Can't imagine the force on the coast. I'm a little more than 500 miles from the coast (Northwest Ohio) and we got hammered with winds, rain, sleet and finally snow (only a few inches). Not to mention the cold temps!

Take care, my Friends!!!

Facebook has a page dedicated to the storm. Can't give you the link. Search for Jersey Shore Hurricane News and you'll find it. Pretty devastating stuff. 

Casino Pier at Seaside Heights. I grew up going here every summer with my family. I've taken my kids there on vacation. And even though it isn't the same as my childhood place (thank you Jersey Shore) I still have fond memories of it. 

BigNTS says ...

Power (and Internet) came back on about 45 minutes ago (1945 EDT). We are fine here in Northwest New Jersey. Lost power at about 1700 hrs. yesterday. We have lots of wind damage but not much flooding (as compared to Irene). I'm seeing pictures of the devastation at the Jersey Shore and will try to post them here. I'm afraid Seaside Heights got slammed. A friend of mine owns a hotel there and says it's underwater. I've seen a picture of the amusement pier and it looks like it has collapsed. Rutherford (where I work) has mostly suffered wind damage as well.

I'm still gather info and will share whatever I can. THANK YOU to all of you who were concerned and prayed for us! 

Glad you are okay Nick and family.

Has anyone heard from Retleo?  I hope he faired well too. My prayers are with those who were involved in this hurricane as well.

 We were so very lucky; trees down, some minor flooding and continuing road closures, and schools closed for 2 days (two hour delays today). NOTHING like the devastation we are seeing in New York and New Jersey. We never lost power, thankfully, although some in our area did and have not gotten it back. My heart, thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost everything but their indomitable spirit. 

Good to hear from Nicky !!! Now, who has heard from Retleo and the rest ?

Hellish.  Keep on keepin' on, Friends.  You are in our hearts and prayers.  LonnaNJ, thank you for this fine report!

LonnaNJ says ...

North East NJ, by the GWB:  

Power in my area went out  Monday at 18:00 hours, and is not expected to be remided for another 4-7 days.   I'm praying that's an exaggeration.  We have major issues with Transportation almost at a halt, Internet Issues,  and I've even heard reports of a couple of generators being inoperable due to various different reasons. I'm guessing the substation that powers my(New) town and/or Bergen county hasbeen  flooded out due to a broken levee??

With a lot of road closures, and not totally familiarized with the new area,, I have to constantly travel on foot into Fort Lee (where a few have electric) to find something open.  Yesterday didn't have much luck.  A good %97 of business's are closed, and if your lucky enough to find one that's open, be prepared to wait atleast an hour. Today, I've found two more business's open, one's a diner. sighs

Hoboken NJ: Flooding took out a whole fleet of taxis.

NYC-Lower Manhattan:  Everything below 42nd is suffering serious flood damage.  I will not be traveling into Manhattan anytime soon, seen people shoving each other to get on busses on the news.  Reminds me of Lord of the Flies.

Jersey Shore:  Prior to landfall someone snapped a pic of a Shark swimming through the streets by a porch.  Like Bignt's I also had the pleasure of patronizing the Boardwalks of Southern NJ like Asbury Park, Sandhook, Belmar ect...  Sighs.

I'm On day 3 and my patients are wearing thin, none-the-less I think of the MANY who have been completely devastated. They will be in my thoughts and prayers.

 

 

 

Prayers to all those affected by hurricane Sandy.......

Yes indeed.  The cultural casualties claimed by the megastorm.  A sense of place, ripped away.  Compounding the grief.

I really feel for you all, Nick.

BigNTS says ...

Casino Pier at Seaside Heights. I grew up going here every summer with my family. I've taken my kids there on vacation. And even though it isn't the same as my childhood place (thank you Jersey Shore) I still have fond memories of it. 

 

It boggles..... er, blows my mind how destructive this storm was! OMG, just uncomprehendable to me.  I cried while watching ABC World News Tonight.  My heart goes out to everyone that was punished by Sandy and lost everything.  I wish I could help everyone.  If I heard/read it correctly, Hurricane Sandy was the second most destructive storm.  I believe it after seeing her aftermath.  SMH sadly :-(

This is GREAT news about our friend Retleo!!  Although I am not sure anyone can fare well who has even to gaze around at the damage, let alone slog into the muck and havoc of it.  I know the photos/video footage sickens me.  But some folks under siege react by going into hyper-drive to rescue others from the nightmare. 

We call them Good Samaritans!  That'd be YOU 36TR, BigNTS, Retleo, CatD, LonnaNJ, PL friends annnd... a WHOLE LOT of LEOs and Civilians out there! 

HANG IN THERE, YE STALWARTS!!!

36TR says ...

Catwoman911 says ...

Has anyone heard from Retleo?  I hope he faired well too. 

Hopefully he won't mind me posting, but I heard from Retleo earlier this afternoon. He faired well through the storm (considering). They did lose power for a few days, and the marina is gone. But they had no notable damage and no injuries. Ret has been helping folks out with clean-up and doing gas/food runs. They are also bracing for the Nor'easter that suppose to hit next week.

Keeping our East Coast Family in my prayers!!

I wanted to reach out to my PL friends and check in. .

I live in the extreme NW corner of New Jersey on the borders of NY and PA. I work about 6 miles west of Manhattan. The area we live in got through the storm with mostly wind damage. We have the absolute BEST power company in the area. Our power was back on in 28 hours. Compared with the two major companies in NJ, ours really has their act together. We had no damage to our property from the storm. We were lucky. My wife's family live along the shoreline. Her cousin (who is really like a brother to her) lost some trees and has been without power sonce the storm. He's been told it could be a week before it comes back. She took the ride to his house yesterday and together they tried to get to his home town where we spent many summers visiting with his mom and dad until they passed. They had a beautiful home near the beach that, sadly, was sold and torn down to make way for a monstrosity by the new owners. In their memory, though, we put a bench on the boardwalk with their names on it. They couldn't get into town because of the damage but we all figure the bench (and boardwalk) are gone based on the reports we've been able to get from the locals. It is really sad how devastated the area is.

I grew up going "down the Shore" every summer. Seaside Heights was where my family spent every summer going to on day trips (it was an hour ride from our house). Every February my family goes there for the NJ Polar Bear Plunge for Special Olympics and dive into the 38 degree ocean to help raise funds. It's been wiped away.

These past few days I've been at work - it's been a challenge. Rutherford was hit hard by the winds and the majority of the town has lost power. Gasoline has become a rare commodity. Our main road in town has three gas stations on it (all within one block). Only one station at a time has had gas to sell. Myself and three other officers spend the bulk of our shift handling the hundreds of cars, maintaining order, and keeping the peace for the HUNDREDS of cars that lined up for gas. At the same time, we had to keep the regular traffic moving. We also took turns getting called off to answer emergency calls. I remember the gas rationing of the 70s (I grew up next to the one of the stations we are manning) and never dreamed that I would see lines like that again. Well, it's happened. The governor has ordered rationing according to the numbers on vehicle plates. Odd on odd numbered days, even on even numbered days - JUST LIKE THE 70S! It's gonna be a long road before things go back to normal. And I'm retiring at the end of the month.

I haven't told my wife this, but I'm thinking that come December 1, I'll be heading "down the Shore" again - this time to help with the rebuilding there. That's about it in a nutshell for now. Thanks for thinking of me. I'll keep you informed.

36TR says ...

Catwoman911 says ...

Has anyone heard from Retleo?  I hope he faired well too. 

Hopefully he won't mind me posting, but I heard from Retleo earlier this afternoon. He faired well through the storm (considering). They did lose power for a few days, and the marina is gone. But they had no notable damage and no injuries. Ret has been helping folks out with clean-up and doing gas/food runs. They are also bracing for the Nor'easter that suppose to hit next week.

Keeping our East Coast Family in my prayers!!

Oh, thank God! Thank you for letting me know.  I was wondering.. I am glad he and his family are alight .. Doesn't surprise me Ret is out there helping others... that's Ret for ya!  God Bless!

Forgot to give a special thanks to the Emergency Responders, the Department of Public Works,  and the Volunteers or workers  from outside of Jersey who rushed in to assist.