When Hurricane Sandy Knocks at Your Door

As many of you know I live in a coastal town on Long Island in New York. I have not been on line for the past few weeks as I have been dealing with the aftermath of Franken -storm Sandy that attacked my area with a vengeance.

Click here for larger version of top photo. http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20121109&t=2&i=672764130&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=700&pl=390&r=CBRE8A6011800

The devastation along the shores of this Island is horrific. Thousands of families have lost their homes along with everything they worked for their entire lives. Others sadly lost their lives and worse there are those who remain missing. The storms toll on this area along the coast line is the same as that of Katrina only spread out over a larger area. Recovering from this storm will take years in most places. There are areas that will never recover and will remain lost to this devastating event.

I have been writing about this time period that we are now living in for a while now. I had been referring to it as the era of 2012 because I believe we have been for a number of years in a time when cycles are due to change, natural disasters are due to occur and nature is flexing its power and doing what it does by exploding its volcanoes, tossing tornadoes at us as well as covering the planet with life changing super storms. On top of these events being timed to happen we have a very volatile sun to deal with as well as a delicate cliff we hang from concerning terror and war.. All of these things are not maybes – all of these things will be definite happenings. We just do not know exactly when or where they will happen, however they will happen.

Having just lived through an extreme storm that is without question a major disaster I have learned a great deal. This was a difficult time for this section of the country as we found that we not only were left dealing with the devastation by way of the storm but added disasters of extreme gas shortages, a second snow storm on top of the super storm- little communication – all with little or no outside help.

They say you should write about what you know. After this experience I feel compelled to warn as many as possible to what I have learned during this horrid experience. It is not a matter of if a disaster will hit your area it is simply a matter of when. You need to prepare. You do not have the choice of complaining that you are not able to prepare. If you take that approach I will tell you right now you may not survive when it is your turn to face Mother Nature or an act of war or a blast from the sun. No one will be there to hold your hand or hand you a hot meal. You either make it on your own or you do not make it.

If you are in a predicament where you are told to evacuate, do not argue or think you can survive or any other reasoning you think makes you special. If you are told to leave- go and go early so you’re not sitting in traffic for hours. Take what is precious or important to you and leave.

If you think others will be able to supply things to you and help you due to the fact you did nothing at all to prepare on your own your dreaming. People need to take care of their families and keep the ones they love alive and well. They cannot be expected to care for you and trust me in hard times they will take care of those they love first and foremost. They may be kind to you or share a bowl of soup however you are responsible for your life. You have to be able to sustain yourself and shelter yourself in times of tragic events. If you are not able to do this chances are you will not survive or survive in one piece. If you have not started a disaster package or plan yet my advice would be to get off your butt and get to the getting.

The more prepared you are the easier the recovery time will be. The people here with nothing suffered long days and nights sitting in the dark in cold homes dirty and hungry. The only reason this disaster was that difficult on them is because they did not prepare. Those who have old, ill or incompetent family members in their family need to gather them in a place where they can take care of them. Leaving them on their own can only mean tragedy. The very old or frail would have a difficult time coping with the aftermath of a storm like the one that just hit my area. It took strength and endurance to deal with the damage of the storm. It took lots of daily hard work to stay warm, fed and clean. It was difficult for all to stand on a cold line of hundreds of people or sit for hours in cold cars, at times 6 or more hours on long lines for a ration of gas. It was a full time job to survive and hard work to slowly start to recover from this disaster.

As far as costs are concerned know a disaster is expensive. The extra gas to run your generators and cars at an average of 4 dollars a gallon adds up quickly. We did a fast count of extra money we spent on gas, propane, food and items we needed to purchase along the way and found we spent nearly two thousand dollars since the storm started. With the holiday season quickly coming this is difficult on every family. This does not include the cost of damages to our home or other costs that we needed to pay in order to return to having power. I will tell you to get as much cash as possible to have on hand if you have advanced notice a storm is coming or keep a stash in your home as when the power goes out cash is the only method for you to purchase anything at all.

Do not trust in any agency to be there for you. I live on the coast line of Long Island as do most of my family members. We did see our governor who was annoyed and trying desperately to help us as he came to and got involved with the devastation. We also watched as he tried to deal with the agencies and federal government to assist us with some type of help. They were no where to be seen.

I have this to say about FEMA, the Red Cross, the federal government and all the insurance companies- where were you, and when do you think you may get around to helping?

As far as this administration and this super storm- well I was stunned that somehow people thought they were doing a good job when they did nothing at all , which went on far too long and watched the suffering here go on without any assistance while they went about their own agendas. While we suffered the country was busy patting the wrong people on the back for helping us. The truth is they did nothing to help us. We did watch a few photo opts but nothing for the suffering. I have learned an enormous truth which is the media does not tell the truth at all and the Federal government is untruthful and controlling. I now think of them both as dangerous enemies.

I am sure many of you may not like what I am telling you. I can only tell you what I have experienced and that it is not my job to paint you the picture you want to believe. I will however tell you how it is here.

It will take years to recover from this mess. Some areas are lost forever. We have thousands who lost every single thing they had. This disaster will be felt on many levels for a very long time to come.

I could not wait any longer for Lipa, our power company, to get around to my house. We were lucky enough to be able to pay for a private electrician to come in and fix the problems. I had a live wire that started one fire we put out by ourselves that nearly burnt my house down. We told the power company over and over we had a live wire lying on the front lawn that was very dangerous. They did nothing. Finally out of fear someone would get electrocuted we hired and paid to have the problem fixed. We will have to do this of course with fixing all our house damage as well. We have piles of huge fallen trees everywhere. In time we will have them cleared away. The message here is you are on your own, so be prepared. If you cannot afford outside help think about owning a chain saw or other items to help in your time of need.

We are able to help ourselves but what about all who cannot afford to bring in private help. What do they do with all the wires on their lawns? I can only hope somehow this disaster finds some help soon and no one else is harmed due to the lack of care or help that was NOT anywhere to be found for the people of Long Island New York.

We are far from out of the woods with the devastation left behind by this super storm. I can only pray Mother Nature keeps us out of her sights so we can recover from this life changing event.

As far as all of you are concerned, I can only warn you and hope you will listen. You need to prepare. It is not if it is when this will happen to you. You have no reason at all to think you will not be in the line of fire for a disaster. No matter where you live know this could happen to you. Those who were ready rode the tide; those who were not did not fare very well at all.

On my site I have listed the items we needed to survive this ordeal. I also have included videos of my area.

Heed my advice and make your home is ready for whatever may come. I can only hope nothing bad ever happens again to any of us; however I am no longer ten years old and realize we all get our turn pulling the short stick. Be ready when it is your turn.

I will be writing my next article about the strange events that occurred during this time period that my family and I witnessed.

Videos of Super Storm Sandy and Long Island New York can be found on my site below this article

http://endlessjrny.blogspot.com/2012/11/when-era-of-2012-knocks-at-your-door.html

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