My personal experience during Superstorm Sandy

I have been wanting to write about my experience with Superstorm Sandy for the past 2 weeks and as usual I procrastinated. Finally, Thanksgiving weekend has given me a much needed breather after the chaos of Sandy. October 29th, Monday was the date Sandy was expected to make landfall in New Jersey. The previous day K & I decided to shop for a few supplies like drinking water, flashlights, groceries, etc to make it through the storm in case we would be house bound. We went to Walmart and did not find water. The stores were crowded with people doing last minute shopping like us. Many people were trying to buy generators. I had parent teacher conferences scheduled for October 29th and 30th. My boss sent out an email saying that the conferences were cancelled and that school would be closed. On Monday, K & I were watching the news round the clock. The wind picked up. As the day wore on the wind howled. We continued to watch T.V, check mail and were basically busy playing with all the gadgets we have. At 8.40 pm Monday, October 29th the power went out. Our phones did not have 100 percent battery. We continued to play with our smartphones. That night we were not too worried. We went to bed. Tuesday, October 30th - no power. We spent the day reading. AT&T service got hit pretty bad. We could not make or receive calls. We shut our phones to conserve the battery power. We had cooking gas and were able to cook and eat home cooked food. That night it felt cold. No power and no heat. We lit candles and were actually excited about the candles. K & I were reminded of power cuts back home in India. We wore sweaters and went to sleep. Wednesday, October 31st - It was our 9th wedding anniversary. Our families were unable to reach us. I was beginning to get annoyed with the whole situation. We decided to finally go out and see what the situation outside was like. We drove around and found a lot of fallen trees. We decided to go to Walmart which was boarded up and closed. Lowes was open and people were charging their gadgets there. We managed to go in and strangers were friendly enough to make a spot free for us on their surge protectors. As many people were charging, it was taking a really long time to get the phone charged. The management finally sent as away from inside the store due to safety issues. We left the store and came out. There were outlets outside the store and a kind stranger reorganized the surge protector and found a spot for our phones. K & I took turns to charge each of our phones. We were standing in the cold and we were not dressed for the weather. K, meanwhile went into the store and bought 2 solar garden lights. We were at the store for about 4 hours and phones were charged abou 50-60 percent. We got home and had lunch. I began to dread night fall. That night we bundled up and brought out another comforter in addition to the one we usually use. Everyday I spoke with my neighbors and got to know them better. We relied on each other for support. My neighbor who lives opposite me was getting emotional. She was getting laid off from her job and the following week was her last day of work. Thursday, November 1st - I threw out everything from my fridge. We boiled water on the stove to have a shower. My neighbor was upset about throwing stuff from her fridge. I told her she should leave outside on the fire escape. The weather was cold and nothing could go bad. I helped her put stuff on the fire escape. We secured it with a plastic basket over it and put a potted plant on it so the squirrels don't get to it. We went to a shelter and decided to charge our phones over there. It was warm in the shelter. The charging station had not been set up. We waited. Meanwhile we switched on our phones and I managed to speak with my sister. I asked my sister to inform my in-laws that we were fine. While we were waiting I helped the volunteers load blankets into a car to be transported to another shelter. As soon as the charging station got set up we stood in line to charge our phones. This time we managed to get our phones to about 70 percent. The shelter was also handing out dry food and water. We also had to limit the use of our car as gas stations were closed because without power they couldn't dispense fuel. Friday, November 2nd - I was on edge. K & I were fighting often. It was hard to wash my hair with just 3 pots of boiled water. A charging station was set up at a school near my apartment. We went there and charged our phones. A friend of ours who lives in Princeton, NJ invited us to their home. We did not want to make the 35 mile trip and use up the gas in our car. We stay put and continued to sleep in a cold apartment. I even woke up at 3 am unable to sleep in the cold. Whenever I typed out a message to my family, tears ran down my cheeks. On Saturday, November 3rd, my friend P texted and invited me home. We decided to go to her apartment and charge our phones. We were sitting in a warm apartment, charging our phones and feeling a little better. P is my colleague and we have become good friends. Another friend J who had also lost power was staying at P's place. In the afternoon, P, J & I went shopping to Target. J needed to buy a comforter. K stayed behind at P's apartment and watched T.V and got to access his email. K now works in Charlotte and was stuck here at N.J during the storm. Due to the power outage, every city had a curfew after 6 pm. We were advised to stay indoors and not drive unless it was an emergency. We left P's place, dropped J at her apartment and drove home. Still no power :( I could not take it any more. I told K we should go stay at P's place for the night. I called P and told her we were coming. We went over to P's place and stayed the night there. Thank you, P. P's husband was in London on work. She has 2 kids - 9 year old K & 7 year old M. M was my student 2 years ago. P's family is very close knit. We got to stay with and enjoy this warm, loving family. On Sunday, November 4th it was Daylight Savings Time. The clock had to be turned back an hour. We left P's apartment and went home. No power. K decided to schedule his flight back to Charlotte for Sunday evening. We quickly boiled water on the stove, had a shower and packed some clothes and left the apartment. We had to fill gas. New Jersey had begun a gas rationing system. License plates ending with even numbers could fill up on even numbered dates and license plates ending with odd numbers could fill up on odd numbered dates. We had to stand in a line to fill gas. The line ran for 10-12 blocks. I was driving and K was on the phone rescheduling his flight. We took turns at the wheel. As we stood in line, i got off the car and picked up pizza. we sat in the car and had our pizza lunch as the line inched along slowly. we had gotten in line at 12.15 pm. At about 4.30 pm K got worried he might miss his flight. He managed to get a cab to go to the airport. I continued to stand in line and filled up the car at 6.05 pm. 6 hours in line to fill gas for 40 $. I drove to P's place. That night, we got an email from our boss saying that one of our campuses finally got power and asking us if we could go to clean up as the school had gotten flooded. I was meanwhile checking with my neighbor via text if we had got power back. On Monday, November 5th P & I went to work. We had to call parents and reschedule conferences for the following day. I managed to call all our parents, enquired about their safety and made a new schedule. I had 19 conferences lined up for Tuesday, November 6th 2012. I was exhausted and just wanted my life to get back to normal. I did not have formal clothes to wear for the next day. I went shopping and bought some clothes to wear for the following day. That night I went to bed at P's place. At 11.30 pm that night, my neighbor texted saying the power was back. i went back to sleep. Again at about 1.30 am she texted again saying the power went out again. At 5.30 am when i woke up, i replied to her and she said the power was back again. I had a shower, put on my newly purchased clothes and went to work. I had 19 conferences that day with a half hour lunch break. I went home at about 4.30 pm. The power was back. I was happy to be home. Superstorm Sandy was a big lesson. Some tips for survival during a situation like this - 1. buy drinking water. (Get to the store in time) 2. Have flashlights, batteries, candles 3. very important - a car charger for your phone 4. have books to read 5. instead of stocking up your fridge with perishable food before the storm, buy canned food. ( you won't have to throw it in case there is a power outage) 6. Have faith. 7. if you are planning to buy a car, go for a hybrid. Acknowledgements I want to thank everyone who offered us help. My friend P, my neighbor B who texted me. I hope B finds a job soon. I would also like to thank all the police officers, firefighters, first responders and volunteers. I am thankful that we are alive and safe.