Hurricane Sandy Check-In

[Crossbow]

What the fucking hell? Did you get any of the company iinfo on the truck?

[Greenday]

Update: I went home to check on the dogs and eat lunch. I was just about to sit down when some mother fucking asshole from an Ohio tree company backs up without checking to see if it's clear and a wire to my house gets caught, ripping our electric meter off our house and now leaving a downed wire in my lawn.

They stayed long enough to get my address before taking off.

I called the cops and they took down my info and story.

My mom called JCP&L who promptly gave us the finger and told us it's not their problem.

Now we DEFINITELY wont get power any time soon.

[BookstoreEscapee]

JCP&L said if we don't get it by tonight, then definitely by Friday night.

My guess is when we don't have power Friday night, they'll say definitely Sunday night.

But they didn't say which Friday night.....

keeping my fingers crossed for you..

[Greenday]

JCP&L said if we don't get it by tonight, then definitely by Friday night.

My guess is when we don't have power Friday night, they'll say definitely Sunday night.

[Greenday]

be careful for you guys further north...

aparently there is ANOTHER storm moving in gonna bring snow snow and rain.

We have a Nor'easter hitting tomorrow evening. Not a big deal. Far enough from the coast that most towns have nothing to worry about. Just the normal flooding towns have to worry.

[Sarlon]

be careful for you guys further north...

aparently there is ANOTHER storm moving in gonna bring snow snow and rain.

[Greenday]

Still nothing. Power company said "Wednesday" but for some reason I don't believe them. Maybe it@ls because everyone in the state who has called was told "Wednesday". Gee, they are magically going to fix everyone's power by Wednesday? I'm calling BS.

[Cat]

Hi all

I was very lucky in my S. Connecticut town...no power loss at all, no damage. My friends and parents lost theirs, but they are up and running. My friends in LI are safe, but dealing with the aftermath.

Haven't seen gas shortages yet, but did see a NY car with four gas containers on top of their car (I'd be nervous driving like that!)

Hopefully this nor'easter won't be too bad...ugh....it's scary what even a Cat 1 Hurricane can do.

Stay safe and warm, everyone.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Found out why I don't have power. The power line that attaches to the house across the street fell. The power company won't turn my street's power on until my neighbor hires an electrician to fix it. They called people and it would have been $3,000 to get it fixed on a Sunday. Sounds like highway robbery to me. So I can understand why they are waiting until tomorrow to do it. Unfortunately, our other neighbors disagree with waiting and it has almost led to multiple fights. My cable wire is down so when we get power, I'll have to call Comcast. We'll see what happens. The cops in my town have been grumpy jerks lately.

That sucks. You'd think (hope) they'd be a little more accommodating at a time like this. At least not charge weekend rates for something like that.

I got a message from Cablevision that they'll give a credit for the time the power was out, even though it's not their fault we weren't getting service, which is really nice of them. It said once you get your power back to call so they can calculate the credit amount. I'll have to call tomorrow. I'm also going to look at my homeowner's insurance and see if they cover the lost contents of my fridge/freezer for something like this. Right now my freezer is completely empty except for some ice on the bottom from condensation on the defrosting packages that were in there. I'm switching companies and I know New Jersey Manufacturer's doesn't cover it but my old policy is in effect until Nov. 15th so I'll at least check into it. My aunt's insurance does and last time they had an extended outage they got a check for $250. I figure it's worth a shot.

[Greenday]

Found out why I don't have power. The power line that attaches to the house across the street fell. The power company won't turn my street's power on until my neighbor hires an electrician to fix it. They called people and it would have been $3,000 to get it fixed on a Sunday. Sounds like highway robbery to me. So I can understand why they are waiting until tomorrow to do it. Unfortunately, our other neighbors disagree with waiting and it has almost led to multiple fights. My cable wire is down so when we get power, I'll have to call Comcast. We'll see what happens. The cops in my town have been grumpy jerks lately.

[BookstoreEscapee]

And finally home...never been so glad to hear the noise of my heater!

[BookstoreEscapee]

Seems like everyone is getting power but me. Some cop drove down my street and said we were getting power today. But naturally, the downed power line and broken pole aren't priorities. No, really, I love hanging in my house when it's in the forties without heat. /sarcasm

Oh and it appears they are using the National Guard for night gas station duty.

I got mine back last night. One of my friends in East Windsor still doesn't have power, but it seems everyone around her does and she can't get any info from JCP&L. She's not sure if she needs to call an electrician or not. Worst part is her heat and hot water are electric (I actually saw that place in my search when I was househunting and that was a big reason I didn't even look at it).

One of my facebook friends posted a pic of a utility truck from Nebraska, taken on Rt 36 in West Long Branch.

There is a National Guard Armory across the street from my complex and they are using it as a fuel station, with a tanker truck in the back parking lot. The line yesterday was huge.

Also, a friend of mine posted a site on facebook for finding open gas stations, http://findgas.org/. Apparently the station I usually use near work is open, so I'm going to try that tomorrow (can't get gas today because of the even/odd rule). I have enough gas to get to work and back for a day or two, so I want to fill it asap in case I wind up waiting forever.

[Seshat]

There were death tolls in other disasters that were higher, but that's not the only bad thing that happens.

Flood mud is nasty stuff, too. Just FULL of potential disease-causing organisms.

And in a flood, critters that usually live underground are flooded out, so they've moved to higher ground, then gone back to often find their dens choked. There was a photo from last years' Australian floods, showing a cluster of taipans living in one of those little holes where electricians access the wiring in underground-wiring neighbourhoods.
So if your electricians are slow to restore power, it just might be unexpected wildlife!

Another common consequence of floods - at least here - is building rot.


But yeah - we're just residents here. Nature's in charge.
Sometimes after a disaster I overhear people saying 'well they shouldn't be living there', where 'there' is 'near a volcano' or 'in an earthquake zone' or whatever.
Where are they supposed to live? I can think of nowhere on the planet that isn't in some sort of potential disaster zone.

All we can do is brace for impact, and support each other.

[Greenday]

Seems like everyone is getting power but me. Some cop drove down my street and said we were getting power today. But naturally, the downed power line and broken pole aren't priorities. No, really, I love hanging in my house when it's in the forties without heat. /sarcasm

Oh and it appears they are using the National Guard for night gas station duty.

[Crossbow]

One of the smartest things anybody said recently was that "Nature is a lot stronger than we are." If anyone ever doubted it, they have only to look at these photos.

Too many people forget that we're just along for the ride. Or, to use one of my favorite quotes, "The first rule of Nature: Nature Rules."