Our hurricane Sandy story

We created this blog as an avenue to share our hurricane Sandy situation.

First let me start off with who we are. We are two sister's who live one street apart in Union Beach, NJ. We are also both single mom's. Between us we have three sweet, active, loving boys.

                                                               us from fall 2011
                           our current ages: Becky (33), Sam (23), Jason (14), Josh (9), and Kaiden (2.5)
     
We did not lose our homes entirely during the storm, but we both did have damage.

My (Becky) home suffered much less damage than Sam, but as of right now I have water in the sub floor. I have to rip up all my laminate floors and carpet in my downstairs.  I have to replace my heating / cooling and insulation in my crawl space. I also have to replace my central air unit. (And I love cool air.)

                                  the upstairs window is gone (it leaked), but this is my house
                                         

    my house from side and yard and shed, water was above where my siding starts during hurricane

In addition my car, a 1998 Dodge caravan, although running, was deemed unsafe by my mechanic (since it was damaged in flood.)

Although I do have flood insurance, it has a standard $3,000 deductible; and does not cover contents or the car.

My (Sam) home suffered much more damage. I am still unsure of the structure damage. But inside I had about 2 feet of water and the walls, and floors are ruined. Almost everything I own is now sitting on the curb. I was physically sick as my ruined items were casually discarded as trash. But that is what they have become.

 picture from 2007 (house is now green, with green door, fence is now white)

I watched as the waters rose over my car tires, then license, eventually submerging the engine. My 1999 Dodge Neon is ruined.

My home is in my grandmother's name, and their is no insurance at all. At this point I do not even know where to begin. I still have to have mud clean up (all water damage removed), and structure checked, and roof checked, and more. FEMA deemed the house rebuildable, but not livable at this time. This means I am homeless, and my son and I have taken over my 9 year old nephew's room at my sister's.

So we now are all sharing my (Becky's) 900 square foot home. It is a tight squeeze, but we are blessed to not be in a shelter.

We finally have power, heat, and internet again.

We need your prayers and financial help in rebuilding our homes. Thanks.

-Becky & Sam