just got back to nyc (where i live).
been down at my sisters house since the day of the storm.
she lives in manasquan nj.
a great town.
a family beach town.
its on the jersey shore.
the whole area was CRUSHED.
she lives (year round) about 4 blocks from the beach.
about 70% of the beachfront homes must be knocked down or were swept away.
up to 8ft of SAND (and water) inside of the houses what is holding up some of them. her house basement flooded and 4 ft of water on fist floor. we gutted the whole thing.
trees were down EVEYWHERE, taking power lines with them. boats were everywhere (on streets, yards, golf courses) and all over the place throughout the nj shore.
entire marinas destroyed and even dry dock boats floated away from some.
she finally got power late last night at her house (had been running off generator)...but half her town still has none. there hasnt been tv (or power) so they really didnt get any news down there other than word of mouth or the radios in our cars or transistors. all i can tell you guys is that that town and all the towns along the jersey shore are completely devastated. please keep all those people in your prayers-they will need them. families have no homes and need places to live...and winter is coming. lots old people live in these areas and are displaced as well. i have to say seeing all the electricians, plumbers, utility workers, neighbors helping neighbors in there from day one gave me chills. we would do gas runs at 5am to beat the gas lines on most days and we would see utility crews from Georgia, new mexico, texas, michigan, missouri, virginia riding in convoys in and out of the shore towns on an almost daily basis. i was so proud of my country seeing this. god bless those folks who along with the nj power companies continue to work to try and restore power to the people of the jersey shore. the national guard has been patrolling there around the clock since about 4 days ago; minimal looting but heard thru word of mouth some fights occuring as people were in the town rummaging around all the debris and reports of some (not a lot) of looting. overall that aspect didnt seem bad where i was but it was good the guard was put on patrol there as a deterrent.
you cant even imagine whats going on down there. it is a war zone. those jesey shore beach towns are not just summer rental areas they are "year rounder" type of towns.
ps my brothers and i made our way west the night of the ND Pitt game and found a bar that the game on and lo and behold the place was packed with ND fans all over-most of the ones i talked to had lost their homes or lived in a town that got crushed. thank god ND won that game it really seemed to be a bright sport for all the weary ND fans along the jersey shore that were able to catch the game.
