nj2011mom

In my area of NJ, everyone I know has power back and life around town has returned to normal. Our on-going challenge will be the destruction of our train line (Morris & Essex) and the glaring lack of reasonable commuting alternatives. There are few bus routes that are completely overloaded with near-riot conditions at Port Authority Bus Terminal between 5-8pm. FEMA has provided a few buses to ferries, but that has just started and travel times have been fairly horrible because of traffic & accidents on the roads.

Prior to the storm, my commute was just under an hour door to door. I considered myself fortunate to get to/from the office late last week in under 2 hours each way.

In the scheme of the destruction in the region, this is a minor inconvenience, however I have an employer who doesn't care.

samiamy

Having a weeks worth was not even close to being adequate in some parts. Literally, nothing on shelves of the very few stores that had power. My local supermarket, even still has not been able to get substantial deliveries. Storm was two weeks ago.
Power went out again in the neighboring town to ours last night. Those stores which can get deliveries are not stocking perishable items, not unlike homeowners, not sure when power will go and can't afford to lose more inventory to spoilage.

sewhappy

Lost power again last night right as I was finishing dinner with both kids home for a weekend visit. It was okay. Gas stove.

Reading the NJ Star Ledger, it seems there are a gazillion different commissions in a gazillion NJ towns who decide when and how much and even if ever trees near roads and power lines are cut down or trimmed. It also seems that environmentalist groups in the state insist trees be preserved no matter what.

Well, okay. Either bury the lines or cut the trees, Fools. The country and world are laughing at you. And don't even think about asking for more money from taxpayers to get it done.

OHMomof2

Seems like the Occupy Sandy folks have stepped into the poorest/most stricken areas. My stepbrother and his wife have been volunteering with them in Brooklyn. They seem to be taking care of the housing projects as best they can.

I can't imagine where everyone who lost a home will go...there's nowhere to put even FEMA trailers in NY

No recent word from my family about the housing situation in LB except that they still can't live there. They, however, have the resources to stay with others or rent. But with so many looking for places to rent I wonder how THAT will go...

tom1944

sewhappy- I am in a strong R town in a strong R county and we can not cut down trees without permission and planting a replacement. Cutting trees is not a partisan issue in NJ

bethievt

There is a lot of coverage on CNN and MSNBC and the reporters are incredulous about conditions.

RobD

I am not local to NJ anymore, but a common issue has always been that townships are quite parochial and it's hard to make regional decisions. There are 500+ school boards in NJ and any discussion about going to county wide school boards gets shut down pretty quickly. Same with things like garbage collection; when our tiny little township wanted to outsource that city service, residents had a cow.

Now that we live somewhere where county wide government is the norm, it's hard to see what the big deal is about ceding local control to the county. It's more efficient.

Talked to my SIL this weekend. She's had power back since last Saturday but she's exhausted. Everything is a big deal to do because you have to think about if you have enough gas, and if you have to make a detour. The supermarkets aren't back up to full and she lost 2 full fridges of food. Halloween in her town was held yesterday but the kids were collected can goods & she felt bad because she hadn't restocked after using most of her pantry during the past 2 weeks.

garland

I've never seen tree cutting raised as an issue by any major environmental group in NJ--they're much more focused on environmental justice issues, clean water, air pollution, pesticide usage, etc. I can imagine someone calling him/herself an "environmentalist" in NJ and ranting on trees, but that's never been a NJ issue with the major players. Too much of real importance to deal with here. (my kids both work with one of the major enviro groups, and tree-trimming has NEVER been an issue they've been remotely interested in.)

OHMomof2

Tree trimming is a hot issue in my Ohio village, but not for environmental reasons per se, more because people here like them (we are a "Tree City USA") and the electric company hacks them horribly when they "trim". I too wish we had underground lines but it'll cost a lot...maybe not as much as we lose when we lose power so often though...

overseas

Big trimming here in Ohio and some look very strange! But no lines down this past storm.

GRITS80

I'm in Morris County, NJ and still do not have power. We were told we'd have it Friday, then Saturday, and now silence. I can't tell you how tired I am of this. I try not to complain because we are so much better off than many others, but I'm craving a return to normalcy.

nj2011mom

My town was settled over 100 years ago & the houses in my neighborhood built 80+ years ago. Some of the oaks & ashes are probably as old. We had 12 hours of 65+mph of easterly winds that toppled some of these giants like dominoes. It was not a matter of trimming or being between the power lines, as they took out whatever was in their way when they fell. The accepted estimate to bury the lines is $1+ million/mile.

For the record, you need a permit to remove a tree in excess of a certain diameter, but trimming is not an issue. The permitting was brought about by a few homeowners clear cutting their property for no apparent reason except they wanted more sun on their lot.

tom1944

nj2011mom- this is the problem down the shore-



That’s because the replenishment projects are not easily started — or completed. Rochette says three factors have to align at the right time for the bulldozers to start dumping sand and shaping beaches — federal funding, property access and the right conditions on the shore line.

On LBI, property access has been one of the biggest hurdles to the projects, with several lawsuits contesting the local government’s efforts. In litigation spanning a decade, homeowners argued they didn’t want to give local officials perpetual easements, that the loss of ocean view had severely devalued their property, among other things.

The most recent high-profile court case called into question the entire beach replenishment program along the barrier islands, when a state appeals court ruled a couple in LBI’s Harvey Cedars should keep a $375,000 award for their lost ocean view.

Some LBI residents who don’t live on the beach and who aren’t holding up dune projects feel Sandy is the last straw. They’ve been left homeless for weeks, possibly longer. Natural gas may not be restored for months.

cartera45

It just seems the state and the fed should buy out as many homeowners as possible on the barrier islands for conservation purposes. Just a glance at a map of LBI tells me they should start there and drastically limit rebuilding.

nj2011mom

The Jersey barrier island have been sitting ducks for a while. Just look at the dunes at the Outerbanks and the damage they still suffer with hurricanes. We have decent dunes at the end of our street and they saved our street. 8-10 blocks south of us in the same town was not as fortunate, as there are no dunes in the more touristry area, so people can have direct views of the ocean. There, the storm surge came 1-2 blocks inland and flooded houses.

I'm interested to see what, if any, damage Deal and Elberon had, as they refuses beach replenishment so they don't need to allow public access.