I had a post all set for today, but I’ll send it to you some other time.
This is one of those events that really puts your life into perspective. I finally got in touch with my sister today. She lives on the water at the Jersey Shore, in my home town.
She evacuated to my brother’s house, where there was little damage. They are just without power.
Yesterday, she drove through what she called a “war zone” and got as close to her house (the house I grew up in) as she could. She then had to wade through hip-high water for several blocks just to see if the house was still there.
Luckily it was still standing, but the waters had surged over 20 feet higher than normal and flooded the basement and garage. She was very lucky.
My home town is flooded several miles inland. The church I got married in is under water. The elementary school I went to is still under water and probably a total loss.
My nephew took a canoe out toward the ocean and got as far as he cold before the national guard stopped him. A huge house floated down the canal and rammed into the bridge that separates the beach side of town from the boro side. The ocean/beach starts at the base of the bridge now. Miles of houses between the bridge and the former line of the ocean are under water or just plain gone. The boardwalk where I worked as a teenager is not there anymore. Structures that are standing are past repair. Highways suddenly stop and turn into beach. Where there are still roads, she said she couldn’t navigate because so many trees are down. She called the street my husband used to live on “a war zone”
Seaside Heights and Bay head are still on fire. Some houses survived, but now they are burning because there is a river of water between them and the rescue workers. The national guard is just trying to get any survivors to the other side of the bridges.
My sister is a hospice nurse, and has been working since Saturday relocating/evacuating/saving patients. She then worked on finding homes/shelters for eight of her coworkers whose houses are a complete loss. One of her friends is missing. She waded to the girl’s house, but it wasn’t there anymore. It was just gone.
This is insane. This is the type of thing you hear about in movies, or see on the news in “other places”. This kind of thing does not happen in your home town.
I feel so incredibly lucky to have suffered so little damage where I am. So many lives will be changed forever.
Please pray or send positive energy to all those effected by this horrible storm.
It is very surreal, knowing that the places you grew up with, the places where you worked and played … are just not there anymore.
This is promoting Tall Tales and Short Stories from South Jersey.
Jennifer M Eaton 