Sandy's Aftermath

Sandy has dealt with us and moved on. We personally have had very little damage - a few twigs and branches in the yard. Our power blinked once or twice but stayed on. Some of my friends lost power around 8 last night and some are still not back. We were very, very lucky. All around trees are down everywhere crushing cars and roofs. Power lines are down and everything is still closed. Our area was very, very lucky.

The rest of the state is pure devastation. Our shore is decimated. Many of the shore towns are still underwater. There is as much as 9 inches of sand in the streets that aren't underwater. Peoples' homes, businesses, boats, cars, docks are destroyed. They have been tossed around like toys. There are houses washed off their foundations sitting in the middle of Rt 35, one of our highways. Nine railroad cars washed off the tracks and on to the NJ Turnpike. Many of the piers are damaged beyond hope - including the amusement pier at Seaside Heights where the roller coaster was washed out to sea.

Because our governor and the local officials evacuated the barrier islands in time many lives were spared. Christie may be abrasive and blunt at times but he was right in this case. He had a press conference this afternoon and you could see it in his face and hear it in his voice. He's a Jersey boy and he took it to heart. I understand that - I'm a Jersey girl. If the shore hurts, we bleed. It's our way of life, our home and our livelihood. The damage done is extensive and will be very expensive to repair, but none of that could measure up to the loss of life. We were protected by the hand of the Lord. Things can be replaced but people can't.