Super Storm Sandy (October 2012)
Eve and I have just returned from our trip to Vienna, Salzburg, Hallstaat, Venice and London when Super Storm Sandy struck the US East Coast in late October.
The night before, Cheche dropped Jeremiah, who was only eight-month old, at Little Ferry for us to babysit.
It was pouring like "raining cats and dogs" the whole night and fearing flooding, I tried to move valuables upstairs.
Curious, I was awake the whole time, watching what would happen next.
Around midnight, in pitch dark (brownout), in the living room, I noticed water coming in.
Little by little, water was high enough to have the appliances, furniture and everything I failed to move upstairs, submerged.
Inside the house, the first floor, was a total wreck.
I didn't know yet the level of destruction it caused outside since the rain didn't stop until past noon.
Daylight, the street was like a river, water was everywhere, trucks from the National Guard were going around, to take residents who choose to leave their houses to the evacuation center, I stayed put.
Teens and some adults with their kids seem to enjoy rowing around in their plastic boats.
I went outside to see how bad it was in our detached garage where we were hiding our Toyota Highlander.
From the glass windows, I couldn't open the door, it stuck, it was clear that water went engine-high.
In our driveway, a refrigerator drifted.
A little later, the owner claimed it back.
That same morning, private organizations led by the American Red Cross, were distributing hot meals.
The sight of the National Guards there for evacuation of the residents, the organizations distributing hot meals, dry goods and blankets and the agencies contracted by the State to assess damages and provide assistance, cushioned the impact of the disaster.
God Bless The Good Ole USA!
Cheche who was on afternoon shift was unable to get to Little Ferry after work, flooding has not ebbed yet, until morning two days later.
No later than the flooding subsided than Inspectors hired by the State went house-to-house to assess damages.
Since water went four feet high, the flooring and wall were deemed necessary for total replacement.
The hardwood flooring I labored so much to put up was gone.
After some paperwork, we were given money to start house repair and reconstruction to buy replacement for the appliances.
About the same time, an Inspector from our Car Insurance company declared our Toyota Highlander totally-wrecked and handed us $15K check for it.
A good $8K we saved after buying a pre-owned Honda Odyssey for $7K.
After some housework, we got back to normal, well, almost but not quite.
To this day, the record Super Storm Sandy holds in terms of intensity and devastation, still stands.
THANK YOU NEW JERSEY!
Two years after The Super Storm, NJ handed each victim-household $10K to be spent only for holidays.
We used the money for Mediterranean Cruise that included Barcelona, Spain; Naples, Rome, Florence, Amalfi Coast, Pisa, Pompeii and Sorrento all in Italy; Cannes, France, and Montecarlo.
Only in America, or only in New Jersey I should say because I learned later that some states are not that generous to its citizens during disaster.