The Aftermath of Sandy....

The last two weeks have been unlike anything I have EVER experienced in my life.  I live in New Jersey in a small square mile town situated only 1 mile from the Atlantic Ocean and across the street from the river.  We were hit VERY hard by Sandy and to say my quiet little area is forever changed is an understatement.   I have seen so much in the last 2 weeks.

The bad...


Unthinkable destruction and loss around me
People losing everything they own
A shelter in my daughter's middle school to help feed, house and warm the less fortunate
A FEMA tent-city in my town in a giant parking lot
Garbage everywhere
A second round of bad weather dumping snow on top of already damaged homes, trees and garbage lined streets
Thousands without power for over 10 days
Families damaged by arguing, anger and frustration as a result of stress
Children with sorrow in their eyes after losing so much
Children with confusion in their eyes who cannot understand where Halloween went and what comes next

The good...

People giving of themselves before, during and after the storm to help neighbors and people in our town and surrounding areas
Families opening their own homes to house others, do laundry, feed or entertain those without such amenities
A shelter in my daughter's middle school to help feed, house and warm the less fortunate (yes, this one falls on the good and the bad list)
Thousands of donated clothes for those who have lost everything
Acquaintances becoming new friends after such loss and tragedy
Children making new friends and smiling like children should be doing
Utility crews from around the United States and Canada flooding into our area to help therefore necessitating the "tent-city" shelter in our town
Schools and teachers giving of their time, wallets and hearts to help the children of our school systems recover what they need to get back to school
Friends from out of town giving of themselves to help my little area

It is incredible.  This event has FOREVER changed me for the good and of course scarred all of us too.    We consider ourselves very fortunate to have only lost our garage, basement and hot water heater amongst all of the other loss.   We have each other, our home and health and we are extremely thankful for that.   

For those of you who are not local, here are some photos from just my house and street.  

Here are some pictures of my street BEFORE the storm truly hit.  

My home after the storm surge came through.   This is our basement with everything we could possibly raise up and in bins.  We consider ourselves VERY lucky.

And here is the morning and following days after.  People's belongings scattered all over the streets.

Insulation from crawl spaces and walls of lower levels removed to avoid mold.

Our town soccer fields now a garbage dump.

Our town racetrack has become a FEMA shelter with tents.

Utility trucks from all over the U.S. and Canada living in the parking lot of our race track.  Thank god for these people!

My neighbors remnant of a down tree.  Look at the size of those roots.

The neighbor down the street....her water line is to the middle of her downstair's windows.  Heartbreaking.

More garbage in the other direction.

This is our little town.   Just when we thought we had it bad, I saw this heartbreaking video.  This town of Sea Bright is about a mile from my home along the shore.  Just devastating.  The children of this town are part of our school district and most have lost EVERYTHING.

Mother Nature is unbelievable!

Be Safe and thank you to each and every person who gave to our area in a time of need and devastation.  Please keep these people, the people of all of the barrier islands of New Jersey, Staten Island, Long Island and other hard hit areas in your prayers as they try to find a new "normal" for their families and deal with rebuilding!

Poshed Up