<p>Bhmomma - thank you for sharing that and for your pm. </p>
<p>I just rebooked my son’s thanksgiving flights. We were all going to spend the holiday in our LBI home but now that is a definite non-possibility.</p>
<p>It really ticks me off that Delta is charging me an extra 250$ to change his tickets. I know that Spirit air will not be any better when I go to change mine and my other child’s as well. No, we did not buy the trip insurance (and would not have been covered by it regardless). It is tough to deal with Spirit Air since you can never find a live person (or phone number) to deal with but they are the only airline that flies nonstop to Atlantic city so we are stuck. </p>
<p>In Long Beach NY, they are now testing the water lines and hope to be back on (water and power) by Thursday of next week so my inlaws are hoping to leave us ( here in Florida) and drive back then.</p>
<p>Like Zoosermom said, local NY politicians realized that more than a few folks are beginning to panic, whether justifiably or not. I sat at a bus stop on Wednesday that was next to gas station. I thought the long line was a temporary thing. Nope. By Friday long lines in the suburbs was the norm, with local police or state troopers at every open station.</p>
<p>In their grief or frustration, maybe some people have exaggerated their [property] loss, but it is clear to me that during these days of crisis Mayor Bloomberg didn’t have his ear to the ground enough. I gave him a pass on the Wednesday Manhattan gridlock (which could have been alleviated for emergency vehicles and transit) but that was Wednesday. Mr. Mayor, people weren’t griping about “inconvenience,” they were griping about clearly dire circumstances.</p>
<p>We are also changing Thanksgiving as they have to replace gas lines on the entire length of LBI (over 19 miles long)
Just wanted to reiterate regarding the above missive: that was written Friday- water, food stations were just being set up for emergency responders.</p>
<p>I haven’t ever been through a disaster, I can’t even remember the last time our power went out except for a couple years ago when a squirrel got zapped by a transformer and it took an hour or so to be repaired.
The most I’ve ever had to deal with is coming home to a flooded basement after being trapped on the other side of the mountains during a huge storm.</p>
<p>I understand about being prepared, but I also know that we can easily underestimate what is needed to do so. Not everyone is preparing for Armageddon and has supplies for a year in their “bomb shelter” like my LDS relatives. Blaming victims after the fact may make us feel superior while it assures us that we never will be in a similar situation, but I’m surprised by attitude toward those who have suffered a loss. That doesn’t help anyone.</p>
<p>From what I have heard from others, in some ways the NOLA area is * still recovering* from Katrina, we may want to keep that in mind even after power has been restored.</p>
<p>This is the other main barrier island of NJ (besides this and LBI, there are others, of course–these are the longest two.</p>
<p>There are several major towns along this island; they’ve been there basically intact for many ,many years. Not sure what the answer is, but closing them down would be a horrifically huge blow to those people and to the state as a whole. I’m not arguing here, just acknowledging what a loss it would be.</p>
<p>It’s a good time for healthy people to get the bikes out of the garage and pump up the tires. Obviously not everyone can bike, but bikes could make convenient transportation for a lot of people.</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang, our bikes are on Long Beach Island, in our garage that may or may not still be there on an island that we are not allowed to enter…</p>
<p>Well, according to my mother in law, whose family owned and lived year round on LBI (thousands do, it isn’t “only” a summer vacation destination) the last “big storm” to cause significant damage was 1962. Contrast that with earthquakes and mud slides in California, tornadoes in the midwest, and hurricanes that hit other coastal areas, and I am not sure it is easy to say that it should or should not be rebuilt. There are certain lots on LBI that cannot be rebuilt upon, based upon damage from other storms. I know of one family whose home is essentially “uninsurable” but as Garland stated it would be a horrific blow to say to simply “shut it down” LBI contributed over a billion dollars to the Ocean County economy last year.</p>
<p>It’s physically impossible to own and store a generator in an apartment building. Also extremely dangerous to run one. All the rural/suburban people who are self-satisfied for budgeting for a generator would do well to remember that it’s not just irresponsibility that leads millions of people in NYC to not have one.</p>
<p>And a car? LOL…right. </p>
<p>seiclan…that’s awful. Are there many year-round residents of LBI?</p>
<p>As for Long Beach (NY), I understand everyone needs their house evaluated before they can come back - green, yellow or red. Yellow and red can’t come back until work is done or, in the case of red, until a new house is built. Apparently FEMA puts a sticker on the front door. I hope your family can get back soon!</p>
<p>Didn’t know about the Occupy Sandy help, thanks for the heads up.</p>
<p>bhmomma, best wishes that your LBI house weathered the storm.</p>
<p>I don’t mean that everyone can or should bike, for a lot of reasons. But some people can ride their bikes, and biking will save gas (or space on public transit) for others who need it and will reduce congestion on the roads. I don’t know how it is now, but in normal times Manhattan is such a small island it’s easy to get around by bike.</p>
<p>Apparently the bike biz is booming now in Sandystan.</p>
<p>A lot of my co-workers are biking. Some alway have, but the building management company has finally been shamed into allowing bikes on the elevators. A small victory, but nonetheless . .</p>
<p>My heart goes out to all affected by this monster of a storm. I was also shocked to read some of the stuff posted in this thread. Yes, for an able-bodied adult, being without power for several days is an inconvenience, even in a tiny aprtment on a higher floor. For someone old and frail living in the same kind of apartmen, it can be a life threatening situation. And having a generator in an apartment does no good, it simply adds new dangers - fire and almost guaranteed CO poisoning.</p>
<p>CF, bikes are great for city folks, and there are compact, foldable bikes for shorter trips.</p>
<p>Lots of gas flowing now but lots in ny without power
"All power has been restored in Manhattan, and 60% of all homes and businesses in the city that lost electricity during the storm now have light again, Cuomo said on Saturday. However, there are still 900,000 customers in the New York City metro area and 550,000 customers in Long Island without power.</p>
<p>Of course they should rebuild LBI and all of the other places that have been devastated by this tragedy !! To suggest otherwise is offensive and I am sure that those who live in tornado prone areas , earthquake prone areas and other places that could potentially become a ground zero would agree</p>
<p>I also don’t have a lot of faith in the red cross because I recall there were a lot of issues with how Katrina was handled. I don’t want to call a hotline and blindly donate money without knowing where it will go</p>
<p>I have my boots on the ground, my arms in the kitchen , my social media asking friends for donations and will physically deliver all I can get and do</p>
<p>But then, I CAN do this because I live so close…but if I were not , I would look into smaller charities that I know concentrate on the people closest …and I know who they are here in south Jersey</p>
<p>I’m not so sure about rebuilding on the barrier islands… and I say this with sorrow, as a Jersey girl who spent happy times “down the shore” as a kid. The barrier islands are sandbars. If this is the new normal, if we build there, five ten years from now the houses will be washed away again. Maybe there’s a way to make it work. But maybe there isn’t.</p>
<p>WooHoo! We finally have the internet! SOOOOO excited.</p>
<p>Thanks to Sandy, we had a HUGE oak tree ON our house. Lost over half our house. Severely damaged. But, I also feel very lucky. No one was hurt. For a time, I figured everyone must know about our damage, since I kept hearing helicopters overhead. Very scary, but in truth, whenever I heard any large bang, I worried we were still getting hit.</p>
<p>Anyway, we survived. Okay, our house won’t be back to “normal” for at least another 6-9 months, but we’re okay. </p>
<p>And anyone worrying about this silliness about a gas shortage needs to stop. Just have a little patience and plan well. No need to get all blistered out of shape because of the possibility that there isn’t any gas. It’s there and there’s no need to panic.</p>
<p>In the 60’s NJ was hit with a hurricane that destroyed the southern shore. I am told that the town fathers of Avalon did not allow the rebuilding of any house on the first row of ocean front property. Those houses were replaced with a large dune which was rebuilt and added to over the last 40 some years. That dune supposedly had a real impact on stoppping the ocean surge this last storm.</p>
<p>If we are to rebuild there has to be restrictions and conditions. For one thing if the government rebuilds either through aid or other subsidies the beaches - all of them need to accomodate the public. That means State set beach fees, parking and public facilities. There are too many beaches that ban the public. If they want that they need to rebuild on their own.</p>
<p>I am self-satisfied because I have a generator? We have no public transportation here. Some of us really want it and work for it and it doesn’t happen. I know you can’t have a generator in NYC. We can’t seem to get a train in VT. Let’s give each other a break.</p>