Although the weathermen all predicted SuperStormSandy (SSS) for days, nobody could have expected what actually transpired. We (New Yorkers) had lived through Hurricane Irene just 14 months earlier. In fact, in the previous 2 years we have also dealt with tornadoes, hailstorms, a nor'easter, heatwaves and even an earthquake. An earthquake! In New York! What was a little more weather?
So, we watched the news and we prepared. I showed my 4th grade students videos from the Weather Channel. I told them school might be canceled on Monday, but I doubted it.
We bought battery-powered hurricane lanterns, tons of batteries, bottled water, and dry and canned foods. We rented a few movies (to watch until we lost power) and filled our tanks with gas. And, just to make things more interesting, my mother-in-law was visiting from Florida. Bring it on!
What came next was massive, unprecedented and devastating! As I watched the local news, I kept hearing that Jamaica Bay and other Atlantic inlets were heading for high tide and large surges. OK. Getting a little nervous. Jamaica Bay is 1000 feet from my house. Things are going to get wet. I looked out my second story window at 8:30. My street seemed to have a shallow river running through it. Hmmm...should I take a picture? No. Too dark, it would never come out.
So I sat down and started to ...do something. I honestly can not remember, because all of a sudden, the world was turned upside down.
Just after 9:00 pm, there was a knock on the door. It was my landlady, who lives in the apartment below me. She told my husband that he should come down right away, we were flooded. Honestly, I really thought she meant that the BASEMENT was taking on some water. It had happened in the past, and it wasn't a crisis or unexpected. What we found though was totally UNEXPECTED.
Our ENTIRE STREET was completely submerged in 4 feet of ocean water. This is no exaggeration for effect. THE ENTIRE STREET! Luckily, our house is on a hill, raised above the street by 6 feet. The water was 2 feet below me and rising fast! I looked to where mine and my husband's cars had been parked. The cars were there, under the water. Completely submerged. Now, I will admit that I am prone to quick reaction, but this was visceral. My guts wrenched, I screamed, I ran. I ran up the stairs to where my children were sleeping, just to make sure they were there.
(Jamaica Bay)
The next sound I heard was my landlord yelling, "The water is coming in, the water is coming in!" Oh my god!! There was nowhere to go!
Tomorrow: Where the water went and what it did
OMG! Reading your post, I can not help but share my own expreiences during this life changing event. My family resides, or resided I should say, in Rockaway, NY. Until last week we had a wonderful cozy home in a beach-side community. Today, we are fortunate to be sitting in a cozy living room of a wonderful family friend, with the various other Hurricane
ReplyDeleteSandy victims that she has taken in, and are enjoying some great company, warmth, wonderful food, and fabulous emotional support.
When I think back to Hurricane Irene, I remember packing my life, husband, and three children, into our mini-van and leaving the tri-state vicinity for my Uncle's upstate home for a 3 day "vacation" from our downstate life by the sea. When all was said and done, we returned to our home, safe and completely unaffected, glad to have spent some quality family time with my uncle and his wife.
So, when word came down from city officials that we had a mandatory evacuation for Hurricane Sandy, I took my 3 kids and minimal provisions and headed to Brooklyn to weather the storm with my friends, fully expecting to return to our home in a few days. We were so confident that all would be well, that my husband and parents decided to remain with our homes.
On the evening of the last high tide, I held my breathe as I listened to my husband, over the cell phone, saying, "I'm moving as much as I can to the top floor. Oh my G-d, the house next to the church (across the street from our home) is on fire...no one is coming..." Then the cell signal cut out. No word until morning.
Next contact was a text message..."...waiting for dawn..."
These are both heart wrenching accounts. Thank you Ellen and Lauren for sharing. I am anxious to hear the rest of your stories. I also look forward hearing how you overcome rebuilding your lives and become stronger because of the experience. Hugs to you both.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, ladies, your recounts brought tears to my eyes. I pray that was the worst of your experiences and the near future holds quick recovery into bigger and better places in each of your lives.
ReplyDeleteHang in there!
Andrea