Gallivanting Grandma

Thursday – November 1, 2012

The outdoor temperature dipped to 48 degrees last night. The inside temperature was 57 degrees. It felt cold and damp. We discarded everything in the refrigerator and freezer. For the last few days we searched for and found open restaurants for our meals because it was just too cold in the house to sit and enjoy a meal. We also made the rounds of logical places to hang out to stay warm. Yesterday evening we sat by the cafe at the local gym. They had electricity and a working television. It looked like a mini-theater with families filling lines of chairs facing the TV watching CNN News. Fortunately, we still had hot water at home, so we could take showers. The gym had opened its doors to the community and there were long lines to use the showers in the women’s locker room. For us, it was good to have a warm place to sit and plug in our computers.

Today we tried Barnes & Noble again. The line was long for Starbucks coffee and all the tables were taken by computer users. I learned that the all columns in the store have electrical outlets, because groups of people were huddled around the columns sitting on the floor with their laptops. I was lucky to find a comfortable chair by the window, but no outlet. Just sitting in the warm sunshine felt good.  

Wednesday – October 31, 2012

For most kids in the northeast, this might have been the worst Halloween ever. Some communities cancelled Halloween and some postponed the celebration until next week. We were still without power and news about the scope of the damage resulting from Hurricane Sandy was trickling in from the media. They were now calling it Superstorm Sandy. Last night’s storm surge brought water up into the low-lying streets of Manhattan, flooding subway tubes and several automobile tunnels. Millions of people and businesses were without power from Maine to North Carolina and westward to Ohio. The ocean areas were devastated by water and wind. Unbelievably, 85 houses burned to the ground in Far Rockaway.

We inadvertently celebrated Halloween at a little breakfast joint nearby called Country Time which happened to be open. They were lucky enough to have electricity. The front of the place was decorated for Halloween with witches, goblins, flying bats, and signs saying “Keep Out.” After a 30 minute wait, we were seated at the counter. The interior of the restaurant was decorated with scary manikins and gory masks everywhere. Large bats hung from the ceiling and blood-soaked knives dangled over the cook behind the counter. Several customers arrived in costumes and it was amusing to see witches and Dracula sitting at the tables and eating breakfast.  The characters seemed appropriate to the setting. Everyone was cheerful and friendly. It was a momentary escape from the harsh realities outside.

After a hearty breakfast, I called my brother again. Last night’s midnight tide was supposed to be the record breaker. Bob said that Long Island Sound rushed up his street and connected with the cross-street. Water flooded his basement completely submerging his boiler and hot water heater. His house had been elevated many years ago and sits on a five foot high foundation. Last night, the water rose up to the top step of the front stairway, almost to his porch. By 10:00 PM, almost six feet of water surrounded Bob and Joan’s house isolating their home like a little island. The tide was supposed to rise for another two and a half hours, but all of a sudden the water stopped flowing and it suddenly receded as if someone had pulled the plug in a bathtub. As the water level dropped, Bob and Joan watched in amazement. Why not?  It was Halloween.  Glenda, the good witch, was watching over them!

Tuesday – October 30, 2012

Our power was still out. The wind had howled and growled all night long, shaking the house intermittently with strong gusts. It was still raining in the morning. My older son and his family who live 40 miles away had also lost power. They were making the best of it by pretending they were pioneers camping in the wilderness. I received an email from my younger son who lives in New York City near my 90 year old uncle and aunt. Chris said that a transformer had exploded on 14^th Street and they were left in darkness without electricity also. Although the cell phone reception was poor, we could still communicate with everyone. It just required some patience.

I called Bob and Joan on my cell phone in the morning to see how they were doing. The water had risen to the second step in front of their house and encircled them at midnight. “But it wasn’t too bad,” Bob said. They still had electricity and were using a space-heater for warmth. I reminded him that water conducts electricity. He laughed and said, “Don’t worry. We’re not going anywhere!”

Bob & Joan’s Street

By mid-day, the wind had subsided and it was just raining lightly. It was more like a usual nor’easter. I was dying for a cup of coffee so I suggested we go out to find an open restaurant for lunch. We drove north to Route 6 which is the main east/west road here. Several large trees had up-rooted and leaned on the wires. Broken limbs of trees were scattered everywhere. The top of a utility pole still attached to its wires, rested on the ground at the side of the road. None of the traffic lights were working. We carefully drove west toward the main shopping center and tried to look for businesses with power. Surprisingly, many of the stores had lights burning. I suggested stopping at Barnes & Noble Bookstore’s Starbucks coffee bar. Lots of other people had the same idea because there were about 30 people on line. I joined the line while Jeff browsed. The store was mobbed with people with computers trying to get storm information from the store’s internet/wifi access.

View From the Porch

Later we surveyed the area and found a few restaurants that were open for business. All of them had long lines of hungry families. Most of the entire region was without power. As the day progressed, the wind decreased and the rain subsided. All in all, we considered ourselves lucky. We didn’t have electricity, but we had a dry roof over our heads and everyone in our family was safe and secure.

(Note: Bob’s photos)

Monday – October 29, 2012

It was still calm in the morning, but everything was shut down. Hurricane Sandy was moving up the eastern coast and it was predicted to hit our area by the early afternoon. All the schools were closed. Mass transit had been shut down at 7:00 PM last night. There were no subways, commuter trains, or buses running. The streets were bare and everyone was hunkered down waiting for the huge 800 mile wide hurricane to pass over. Light rain started to fall about mid-day. Then the wind picked up. The wind whistled a variety of tunes most of the time with increasing growling gusts. It was a virtual orchestra of sounds outside for quite a long time.

By early evening, our lights began to flicker. I saw a large ball of flaming light through the trees on the main road. The lights flickered again and I heard an eerie crack and the power was off. I had already gathered candles and flashlights on the kitchen table, so I wasn’t worried. I had always lived in places where the power was flakey so I had an abundant supply of candles. We weren’t worried. The stove burns propane and still worked. The hot water heater also works without electricity. We ate a simple dinner by candle light. We thought, “Hey this hurricane’s not so bad. Hurry up and go away!”

Hurricane Sandy was a large slow-moving swirling mass of wind. It had taken her quite a while at 13 mph to travel north up the Atlantic coast. She made landfall near Cape May, New Jersey and gained speed as she continued westward. The wind and rain of the storm were still not severe.

Ultimately, we learned later, it was the tidal flow and storm surge of the ocean that caused the most devastating damage to the most people. Sandy happened to arrive at the same time as the natural occurrence of a full moon. Every old salt knows that the tides are their highest levels during full moons especially in the spring and fall. My brother and sister-in-law live in a flood zone near Long Island Sound which usually has six-foot tides. Sandy’s surge was predicted to increase the tidal flow to 11 feet about normal. I called Bob and Joan to see how they were doing.

The police had already been to their door to ask them to evacuate. They had refused. A man from the power company, Con Edison, had already turned off their gas. The next high tide was expected at about 12:00 midnight. They were hunkered down and waiting for the storm to pass.