It’s the end of the world, as we know it
It’s the end of the world, as we know it
It’s the end of the world, as we know it and I feel fine
R.E.M
Having lived in New York/New Jersey for most of my life, I observed this phenomenon that would occur whenever there was a storm brewing. I have gotten varying opinions on when it actually started happening in NJ; whether it was after the blizzard they refer to as ‘Snowmeggedon’ in 2010, the 2011 ice storm that cancelled Halloween or superstorm Sandy that rolled in the following year. Whichever and whenever, it became the norm for all predicted weather of any varying degree; snow, sleet, ice, hurricane, tornado or maybe, just the hint of any one of them.
October 29, 2011, New Jersey was hit with a nor’easter; a heavy snow and ice storm that brought down trees, power lines and poles, knocking out power for millions. I remember not having power for fourteen days while the Governor put out a plea to surrounding states for poles and resources to assist with getting us back up and running. It was very cold for October and for those of us without power, and with water provided to our households by well, we were pretty much cold, sitting ducks. At the thought of losing all of the food in my freezer and refrigerator, I threw everything I had into coolers and boxes and put them outside. In order to flush toilets I would bring empty gallon jugs, (which I dug out from my recycling bin), to work every day - which had a backup generator - and fill them up so I could use the bathroom back at the house. It was funny but work became my safe haven, with heat, running water and showers - who would’ve thought, and I dropped Kohlie off to a friend's home each morning, who had a generator, so he was comfortable.
I lost all nine of my magnificent evergreen trees, coming down and missing the house by inches, but I had to skip out of the second half of the 14 day aftermath, having to leave for England on business one week later, stressed beyond my limitations and leaving all of the house catastrophes with K. Moine, who took care of dealing with JCP&L and getting the power line back to the house, among other things, so when I got home, there was light, heat, water, and me, beyond grateful.
At home, I had a wood burning fireplace, which offered some comfort, but it was a challenging time to say the least. I couldn’t help thinking while lugging water from the 2nd floor of my building, to and out of the car, up to the second floor of my house, watching my breath while trying to get dressed in the mornings and for bed, and just being bone cold, “How did anyone do this way back when there was no electricity, ever?” I honestly felt like “Little House on the Prairie”, minus Michael Landon. But the worst was that Halloween was cancelled for the first time ever by the Governor, and it was truly upsetting for everyone. Yet we survived, with our stories to tell, and by the end of November things were pretty much back to normal. Or were they…..?
One year later, they started predicting a super storm two weeks out, and on the Friday, five days before the storm was set to hit, it was news coverage 24 hours a day. By the time Tuesday rolled around, I, and probably everyone else, was so tired of hearing about the US and Euro models that we just wanted it to come and be done with already. I can tell you with great clarity the exact moment when Sandy hit, and every moment after; I was on the phone with my sister who was checking in with me, when the phone went dead; it was 7:26 PM and I thought to myself, “Here we go”.
People were doing their best to prepare beforehand, and if you waited just after the beginning of the predictions, going to Home Depot, Lowes or your local hardware store was not very productive. Gone were wood, plywood, tape, nails, batteries, flashlights, tools, gas cans, sandbags, bungee and electrical cords, generators, buckets, shovels, water and just about anything else you would want to purchase. Going to the grocery store was even more daunting. Bare shelves where eggs, milk, bread, canned goods, batteries, bottled water, cereal, snacks and soda were once stocked. It was the comfort of food and supplies they could rely on inside, while the plight of the world raged on outside. I remember telling a friend of mine that I was going to Shoprite to pick up a few items and the incredulous response I got back, “You’re going to the “End of the World Supply Station”?”
“What?”
I started to laugh and wasn’t sure I had heard them right so I asked them to repeat it. But they were right. Grocery stores had, in my memory, and during the last two storms leading up to this one, become the supply station for people that felt that whatever storm was going to be thrown at them, would end the outside world as they knew it, albeit temporarily, and this was one last desperate attempt to get as much supplies as they could beforehand, not knowing how long they would be stuck in their homes or if the stores would be operational - they lost power also. As for me personally, I had tuna fish, some fruit, cereal, dog food and biscuits and knew maybe Kohl and I wouldn’t have our ideal food selection, but there would be something I could find somewhere in the house, so we wouldn’t go hungry; I mean, we both could afford to lose a few pounds and just how long did you think we would be stuck in the house anyway, a day or so? However, bottled water was my Achilles heel, having a well and a dog, and I learned from the last storm that it was critical for me to have reserves on hand always. Check!
That fateful Tuesday morning, I filled up my bathtub and every pot, bowl, bottle and pail I had, with water, before I went down to my colleagues house to help get the payroll done and out before the storm - they mandated working from home that day. I made sure I was back home a few hours before the anticipated storm start time. No lugging jugs of water for me this time. I was ready.
I can tell you that Sandy was the worst storm I had ever been through, and I have had my share; two major hurricanes on Long Island - one of them Andrew, two Hurricanes in Florida and one in Norfolk, blizzards, nor’easters, ice storms, two nasty tropical storms and a tornado. Lines for gas everywhere and then signs at the pumps telling you there was no gas. Everyone was, for the most part running on generators, if you were lucky to have one - there were none to be found in NJ as well as the 3 surrounding states. People lost homes, cars, businesses, towns. I didn’t get power restored, again, for 14 days, but it wasn’t my first rodeo. However, this time, I had a small beach house, down the Jersey shore, that I had to go check on. I will never forget the aftermath that I saw, driving south the very next day, on the Garden State Parkway; Boats scattered on the Parkway meridian and in neighborhoods on either side of the roadway, a good distance from the water. People standing in long lines with cans, hoping that there was gas left in the pump when it was their turn. Whole boardwalks gone, houses damaged and under water. My town beach lost it’s boardwalk, the children’s park, miniature golf, the concession buildings and gazebo; It was completely wiped out as if it had never been there. No sign of it anywhere. Just surreal.
And as I drove down main street, further south, in lower lying towns, the water was still halfway up the houses and full up to Main Street; People in waders and boats were strewn along each rivered street trying to get to their homes. At Point Pleasant, which was the last beach town in my section of the shore, the whole ferris wheel on the boardwalk amusement park was trashed in the ocean, partially submerged, and the boardwalk was pretty much washed out to sea.
Florida, when I lived there, was pretty much the same for Hurricanes; I was in Siesta Key for “Harvey” and Point St. Lucie for “Irma”. Irma was predicted going into Labor Day Weekend so all of the people who were leaving for the holiday weekend, left for the duration, return date unknown. Lucky them. By Monday, Labor day, there was the first of several evacuations called and no gas south of Jacksonville. The Governor mandated that everyone put up their Hurricane shutters four days in advance of impact and then Kohlie and I were enclosed in what felt like a tin can, unable to see out, no sunlight or any light coming in, and it was suffocating; I thought not being able to see or know what was going on outside was extremely uncomfortable. However the rest of the people trying to get out of Florida fared much worse than that; hours in traffic, running out of gas and stranded on the sides of highways for hours, even days. Georgia shut down their exits not letting anyone in. It was, excuse my New York, a total “shit show”.
And since that point, or whatever disaster it was, or I found, in places where disasters that force you to lockdown at home, occur; everytime there is a prediction of a major storm, snow, nor’easter, hurricane, tornado or whatever, people swarm their “End of the World Supply Station” just in case.
So I found it eerily interesting that in 2020, the grocery stores became and still are the actual “End of the World Supply Station” and kudos to the ones that understood, who saw, the early warnings of the pending storm. So when the lockdown orders came last March for Covid, of course they got all of the toilet paper and Lysol spray.
Sigh. I wasn’t one of them……...
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