The Story Unfolding

Kick and her family stayed in their house. Atlantic Highlands is the highest point on the Jersey shore and she says her house is fine. They have 50 gallons of water stored and she's been able to cook in the fireplace with the new crane that her husband just put in before the flood. Amazing, that. However, there is no water, no power and the area looks "like a war zone."

Kick and Patrick (my godson) have gotten some shots near their house

She writes:
"Phone died. We have a generator bit verry little gas for it. Gas lines r 10 miles long. Is help coming? Christi say nething?"
I've told her what a mess it is and that they're getting to them. The roads are all blocked with trees and debris. I'm just telling them to hang on.
And I'm so relieved they're okay I'm crying.
Now Billy and Mac and co. need to turn up.

A Scary Halloween

Halloween is supposed to be spooky. For the last two, it's been downright scary. But not in a good way.

So let's remember some happier spooky days

Herman Slater as Laurie Cabot, Witches Ball, 1991, the Limelight, NYC

Stevil Twiss as himself and Phoebe Ungerer as Morticia, Halloween 2001, Brattleboro

The Boys

The Wizard's Well, Alderley Edge, Cheshire, UK
(https://sites.google.com/site/themysticmasque/mystic-sites/the-wizard-s-well)

And for genuine creeps...
http://ghoststudy.com/galla2012/sep2012/fin101.htm

Now for the fabulous news that just came in, An email from Kick:
"Complete n utter devastation here. R house is ok
No power no water. Ships washed up on 1st ave!"

They're okay. Still no word from my brother, but they're okay.
I'll be back...

It's Like Olden Days. But Worse.

Power and phones are out in the NY-NJ area. We who are on the outside are still in 2012, but they're back in time. It could be a couple days before we hear anything of their existence. That part is like the olden days. All we can do is worry until we get word.

Except back then the news was important and so they reported it straight up and you knew what you came to learn from it. Today the news media stinks, as if it were produced by a bunch of 8th graders, or the forebears of "Idiocracy". A string of cherrypicked stories, no overall real news with facts and numbers. Lots of commentary about feelings, no information on who was taken where or how to find anyone missing.

I've checked the Red Cross Register several times. But that's dependent on someone being able to get online to register. If for any reason one can't get online, they aren't there. You can't get any line in. No matter where or who you call, New Jersey is uncallable.

There really is nothing to be done. And so my stomach roils, and I hang here, hoping for an email. Or trawl youtube to find video of Matawan or Atlantic Highlands NJ. 

Some Good Coverage

I watch the Weather Channel (the Panic Channel) but their coverage isn't very deep. I watch CNN and they center on NYC and politicians bloviating and acting for the cameras. So I found a Philly NBC affiliate and they're good and streaming, covering Jersey and the Jersey Shore as well as Philly

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Unthinkable-Damage-From-Sandy-Across-Region-176436431.html

Still no word from anyone down there, except for Armando in Brooklyn, who's fine. There are millions without power though, and with all the downed power lines and cell towers, who knows when there'll be communication.

Apres Le Deluge 2012 Version

Well it's a very nice day weather-wise in Bratt. The storm's blown over for the most part and it's windy and bright. There are lots of people sans power because of downed trees but that's being worked on and it looks like we've gotten through another storm, this time pretty unscathed. We'll probably get some rain off and on, but nothing out of the ordinary for plain old rainy weather.

However, all my New Jerseyans are missing in action. I still haven't heard from Kick and co. and now my brother is AWOL too. Strider said there were airlift rescues far inland from where they all live. There are news reports of people still being airlifted there. And some deaths even. Millions of people have no power. The footage is varied, from the 2-feet of sand washed into towns burying parking meters and cars in Jersey and Long Island to receding water draining off downtown NYC. Last night there was 13 feet of water in lower Manhattan at high tide. Everything but the Stock Exchange was under water (curious, that). The subways are still full. It'll be weeks before things are back to normal. Hard to imagine.

West Virginia has a mini-blizzard going on, still. Maryland had a lot of flooding, but they've built-in flood mitigation and it seems their problem was more the wind damage...

Looking out my front window, you'd never know anything happened.