Tuesday October 30th, 2012.
The generator is not so loud as it is endless. New rules for later tonight, generator off at 10pm. My poor neighbors. I got up early to catch the news and see what’s going on around me. The hills are dark. No streetlights, no houses lit, just dark woods and rain.
We only got a few big gusts around here, but it was enough to wipe out power over most of the county. Earlier in the evening the power dropped out for a couple of seconds twice. Then it died completely around 10pm. That’s when I realized how loud the generator really was. In the silence of this rainy dark night, it’s the only sound of civilization for miles. The only vehicles on the roads have flashing blue and red lights.
It’s pretty amazing. Thirty two foot waves were reported in New York harbor and an entire city block is on fire in Rockaway beach on Long Island. It’s weird to see knee deep water flowing around houses on fire. Closer to home the Governor, the honorable Mr. Christie is chastising his people for not following his instructions. Maybe next time he will use the word “please” or just not fall back on his bluster when he implores people to evacuate. He hasn’t figured out that when people don’t do what you ask, it’s usually your fault. Not a good manager. You’re an advisor not a boss Chris. Get with it.
The city (NYC) closed at 2pm, the bridges, tunnels, roads and waterways were sealed. They are cut off now, along with the rest of Long Island. At this time, about half of the city that never sleeps has gone dark. All of lower Manhattan is dark. Not closed to CNN though. Constant reports flood the airwaves, thankfully even in the dark there is so much to report we don’t have to listen to the same news over and over again.
With the light will come even more knowledge of the damage. We’ve been getting constant text alerts of road closures and downed power lined. I better look into getting some more oil for the generator, we could be using it for weeks.
It’s interesting what you find out about your preparations when you actually use them. Turns out the furnace is not hooked up to the generator, even though that was everyone’s primary concern when we installed it. Plumbers, electricians and inspectors all made that their key concern. The gas company made careful calculations to insure we did not get a generator so big that it would impede the furnace. Lucky for us that won’t be a problem. Jerks.
Still we are safe, warm and well lit. Verizon’s FIOS is still up and it’s almost like normal around here. Trees have not fallen on the house or our cars. The basement is not full of water and no one is threatening to surf on the lawn. We’ll see what dawn’s early light brings, but I suspect that this will be longer than exciting.
Copyright Prentiss Gray 2012
Prentiss Gray is a writer and columnist and currently writes the Domesti-Tech Blog for Gannett. He can be reached through his website at GrayResearch.net
Prentiss Gray
Prentiss Gray is a writer/columnist/blogger from New Jersey. After 27 years as a Information Systems consultant and the death of his wife of 21 years, he returned to his roots as a writer, creating the national column Adventures of the Lone Dad/ Daddy chronicles. He now Blogs for Gannet on domestic technology, and writes feature pieces and stories for general publication. He is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and contributes to Bloomberg News, Daily Record, Gannett and the Tribune Syndicate.
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Jerks is right. Here’s one for you: We had basement flooding and so had a sump pump installed. The company cut a hold in the concrete floor, ran the pipe, et. All seemed to be well. Then we got water in the basement so I went down to see if the sump had filled with water. It had, but I noticed the green Ready light was not glowing – so no pumping. Upon closer inspection, I found there was no electricity. No outlet to plug the control unit into. And also no juice going to the backup battery, which was dead. And nobody from the company had bothered to mention this. My bad for not doing a system check. I now micro-manage every contractor who comes into my house and do a test at the end of their job to make sure the work was done correctly.
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We were lucky here in Cincinnati. Just cold and miserable with rain beginning of the week. Saw the damage to New Jersey shoreline houses and felt blessed it wasn’t us. Yet my sympathy is there for those who died and those who went through the trauma. Good writing, Prentiss, of course. You made it seem so realistic.
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