Well, after 8 long days, LIPA fixed our block and the power is back on. It’s been a long road and one that’s been life changing.
When they said Sandy was going to be bad, I didn’t buy it, and then Monday came, and the winds were crazy. You could look outside and see it. There was this one giant gust that knocked a tree down onto the deck. The power went out, but by Tuesday morning it was all over, or so we thought.
Trees blocked almost every way out of our area, and it wasn’t the town or LIPA that removed them. It was a bunch of awesome neighbors who decided to take action. I assumed the power would come back on, but it didn’t. It wasn’t too bad. We had a generator that ran a fridge, a few lights and the TV, and a nice warm fireplace. Things could have been much worse. People we know had four feet of water in their homes. We were lucky.
I would wake up, praying the power would be on. It drove me nuts. Then I saw the pictures of other places on the island and how people had no home to go to. That was the last time I complained.
My nephews got stranded with us so we had two 3yr olds, one 5yr old and my newborn, plus everyone else that lived there–we have an apartment in my in-laws. The kids got sick, then my mother-in-law who is going through chemo got sick. I can deal with no power, but seeing my kid sick, and knowing he needs a hot bath, killed me. At least I had a doctor around the block to go to. My son needed antibiotics, a decongestant and eye drops…poor thing.
I wont even get into the gas crisis. Someone in a town over got stabbed, there have been fights…crazy. OH, and the worst part, the part that drives us really crazy…mailmen cutting gas lines–who cares about bills–and landscapers–yes, people are actually having leaves blown off their lawns.
A lot of people made comments that we survived without electricity for years and we can do it again–I totally agree, but we are not built to do that. We depend on power and gas companies to keep us warm and supermarkets for food which by the way, was another scary scene..going into a store and seeing empty shelves is frightening.
Did I mention the looters on boats?
Anyway, the power came back on tonight, eight days later, and even though I’m happy, I feel guilty. I still have friends with little babies that don’t have power. This isn’t over.
So what did I learn?
For one, I want to get off Long island. If anything ever happens, and the bridges and tunnels break–we are stranded.
Next, any house I buy will have a huge fireplace and a generator with a gas tank underground that can run the entire house for a week.
and the most important thing…helping each other. Now, that I have power, I can go help people that need things like blankets and clothes. If this storm hits Wednesday, there are going to be a lot of people who need anything and everything.
I'm so sorry that your family lost your power. I was all ready with lanterns and peanut butter and extra water, but our power stayed on.
It's ridiculous for people to say that it's easy to survive without electricity. Whoever those people are, I'd like them to come here and try it out.
In my building, no power means a) no elevator, so the elderly and pregnant are walking up and down flights of stairs in pitch black darkness b) water pumps are electric, so no water and no toilet flushing c) no heat, and it's freezing cold right now d) no gas for your car because yes, the service stations also need electricity to pump gas.
Thank God you didn't lose power. I can't imagine how tough it would be to go through that in an apartment building.