JFF: East Coast Moms: How Was Your Hurricane?

We lost power 430 Monday and it might not be back till at least Wednesday. Honestly, it's COLD right now. The kids don't have school till Wednesday, Halloween was moved to tomorrow. We are going to be the tail end of power back, it's only 1 block and a half section of my street that is without. We have HUGE gas lines, rationing for odd and even plate numbers, for odd or even days. My hubby has been keeping us going with running the truck as a gennie for the fridge and freezer.. Still list some things... I see down the shore where I grew up and the devastation and know I could have lost everything, but I still want my power and to be warm... I want my kids to be warm.. And hubby too. (Sorry this isn't very linear in thought.. Just my stressed frazzled brain, at least my bed is warm) oh!!! I am tired of a pitch black bathroom too.. Just saying.. Lol

It was cold and dark. Just got power back this morning and am being told to expect a gas shortage. Have you heard that? but when I drove around town and say several houses with giant trees through the roof!!! I know we are so lucky!! Lost several trees but NO damage to our house :)

We count ourselves very lucky. No loss of heat, power, or other services, no flooding. Many of our neighbors were not so lucky. Subway closures, office closures, school closures, and park closures combined with cold weather and a sick toddler, have left our life disrupted, but not too badly.

Hope all is well on your end.
F. B.

My family is on the jersey shore (that picture of the roller coaster that is in the ocean - that's where they live. I spent my summers working on that boardwalk). My brother is still without power. Substations blew and those people have been told it will take a month to restore power. Streets are still flooded. There were fires everywhere. Transformers were blowing left and right. My brother's boat disappeared from the marina (he had taken it out of the water before the hurricane). They found it a few blocks away in the side of someone's house. My parents have power but their street is still flooded.

The biggest thing is the lack of gas. There is no gas to get anywhere to gas up cars. The people who have generators can't run them because of the gas shortage. If you find a gas station with gas, the wait is over 3-4 hours long and by the time you get to the front of it, gas is usually gone.

Mira, I am east coast, but in the south. We didn't get anything but a little wind. I think a couple of panthers escaped an enclosure due to a downed tree, but that's about the extent of it... that and some erosion of sand at the beaches. It essentially skipped us as far as damage to lives and property, or disruption of daily routine.

I hope all of you further north are doing okay, though.

Mira, glad to hear that you are doing well. Check out this link, and some of the answers that ladies gave to me the other day. http://www.mamapedia.com/questions/18362010660315004929 Some people have gone through such terrible ordeals, but overall everyone seems ok.

No power for 4 days but we're lucky. Other than the kids being exhausted from being out of their routine, the House is ok. We have a generator, and our house in the eastern part of CT made it through too. the tidal surge literally came within inches of the first floor. We lucked out. I have a friend who lost 2 relatives in Staten Island, and it disheartens me to see our office acting like nothing happened (we have an office in NYC where we could be helping), as most of my co- workers are inland CT, and they didn't lose power or have damage.

We were very lucky. Powered flickered a few times but never went out. A few roof shingles blew off and a couple of thin trees fell in the woods behind our house (sideways, luckily). However, others in the area were not so lucky - some families still don't have power, schools were closed all week because only one of the five school buildings had power, and many roads were not passable. One family's house burned down because of a faulty generator hookup (the family got out). We are short on gas.

We were lucky. In Northern NJ there was a lot of damage from downed trees taking out power lines. Some fell on houses and cars and people. We had no damage and although we had no power for 3 days, my husband made sure we had our generator, plenty of gas, and a spare generator.

I urge all of the parents out there to get a generator and have someone show you how to use it properly. Even if you get a small one you should be able to run your refridgerator and a light.

Be as prepared as you can. We are stuck at home because we are conserving gas, school has not opened, but other than that we are back to normal. Also, consider donating to the Red Cross if you can. They do amazing work.

All the best to everyone I hope recovery from this disaster is swift.
R.