the time. We headed over to the Garden State Mall in Paramus and were amazed to see the amounts of people that had not just come to pass the time but also to seek refuge. There were hundreds of people camped out on the floor in the middle of the mall using the outlets that were there. They had brought not just cell phones to charge but entire surge protectors filled with gadgets. We were amazed at the amount of people there just sitting using their computers. I even saw a woman with a hair dryer at one point. The food court was more crowded than at Christmas time and we couldn't get a table so we ate our lunch standing up. Needless to say we were so excited when we returned home from the mall to find out that our power had been restored.
The rest of the week for us was uneventful as we enjoyed having our power back but as we watched and learned of all of the devastation in the area it was surreal. Everything came to a standstill, public transit was hit especially hard. The tunnels were all closed, some still, the tunnels were entirely flooded as well as subway stations. It really was unreal.
Then came the gas crisis part. Since power was still out in many areas then it became a problem for people to get gas at the few stations that were open resulting in huge, huge lines. People waiting with their cars and with gas cans, and violence was erupting. They put into place in New Jersey the odd/even system to help ease some of the congestion at gas stations while they finish restoring the power and getting gas to the stations that have run out too quickly.
Now over a week later life is slowly returning to normal for most people. Although many people have lost their homes, so sad. Mass transit is finally starting to run again and get back up to speed, more every day. It's amazing how much the whole area was shut down from this storm and the impact that it's had. Hopefully things can get back to normal soon.
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