<p>After hurricane Frances we were without power for 5 days, and with Jean 6. The heat and humidity was oppressive. Especially during the “season” of hot flashes. And in our neighborhood, no power means no water. On the second outage, about day 4, I called the power company for an estimate in our area. I broke down and cried. Afterwards, I felt bad for the guy on the other end. But I was DESPERATE. </p>
<p>Hang in there. Once pockets of power are restored, have fun eating out in different places, or hanging out in different places. Heck, I visited the library when it opened. </p>
<p>We now have a generator (throwing out food twice, especially after just restocking was the worst), and a portable A/C. We lost power during Wilma, but it was in October and it was cooler by then. But my portable A/C is ready, just in case. It will cool a room, and has a long “hose” that vents outside. Just knowing I have a generator and a portable A/C during hurricane season keeps me calm…</p>
<p>Still without power here in north central NJ - 51 hours and counting. We also have a boil water warning. At least we do have water for the toilets and hot water for showers because our water heater is gas. NJ transit is running again today. It is kind of depressing to leave the house in the dark and come home to a dark house that will stay dark till after I leave for work the next day. </p>
<p>I think the power company (JCP&L) is trying to manage our expectations down. They are saying that power will be restored by “early next week.” They temporarily raised my hopes yesterday afternoon when they called my cell phone to check if our power had been restored. No such luck. I’m glad I can recharge my iPhone at the office.</p>
<p>When we lost power (for 3+ weeks :eek: ) after Hurricane Wilma, our insurance company reimbursed us for the cost of the food we had to throw out. Check your policy to see if that’s covered. Even if you don’t file any damage claims, they will still pay for the spoiled food.</p>
<p>We lost power on Saturday afternoon and I just got a recording from the power company that they hope to have us on by Wednesday night. H has stayed home and run the generator so I am not complaining. I commented to him this morning that it is soooo much easier to do this with an empty nest. No one whining and complaining!</p>
<p>We were without power (and water as we have a well) from 2 pm Sunday til 8 pm Monday night, so 30 hours. Not fun. But I was saying I was grateful the weather was decent because we didn’t need A/C or heat. Last time we lost power for 4 days, we couldn’t stay because it was too cold. H had frozen lots of bottles of water in advance to help keep food cold in the fridge and freezers. Seems to have worked. We also had to stock up water at the barn for the three horses. So we had about 10 buckets filled sitting in the aisle, plus tubs of water outside.</p>
<p>It was actually kind of nice on Sunday night to have me, H, D and S all in the living room, no one tied to the TV, computer, phone, etc. We talked and laughed and went to bed early. I wouldn’t want to be without power for much longer than that if we had a choice, but it was nice to get everyone off their electronics at once (including me!)</p>
<p>The power company (a very small one) kept us pretty well informed by messages on their website which our local radio station was broadcasting (we had a battery op. radio). Then one of their trucks came up our driveway last night about 6:15 to say they were checking all the lines on this particular grid and if they were all clear, they would try to power up within the hour. So it was almost 2 hours later, but that was fine. They may have come across some other problems as they were checking the lines.</p>
<p>I’m in Massachusetts, without power since 10 on Sunday morning. My neighbor called the power company yesterday and they said it could be 2-4 days before we get it back…I’m going crazy. Tossed everything in the fridge, luckily I hadn’t gone grocery shopping in a while so there wasn’t too much. We do at least have water.</p>
<p>The water came back at 10pm last night. It’s brown and icky, but at least we can flush toilets. I did shower in it this morning, figuring I go to Africa on business and shower in worse. Thankfully I filled 3 camping water jugs with 11+ gallons of fresh water Saturday night, so we have plenty of water, plus the water company was distributing more yesterday, so I now have a counter full of pitchers and nalgene bottles filled with fresh water.</p>
<p>Sounds like several of you are also supplied by ‘wonderful’ NJ American Water, who clearly doesn’t have a well articulated disaster recovery plan. They are saying it might be 2 weeks before we can safely use our tap water. </p>
<p>With this said, I would take Electricity over water. We camp, plus I regularly go to 3rd world countries on business, so I know how to take bucket showers and rely on bottled water for everything. I just never thought I would need to apply these skills in my own home!</p>
<p>So no progress at home. In our office I can charge my cell phone and computer, and use the internet. Remind me to dock my pay for the time spent on personal items.</p>
<p>I have to admit that I woke up last night and had a panic attack. I know it is really silly to get so hung up on living without modern conveniences, but it is tough. I am not optimistic about the situation, so probably will be back in starbucks tonight. (Tune in later).</p>
<p>I called the Public Works office of our town, and the kind secretary told me that there are streets where the utility poles and transformers are down (and have not been fixed yet) so the huge tree near our house that is out in the street (and blocking it) will have to most likely wait. THe DPW is not fixing these, but this was her insight from the info from the utility co. She said it could be September 14 in some areas before the power is restored. I would go to a hotel, but I have 3 pets. The dogs and cat could care less about the power, phone or internet.</p>
<p>JCP&L has no one on customer service. You can talk to the robo guy only.</p>
<p>Glad the water is on for you NJ2011mom. I have been boiling because it usually is no good after a big storm. I have no news as to the water quality, since I am without news, but this is ok.</p>
<p>Glad you are hanging in there, anothermom2. It is very hard to adjust to no power. We went 7 days without power due to an ice storm years ago and it is not so simple an adjustment. I think it would be far more difficult in the summer and without water.</p>
<p>Keep us posted. Not knowing when to expect progress adds to the stress. Maybe you could find a pub with internet access later today ;)</p>
<p>Nevermind internet access, just find a pub! </p>
<p>I feel for you, anothermom2.</p>
<p>For Labor Day weekend we are all (entire extended family) supposed to descend on BIL in NH who currently is without power. I am thinking, “surely they’ll have it by Friday” but it’s possible they won’t. Aargh. There are backup plans, but they all involve more hotel rooms than we would like.</p>
<p>Still no power here but we do have water so I’m feeling pretty lucky. Last night my flashlight stopped working so the mission today is to find a store that still has flashlights - no easy task I am told.</p>
<p>Another from Northern NJ. Our power came back on sometime today in the early morning hours. My husband is now out cutting the tree the fell across our driveway, trapping us in. Luckily it missed the house and my dd’s car (which we moved as far from trees as possible). Our water never went out but our water heater is not working. We had at least 6 inches if not more of water in the basement so don’t know yet if it is just the pilot light or the whole thing is ruined. So glad I had my nook fully charged for reading at night.</p>
<p>Cartera,
Can you order one on Amazon and have it overnighted? If your kid has an Amazon prime account they can order it and shipping is free for 2 day and $3.99 for overnight. Might be well worth it. Hope your power is on before then. Dont forget to order batteries too!</p>
<p>I saw the photos on nj.com. Flooding devastation photos are up for quite a few places in north and central nj too. I understand working to fix things, but it will take some outside help too. I can only hope that they have asked for work crews from other unaffected areas. Or perhaps the next reality tv show will be “Jersey Sinking - its like the Titanic but bigger.”</p>
<p>In MA - without power since 10:30 AM Sunday morning. Since we use gas, we do have hot water. Apparently our pilot light didn’t go out! And we can light the stove with a match. Electric company says we should have power by 10PM. . . . Saturday.</p>
<p>In southwestren CT, got power back in our house last night, but still none at out retail store in the next town. Since we have well water and our house is surrounded by trees with little light even at midday, we decamped to a hotel for two nights–living in the dark with no water is just too much for us oldsters. We had to come back to the house several times a day to care for the pets, and on Monday morning, more than 24 hours after Irene had passed, came home to discover two huge trees down in our driveway–scary to think that we could have figured it was perfectly safe to be outside and been killed in our own driveway! The roots look to be exactly on the property line between us and our neighbor, so heaven only knows how we figure out who pays for this. I’m here on CC instead of thinking about it and instead of emptying out the entire refrigerator and replacing everything that was in it…</p>
<p>I feel so badly for everyone dodging the darkness or coping with boredom. For comic relief, please read what my elderly Mom told me when I called her in New Hampshire just as the storm was advancing her way on Sunday.</p>
<p>I asked her whether she had enough food on hand, just in case she lost power. Her reply, “Don’t worry, honey. My freezer’s full. So if I lose power, I can just microwave all that food. I’m fine.” Really?</p>
<p>In southwest CT also. Power back today, so water and phones are back too. Power back at the shop. Roads still closed and/or cluttered. </p>
<p>No idea what is going on at our beach house powerwise. We went up Sunday and it was just sandblasted a little. Many of our neighbors are much worse off.</p>
<p>I hope everyone gets their power back soon … it’s not a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Also in southwest CT. No power since Sunday AM.
Am at my sister’s house logging in . The just canceled school opening until Tuesday.
At home we have gas and water so it’s really not too bad. I’m charging my phone and Kindle here…</p>