Frankenstorm!

[Lisa]

In Michigan... A road was closed when I was out. A lot of strange debri in the road. Power has been flickering.

When was the last time Michigan had a hurricane!

[IrishHeart]

NYC, Long Island, NJ coast---all suffering.

Breezy point, Queens...these poor people always get hit..... 9/11 and beyond.

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[mommida]

That is the point, Michigan has had some residual weather from a very strong hurricane before. I think about every 7 years we get some rainy weather from winding down cyclones. This storm was soo big we had the rain, wind, and cold BEFORE Sandy even made landfall. This was the first time we had to listen to wind all night long and wonder if the house construction is safe enough. The house was freezing cold that wind whipped up through every crevice it could into the house. Better than the alternative of a neighbor's window somehow had too much of a vacuum seal and popped outward.

I know the it is a mere comparison for the states directly in line with the storm (practically the whole coast line of the continent) This is just to let others know how freakishly widespread this storm reached. If you can send any help to the areas devastated from this storm, please don't hesitate!

[IrishHeart]

If you can send any help to the areas devastated from this storm, please don't hesitate!

Thanks for saying this, Mommida.

I had edited my post yesterday saying "Please give to the Salvation Army or the Red Cross" wondering if that was okay, but now, I wish I had left it. So, I'll say it here: Please, if you can, help out.

[BabsV]

Our part of VA was really lucky this time around -- no power outages in our neighborhood, no flooding and only 1 tree down (which landed on 3 cars (!!!!) but no one was hurt.) The dog was not enthused about being inside most of the day on Monday but when given on option to go out he looked at us like,"What, are you insane? Go out in that?!?!?"

Now I've just got a stockpile of tuna and other gluten-free shelf-stable foods to work my way through since I didn't need them.

Unfortunately NJ and NY were not nearly so lucky...the photos from NJ are breaking my heart. If you are in a position to help, please think about doing so.

[bartfull]

I haven't heard any mention of the homeless people in New York or anywhere else for that matter. A lot of the homeless live in the tunnels. I'm sure the shelters were full and there wasn't any room for more. I am praying for all those who were in the path of this storm, but especially for the ones who had nowhere to go, and seem to have been forgotten.

[IrishHeart]

You are sweet to worry, but in NYC, they really do the best they can. I have to say, NY really tried to anticipate the worst case scenario.

They set up extra shelters, hon.

I just read an article about this...

"The Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy group, lauds the city's efforts. The city has created extra storm shelters, and as the coalition recommended, used shelters waiting lists to anticipate the capacity. "We don't know how it's going to play out, but so far, so good," said Patrick Markee, the organization's senior policy analyst. "The city has extra outreach teams going out. During situations like this in extreme weather, they can use extraordinary measures to remove people who have serious mental illness from the streets, who may not recognize they're in a life-threatening situation."

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[alex11602]

In NJ, lost power Monday night and got it back this afternoon. So very thankful that we're in a part that didn't get hit too hard.

[ENF]

We had to get my 85 y.o. mother-in-law out of her 9th floor apartment, in a large complex near Coney Island, which is without power, heat, gas and water, by taking her down the dark stairwell in her wheelchair and then transporting her to our place several miles away by car. Two security officers from her building did the carrying of her in the wheelchair. It was pitch black and I held the flashlights. The police, FD, and EMS workers will not help unless it's a life-threatening emergency where hospitalization is required - which is unfortunate but necessary due to the extensive amounts of severe emergencies.

Many more people are in far worse situations than this, and we were lucky that we had a neighbor with a car and gasoline to assist.

[Juliebove]

Staten Island is still a mess! They only just got to it today but... Having lived there myself, I can see why. There probably really was no way to get onto the island! My husband is currently living there and went to PA this weekend where he is from. I am rather ticked about that. I think he should have stayed put...especially with all the looting around. At least if he is in an area where he can buy things, I think he should buy some things and bring them back. Food, maybe some cheap socks to pass out. There are people with no dry clothing! Oh great. They are out of gas on Staten Island now. Way to go, husband!

I am glad that they did cancel the marathon but I think they should have canceled that right away though. I do feel bad for the people who came from other countries and stuff. That's not fair to them.

The other thing that bugs me is that my husband was totally unprepared for the storm. No candles, no flashlights and pretty much ran out of food. Has no radio either. Well he does. But it is here. I know how he operates. Just has the minimal of whatever. Calls out for pizza or goes out to eat. And it sounds like there is no place on Staten Island to buy this stuff now. He did go to Target on Monday but said they didn't have candles.

So... I sent him some packages, because they are saying there is another bad storm headed their way and it will bring snow. I ordered the stuff in the middle of the night last night and he already got the most important package. The radio, flashlight and batteries. I also sent some nut snacks. These things came from CVS. I had a hard time trying to get a place that could deliver right away.

Also sent two throw blankets, a 3 pack of cheap winter gloves (I doubt that he thought to bring his coat), and assorted shelf stable foods from two different places. Also a large package of toilet paper. Probably should have sent water, but... I didn't.

What I used to keep through the winter were the shelf stable My Own Meals. They can be eaten as is although they are better heated. They do have several that come in gluten-free. I always keep extra water. I think that's one of the most important things. Baby wipes. If you do have no water, you can use those to clean yourself. Lots of extra batteries and a radio that works on batteries. Plenty of flashlights and now we even have battery operated lamps. I have some battery operated candles too. I used to use regular candles but really they are sooo dangerous and these days batteries are cheap at Costco. I always buy them when they have a coupon out.

I always keep my cupboard full of canned things. And I keep plenty of dried beans, rice, pasta, and shelf stable milk. I used to keep things like Velveeta or aerosol cheese but nobody was eating it so no more.

We have been snowed in for a week three times since we moved back here. We survived each time although once I was trying to do a raw vegan diet and I did run out of fresh produce. I did manage to get a grocery delivery though and the food was quite nice! But... The store wised up and while they were still delivering, they said they would not deliver in inclement weather. Then they just stopped delivering.

I also keep plenty of extra blankets and I keep blankets in my van. When we go out, I always bring drinks and usually some food, if only a snack. I am a diabetic so I do keep fruit snacks in my purse at all times.

I wear compression hose and I keep a spare pair of those in case we do have to evacuate but here in the area of WA where we live, that is not likely. Living on Cape Cod, Staten Island or in the area of CA where we did live though that was always a possibility. The military had advised us to keep a week's worth of food and other things in a bag that we could easily take with us. The food was supposed to be high engery type stuff. I had fruit snacks, nuts, canned beans, shelf stable cheeses. Also a spare outfit for each of us and some extra socks and undies. OTC medications and first aid supplies. Supposed to keep extra prescription meds but... I really can't get extra of those. I do dose out my meds two weeks at a time so I just hoped that my boxes would be full if we needed to evacuate and I could grab those. I also kept jugs of water. And when we lived in areas where I was told that we could lose our water, I would keep my extra jugs from laundry soap full of water. I was told this could be used to flush the toilet. Can't do that now though because I use Method soap and those things are tiny! Another thing you could do is to fill your bathtub with water, but not of course if you have kids or pets for which this could cause a problem.

We do have a gas water heater. So if our power goes out, we do have hot water. But stupidly, we always forget this!