I am in such awe of the love and support we have gotten from the community since hurricane Sandy rolled in last Monday.
We have been blessed with food and clothing to replace some that was lost. We have started getting some donations from paypal to help with rebuilding as well. As I type this I am crying happy tears.
It has been a hard last two weeks. I know we are so blessed, and that many lost even more than we did. But it is still ok for me (Becky) to feel sad for what I lost (car, income sources, quiet, and my son's homemade train table, among other things.) It is ok for all of us to feel sad for whatever situation we are going through.
We decided to stay during the hurricane, since where we live happens to be a higher street in Union Beach (my grandmother lived here 50 years before me and she never had water come near her house.) Monday was actually a pleasant day. We had a hurricane party. We had snacks, and movies, and just had a fun day.
Until about 7:30 when cousins who live right near me said they had water on their street. Within minutes it was in my yard, and the water rose so quickly I just stood in awe on my back deck, not really sure what to do. We watched as the water rise above the car tires, then higher, above my sister's license, almost level to my deck. Inside we began frantically pulling anything of value off the floors and taking it and food and water upstairs. It was so scary and surreal.
But by some miracle as quickly as the water rose, it receded (from what I learned later other streets had water for hours.) We did not have water coming up through the floor or walls. For us, by 11pm their was only a few inches in the yard. But it was enough time to do some damage.
At some point during the water coming up, we lost power as well.
During the flooding time a fire started right down the street, and as the waters receded we watched in horror as this building (a motorcycle shop with an apartment above it) was engulfed in flames. The embers were flying everywhere as well. I thought they were going to fly right over and light our house on fire.
I was thinking we were spared on flood damage, but now my house will burn down. It was a terrifying thought.
Eventually the fire was extinguished and we all attempted to go to bed. I went praying that the worse was over.
Thankfully I was able to sleep that night.
~Becky
Dear Becky,
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for your losses. I will post about this on my blog soon. I was very discouraged over the lack of support of the country as a whole for Hurricane Sandy, but I'm hoping that the help will come now, albeit a little late.
Sending my prayers to you and your family!
Sharon
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. Since we are only rejoing the 21st century on Sat. (regaining all our utilities) I really have not even seen any news coverage or anything on storm, so I have no idea about the lack of support. I do know in my own town we all have been rallying togther. People who lost homes voluntering at the collection sites and helping each other clean up debri. It has been amazing!
Thanks for sharing my blog on yours and for your prayers!!
-Becky
I know the very next day, our church collected over 13,000 here in San Diego, CA. Plus, San Diego Electric company trucks were immediately dispatched to the East Coast. It was well reported and teams from Red Cross were immediately being sent. Remember, airports and public transportation were all shut down as well as post office. Also, there was no power in many areas and flood water and gas mains broken. From what we saw on the news here, it seemed like they were working overtime to restore power and close the gas lines off. I'm sure when you are in the middle of the disaster it seems help is not fast enough though.
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