Hi PV! I hope you are safe and sound up there in your nest. New York city looks awful on the news, and 7 million without power. Take care, and please check in again when you can.

Take care everyone.

Karen

Thinking of you this morning, PV. I have friends in NYC; it looks very bad there.

Was a heck of a night, but got through without much damage.
Sure do hope Trudi checks in. Worried about her.

Hope everyone else is safe.

I fared okay here in CT. Hope you are okay, PV (guessing you are without power now!) and hope others in NYC & LI, NJ, and coastal areas are okay as well.

Dee

Montgomery County Maryland dodged a major bullet and we got off lightly compared to what was predicted. Only about 10,000 without power and that number is falling fast.

My thoughts and prayers are with the New Yorkers and New Jerseyians who took the direct hit.

Aren't Trudi and Donn both on Long Island?

Karen

Yes, both are on L.I., and Nan and others. Donn is on/near water. Maybe without power, but I hope they are all OK.

I'm fine in my area; power's on, no flooding in the streets, no trees down that I can see. We didn't get much rain here, but the WINDS! Surprisingly, my two pots of mums took a licking, but they are still ticking - full of flowers.

It is so heartbreaking to see the damage done, especially in New Jersey. I know of one co-worker who lost his (main) home on the Jersey shore. I am happy to be personally safe, but it is really hard to see the images of folks and places that have been so devastated. Can only imagine how they must feel.

Still on an involuntary "vacation" - no way for me to get to work. Maybe tomorrow.

PV

I thought of all the members on this Forum from the affected areas and said a prayer. Today I spoke to my cousin who lives in Jersey: lost 3 large trees on her lot but luckily no damage to the house, but they are still without power and they all work in NYC so can't make it to work yet. Another cousin in Queens lost everything: flooding up to the second floor, then blown out doors as the water started to recede and furniture just floated out of the house. We in Ottawa had a couple of hours of high winds, and a little rain - nothing to speak of so we have to be very thankful. Hope help comes to those who need it soon.

Hey, PV, good thing you have power! It just hit me yesterday that all the poor folks in highrises without power have to walk up and down the stairs! My co-worker's son lives on the 10th floor of a building with no power, with dogs that must get walked, so he will be in shape by the time the power comes back on!

But seriously, with all the heartbreaking stories I've been hearing - the latest about the two little boys (in Staten Island?) had me in tears - to lose power is not a big deal. If all you lost is electricity for a few days, you should count yourself very lucky indeed. I know I am blessed compared to what others are dealing with. It's kinda turning my stomach to hear people complain about no electricity after three days when some people have no home. Too many people have lost their homes, and worse their lives or their loved ones, to sit there and complain about the lack of lights, internet connectivity or cell phone usage.

Sorry, off my soapbox... Best wishes and prayers to those affected by Sandy.

Dee

We lost two trees and we just got running electric about 2 hours now. This was pretty bad. It felt like being in the Twilight Zone, no electric, cell phone, heat, television or internet. The stores are running on generators (the one's that are up). Getting gas is really a pain. Fortunately, I got mine the night before the storm.

I hope all is well with the others.

I've really had all of our gardening friends (and everyone else!) from up north on my mind the past few days.. Still waiting to hear from some. We're praying hard for you all down here

Has anyone heard from Trudi?

We just got power back today and many are still without - boy was it great to take a hot shower! And get back on the computer!

I am all the way out east on the island and damage seems to be much worse as you head west towards the city.Donn in Amityville may have had bad damage (I'm not sure how close to the water he is, but it is a waterfront commuunity.) Trudy is more mid-island I think, so she is probably without power but not flooded. Alberta is pretty close to the water in Mastic, but I work with someone who lives in that area and they were ok (OK being out of power - - -EVERYONE was out of power - - -but not flooded)

There hasn't been school in a week and many schools aren't sure they will have power for next week (Parents are losing their minds..) and the lines for gasoline are hours long.

Counting my blessings and like many of you, feeling very bad for families that lost their homes entirely. For the rest of us, it's just a relatively brief inconvience.

Nancy

So glad to hear you are OK Nan! And I had forgotten that Alberta lived there, too.

Donn's home is right on the water. I know his street has flooded in the past, but I don't remember the flooding ever reaching his home. There wasn't a hurricane then, though.

Karen

My brother and his wife are on a canal in Amityville and their home was totally flooded. They are staying with my mom and assessing the repairs. This happened only last year in this community (Hurricane Irene) and he just got finished paying for all new floors, sheet rock, electrical wiring (insurance helped) and now they have to start all over again and I think the damage is worse this time. I think it sure has him (and others) questioning the sense of waterfront property. As my daughter (the environmetal science graduate)says -- mother nature always wins in these territory disputes.

I emailed Alberta, and she answered this morning. She's fine, was without power for 4 days and without phone or internet for 5 days.

I also emailed Trudi and Donn, no response from them yet. They are probably among the many who still have no power. My email address for Donn was a very old one. I'm not sure it's still current, but it hasn't bounced back.

Karen

Thank you all for the well wishes. I got my phone line back today and with it my cable. The house is on a generator that we only got two days ago, we lost our power exactly a week ago. So far we've only waited 90 minutes twice to buy gas for the generator though I do know the lines were much worse last week.

I have natural gas so I can cook on the top of the stove, and I boiled pots of water on it to radiate heat and warm the house. I've got lined curtains in most of the windows and two warm dogs. It's kinda crowded in the bed at night but we've been warm and comfy enough and that's great. We have hot water but no furnace.

I pushed myself this fall to cut back the garden early this year and I am happy that I did so. Anything over three feet was destroyed if it wasn't hardwood or shrub. All my trellises blew down and we lost a large and old pink dogwood and the 3 in 1 Plum is now just 2 in 1--the center (and largest) graft snapped out. I'm not sad about the dogwood, we were going to cut it down next spring as it is very old and more deadwood than living--I said to Steve let's move the cars and I'm so glad we did. When the dogwood snapped and fell it missed the cars by a foot. (yay me!) Fortunately we don't have to bundle, bag or tie any of the trees or destroyed bushes which makes yard clean up very fast. We finished it up today because of the generator--Steve used his sawzall and I took it to the curb. The town has a grader and a dump truck go up and down the streets all day and they just scoop up all the logs and trees and their sidewalked roots and take it away. You put it out and they pick it up, it's as simple as that.

The whole neighborhood took a major hit, I'm happy we made the investment in the house years back and resided with hurricane resistant siding and I'm happy that we did a refi put a new roof on the house last summer...these are things that you grit your teeth about and stomp your feet when you pay the bill but turns out they were more than worth it, we had no damage to the house (my sister had fish in her basement!). We're lucky.

Thank you again for asking about me, we're okay and doing better than most. THe house is on a hill and the trees only hit the ground--there's a car a block from here with an oak tree on it, and houses with oak trees in them now. It's bad, but it will get better.

I'm glad to hear you're OK, Trudi!

Karen

Very glad to hear from you Trudi! Stay warm, now we got a snow storm to deal with.

Okay! Good to hear from you both, Trudi and Nancy, and to know that you are alright.

Now this blasted snow! Darn near broke my arse about 10 times tonight walking home from the subway. But I made it with all bones intact.

Does anyone else have the feeling we are going to have a wicked winter?

PV

Well, we had a hurricane and an early snowstorm last year,(granted, not so close together!) and then a relatively easy winter. Is it too much to hope that we might get a repeat of that this year...?

Dee

I'm with you, Pvick. It looks like it might be a doozie? Though, I believe I am suffering from post storm stress, I'm thinking of getting started on WSing? (Delphiniums, Astilbe and Ladys Mantle).

So glad to read that you are all safe. There's no doubt that you could have done without Sandy. Still wondering how Don fared since he practically lived on the water. I remember him posting photos of the water coming up the 'canal' when there were tide surges.

Everyone take care!

All is well here. We only got some wind and rain off of Sandy, but no excessive flooding or major damage. Happy you're okay, Trudi as well as the rest of you all!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

All is well here. We only got some wind and rain off of Sandy, but no excessive flooding or major damage. Happy you're okay, Trudi as well as the rest of you all!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

So that accounts for all Long Islanders that I know of, except for Donn.

And I hate to say it, but if he is on a canal in Amityville, it is very likely that he's got his hands full with a total mess. My brother (same location)had 5.5 feet of water in the house (ground floor/only floor - a ranch)and it is a total loss. He spent the week this week dragging out furniture over runined floors and prying drawers on dressers/nighttables/cabinets open with a crow bar because the wood structures had swelled and tightened, keeping the contents hostage. When he got to the the contents - everything absolutely ruined. Papers, pictures, a 20 year collection of video tapes of family events. Every piece of furniture, every appliance, most all clothing except for things on the highest closet shelves.

He has insurance and FEMA may help, but anyone who has ever gone through an emergency that called for insurance knows that it just won't cover everything. For instance, his outdoor hot tub is neither a household "content" or "structure" (thousands to replace) and all the landscaping around the property too. He is VERY lucky that our Mom still lives in the too big for her family home. He's moved back in there with wife, dog and busniess (he works from home) they all get along well, which is good, becasue he is saying he will probably have to rebuild entirely and that will take some time.

Finding out some students no longer have a home, lived in Asbury Park, NJ. This is going to be a long recovery for several states.

We're alive, but pretty cranky. We just got power back last night, and were without gas for a week.

We got 31" of water, so all the first floor is toast, including all the remodel work we just did. I ripped out 700 square feet of new hardwood flooring and 400 of carpeting.

We have good insurance, but it'll be a long slog getting it all squared away.

The garden is toast.

So glad to hear from you, Donn! I got your email reply, too. When I emailed you I wasn't even certain that the address was current. I knew your home was right on the water. I remember lots of old pictures that you posted that showed the canal. I also remembered pictures of your flooded street where the flooding stopped just not-too-far from your property.

I'm so sorry to hear about all of the damage. Hell, I'd be pretty damned cranky, too. Did you stay in your home all that time? Despite politicians being so quick to pat themselves on the back over the handling of the recovery, the slow progress seems abysmal to me. I'm glad you at least got your power back now.

Karen

Glad to hear from you and family are in good health. Sorry to hear about your home. At least you will be starting new, if you need seeds send me an e-mail.

Sincerely,
Avis

Donn, I was checking in to see how you faired. I'm so sorry your home was so damaged by the storm, and your garden simply wiped out (I know how having your entire garden wiped out feels, mine was sucked into a tornado a few years ago). I'm so glad you are all fine there, but so sorry it's going to take so long getting everything squared away and back to being home.

Hi everyone
Donn so sorry to hear about all the damage you sustained. Hopefully by now the insurance company has done something to help you out.

Karen, thanks so much for the emai, it was great hearing from you and knowing that you were concerned. I spend almost all my time on facebook online.

Nan...glad to hear you came through it fine, and thanks for thinking of me too. Thankfully we fared fine through it with just the loss of power and internet and phone. No property damage, :)

hugs to all
Alberta