In honor of friends and loved ones that have been severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy and continue to struggle, I am dedicating this post in their honor.
In 2005, I was glued to the TV watching images of people on their roofs awaiting rescue. It seemed like they were stranded on Mars. I wanted to reach through my TV and pluck them off their homes myself. I had never seen anything like it, and living in New York, I foolishly thought it could never happen hear.
Fast Forward to 2012: On this day just one year ago, I was home with my 6 year old son and joking about the possibility of losing power. He gathered all of his little flashlights and prepared them with fresh batteries. Yes, he knows the routine, because a year earlier, we faced Irene, and had no power for 3 days. We were veterans. So with the storm dumping some hit and miss rain and just winds blowing, my junior storm veteran kept asking me when the storm is going to hit. I told him I think this was it.
About 8pm, the lights went out. We calmly got our flashlights ready and headed to the front door. There were sparks in the air and booming, with transformers blowing out on the poles (from the wind, I had thought). I turned on my portable radio and no sooner did I do that, I heard a loud twirling sound outside. It sounded like a freight train. Initial convincing thought: Tornado! No sooner did that thought cross my mind, my Emergency Alert went off on my cell phone and it warned the Howard Beach area to "take cover" for life and death conditions imminent. Yep, a tornado for sure I figured. To the basement we went! We put our Spongebob headlamps on our foreheads (silly, but I had to do whatever it took to keep him calm when the twister hit!!). I said we need to wait a little while and I was going to attempt reading to him by headlamp to keep things calm.
Suddenly, I started hearing sounds like "Glop Glop Glop", or what you hear when a train is backed up. It turns out that we have a drain in the basement floor to drain out any seepage/leaks from big rainstorms, which never amounted to anything more than a damp floor in some spots. But this was different. I walked over with a big flashlight, and it was gushing up from the drain. I told my son that reading has to be moved back upstairs, since the water was coming fast and furious. He waited on the stairs and I grabbed anything I needed to bring up with us.
When we got upstairs, I opened the front door, and our home became an island. Water up 2 of the 4 front steps, cars stuck in the water. Armageddon within less than 30 minutes, Images of Katrina flashed through my head. How can I get him to the roof? What is the best way? Strap him to my back? As I felt myself panic, I realized I needed to shelve the emotions, and focus on keeping him calm. I told my son that the streets were being washed by Sandy. Inside, I felt fear, but I knew that as long as that water did not hit the 3rd and 4th step, we'd be OK where we were.
Then it hit the 3rd step, and I made a plan B in case it started coming into the main floor; we would camp out on the Dining Room table. I came down to peer at the basement with a flashlight, and it sounded like Niagara Falls. Water was shooting up from the floor! I saw the next high tide was coming at 8:20am, so I got him to take some rest, and I sat up with my radio listening to the news. There was no chance I was taking a snooze with this unprecedented catastrophe in progress and my little guy needing me to be the wall between him and the storm, both mentally and physically.
To make a very long story short, the waters receded over night, and 12 days later, power returned !! My basement was gutted and made brand new, thanks to quick action by FEMA. I lost a lot of treasured items stored in my basement, however, I was given something in return that is more valuable than any of it: life.
Many people lost lives in Sandy, and many people have still not recovered, even though their lives were spared. I was able to recover and move forward. I am thankful, and always pray for those who lost family and are still in dire straits.
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Have a Great Week
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes - Rent to Own Homes, since 2002
"Located at the Corner of Technology and Real Estate"
Rent to Own Homes and Real Estate Blog for HomeRun Homes: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com
TAGS: #sandy #howardbeach #newyork #queens #hurricane #superstorm