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Holy Smokes did we get slammed! I live in Sullivan County NY which is about 80 miles NW of NY City. We are the foot hills of the NY Catskill mountains and nothing but trees and lots of them.

Yesterday was a very serious day once the winds kicked up. There was no place to hide from all the uprooted trees coming down all around us. I am very fortunate none hit the house but there are 7 big pines laying on their sides all around me. I took a short drive this morning, short because I could get nowhere. Trees are down in every direction and blocking every road. I have never seen devastation such as this in my life and I lived through the big Ice Storm up in Rochester a dozen or so years ago.

Running on generator power now and will be for many days because there simply is no electric lines left standing. I finally got a look at the TV news tonight and from the looks of things on the NY and NJ coasts we got away lucky. They showed pictures of lots of boats sitting where Billy Goats can't go.

My prayers go out to all those who suffered great loss and we will get past this storm of the century but hope it never happens again in my life time.

The good news is both my Whaler and my Lowe fishing boat are unharmed.

I don't have any other source of communication except this satellite connected computer and the satellite TV when I can turn it on for a few minutes. Land line phones are dead as are the cell towers.

Let me know how others have made out.

Gary

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Gary Good Luck, from your area...spent most of my childhood up your way ...know the place like the back of my hand...from Newburg all the way to kingston...bad place to be without power...but it could be worse...you could be on the jersey shore:)

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I have been watching the storm on TV.

Glad you made it through safely.

My sister-in-laws Grady White is missing from the storage unit.
She just had it shrink rapped and stored for the winter.
She lives right behind Atlantic City, NJ on the mainland side.
Her basement is flooded and no electricity at this time.

Hope the rest of you made it safely.

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Just last night the news showed pictures of thousands of boats all where they don't belong. Many ended up on the rail road tracks and many more are sunk at their moorings.

Not trying to be funny here Joe but they did show a wrapped Grady sitting right on the tracks and it is not a pretty sight.

The rain has finally stopped so I will be out doing a full scan of the damages. I am 60 and have never heard so many giant trees crashing in the woods in my life. Not that I have any close neighbors but the place just up the road is nearly cut in half with a giant tree right through it but no one was at home.

Lots of pictures like this around here, http://www.midhudsonnews.com/

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joe,
i hate to say it but from the photo's of the NJ shore, I hope she had good insurance.

Gamalot, glad you made it through the storm

I understand that Norfolk, Ocean City and the Delaware beach front communities had lots of wind and water and while they had structural damage, nothing compared to the Jersey Shore. I wish those folks all the best, it will take them a long time to put that all back together and it will never be the same as it was.

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We had many warnings, panic, and news trucks all around taking live shots for 72 hours leading up to, and including the day of the storm. But after all was said and done, we pretty much made it through unscathed. I feel for everyone in NY/NJ...terrible damage there.

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I have to commend the prior warnings that we all got, better safe than surprised and sorry. Where I live in Forestburgh is right outside of Monticello NY and we took a near direct hit from the right side of this storm and it was amazing. NJ is just 15 miles from here. It hit here at right around 3:30 PM and I watched people driving home from work and right behind them massive trees were falling over the roads. It is a wonder how some of them made it without injury. I had a house full of strangers stranded looking for a phone because no cell service reaches here but the phone lines were dead already.

I am fortunate to have a pretty big generator but after this when things calm down my plan is to buy one of the real whole home standby systems that comes on automatic when the power goes off. Right now my house looks like spaghetti with heavy extension cords strung throughout but I still don't have the well pump or furnace capabilities so no water, no hot water and we flush with buckets from the creek and heat with a small coal stove so we are perfectly fine except for being a bit fragrant and needing a good hot shower.

I do feel for those who never were Boy Scouts and failed to be prepared.

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Sorry for all the sorrow and grief. Poor souls, but I think it will be even more sorry when the insurance companies get involved and try to determine whether it was wind damage or flooding. I think you must have one or the other or both. Can an insurance expert speak to this? I am just curious.

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I'm sorry for all of your losses and destruction that anyone is having after this storm. You are lucky it was only a cat 1 hurricane. The problem is now as Fred stated...The insurance companies and the building deportment's. The building department will now change all the building codes to meet or exceed hurricane codes, Your constructions cost just went up 25-35% for building a new home, (I have been there done that and went through what you have done, lost of a home)rebuilding, or repair. The insurance companies will now triple your rates for storm and flood, if you wish to contest it they will drop you like a hot potato. Even though you have never made a claim and they have not had a storm like this for over 50 years and have been collecting monies all along. They will contact your bank and tell them that you no longer have insurance, however the bank will sign you up and add you to government insurance to your mortgage. This insurance is only 4 times what you have been paying at 25% less coverage....These were the problems after Andrew (Cat 5) in South Fla, and some people are still in the lost even after 20 years...Good luck to you all and I wish you the best...

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Glad I have no insurance claims to put in! I will not be flooding here in the mountains but I am positive I am covered for full replacement cost if a tree falls on my house. If they fall in my yard or on my property and do no damage then I figure that is my responsibility and I get to clean it up. My insurance rates are high but mostly because of those who feel it is the insurance companies responsibility to clean up a little mess. That is not an argument here on WC but it is the way I roll. No Loss= No Claim.
You can be sure that a lot of folks right here who got a little wet in their basements will be filing claims for all sorts of minor garbage because they never checked to see that their sump pumps were working.

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It seems that anywere north of ocean city n.j was hit hard.My house is on the mainland side of LONG BEACH ISLAND and i had some tress down but that was it .The wife,whalers and house are good but my marina is gone.I will have alot of cleaning to do this weekend.I am one of the lucky one's.Never want to go thru winds like that again.Ever


vinny

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Vinny,

My folks house in Mantoloking NJ is completely gone. No trace of it but a clear sandy spot. We saw some footage from the Air National Guard. The devastation is beyond belief. Fortunately no one was there and nothing of value in the house.

For a scary view check out this link:

http://www.dvidshub.net/video/159695/aerial-view-new-jersey-coastline-near-seaside-heights#.UJB9M2n5m6


It will take YEARS to rebuild the Jersey shore. I wish you good luck with your marina.

BTW how is that Outrage going?

mb466

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Tonights Rock Center was all about Sandy's damage. The devastation to the Jersey Shore and Staten Island is just unreal. I hope the response and support needed comes quickly for these people.

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We had no flooding or water damage at all up here in the mountains. The storm produced very little rain on this side but massive winds. Every downed tree is laying facing the south, south west and the wind sure did come right out of the NE. If we didn't have big pine trees with shallow roots there would be very little damage here. Instead, the main road runs east to west and all the trees on the north side crashed over the road and power lines and it is unbelievable how much damage there is to the power and phone grid.

It will probably be another week before we get back on and since we are so far out and much less populated the power company is still working where they can bring back the most homes and the outlying spots will be last.

It is sad to see the destruction nearer the coast all caused by water and storm surge. After getting a look on the TV I have to admit we got away very lucky except for power outages and a few homes that had trees fall on them. I should probably rephrase the caption to we got "Slapped" while the coast got the "Spanking".

Here is another thought regarding being prepared. On Sunday, just before the storm, I filled up all my 5 gallon gas cans for the generator, 8 in total or 40 gallons. Gas was very hard to find and still is in many places. No power, no pumping. Lots of folks up here have generators but only had 5-10 gallons of fuel and they have learned a valuable lesson.
Most cars and trucks have an anti siphon screen in the fill tube so even with a full tank in the car you can't get it out.

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Fellow whaler owners Sal A and Dave Sutton lost their homes (NJ coast). They and their families are okay.

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Well to say we got hammered is an understatement. I saw a few fellow whaler guys at the ramp last friday nite before we lauched and chased stripers at Robert Moses had a good nite and we were looking foward to getting back to it after Sandy. Now I think I'm done for the season. I was lucky, a few dowed trees and the Whaler tucked saftly in the garage. I didnt even lose power. I have Lived on Long Island ALL my life and I have never seen destrution on a scale like this. It may be weeks before you can even get near the water here. Barrier island breaches, homes and lives lost, boats floated and left a mile inland. Utter descruction. I am thankful, for me it was an inconvience. for others lived ruined. For many it was long Islands Katrina. You cant even get fuel for the car,no less the boat. We will rebiuld but this place has changed forever, the landscape and more. Thank you, and please pray for those who got hit the hardest. -From Long Island

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Eight days later and I awoke to 18 degrees but they finally got the power on over night. Today will be the beginning of a major clean up and my home sure does look like a hurricane came through it.
I did miss a lot of the news over the past week but I was anything but undecided and will make time to cast my vote some time during this day if I can find where they moved the polling place to.

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I just saw this. Hi all. Home is a goner. Family is all well.

God bless you all.