SANDY!

ALL EAST COAST A/O MEMBERS STAY SAFE FROM THE HURRICANE!!!! Stay indoors and if you have to seek safe shelter elsewhere, Patterson Mill High School is a pet friendly shelter.

Jacks Small Engines sent us home at 12. They are closing at 3. And there is no work tomorrow. Just hope all are ok and that you were able to afford a generator - wish I could. I'm only worried about my fridge.

Stay off the road unless it's an emergency. Godspeed that Sandy doesn't cause too much damage!

Please be safe, y'all. I'll be out of work at 3pm. Please pray for everyone traveling on the roads.

I do emergency response, so I can't exactly stay home....but I'll be as careful as possible.

Y'all take cover and ride it out from the couch watching TV if possible.

TJ wrote:

I do emergency response, so I can't exactly stay home....but I'll be as careful as possible.

Y'all take cover and ride it out from the couch watching TV if possible.

i'm riding it out at my fire company so i'll be out there with you

Thinking and praying for all our East Coast members and their families. Stay safe. For our emergency responders, thank you and be careful! We are "stuck" in Arizona until Wednesday (feeling pretty lucky about that). Hope to see you all on Saturday! God bless.

Praying for all those back East! Stuck in Arizona, now thats a blessing!

Made it through ok. Never lost power, although it out in most of the area. A number of large trees just toppeled over, taking down lines. I was expecting the tree in back of me to come down, but it didn't. Lost some roof shingles, but the roof is still watertight.

Was off from work yesterday, and am off today. With the downed trees and lines, it is a little tricky to get around.

k_enn

Greg (4thehardway) sent me some pics of the damage around his house. Just missed losing his new truck and Terri's Jeep. Glad everyone is ok that I have heard from. Sam and Dennis should be heading home in the morning.

We lost power here in Bel Air around 7pm Monday til around 2pm Tuesday. Thank God that my neighbor had a generator and let me plug my fridge and my snake's light into it. No real damage around my house. Some flashing lifted from around my bedroom window but my new roof held on perfectly.

Didn't think it was too bad here but poor NY and Jersey! Crazy how the world is acting lately!

Glad all are safe! See y'all Saturday.

Sam and Dennis were able to fly out today but are now sitting in Kentucky with plane issues... Longest trip ever. Pray for them especially Dennis

made it through the storm fine, company has run a good amount of calls the last few days though due to the aftermath of the storm

Hi everyone! We made it back to Baltimore in one piece. Despite the storm (and plane engine problems-oil leak when we got to Louisville, Kentucky) we have arrived home.

We had a wonderful time in Arizona thanks to Pattey and Chris and thank them so much for putting up with us! We also made some new friends (Matt & Lisa/Steve & Robin)- we are so thankful to have met all of you and are looking forward to your involvement with the club. A special "thank you" to Robin and Steve for welcoming us into their home and for a fantastic bible study.

Praying for those that were so greatly affected by the storm.

Glad to see that Sam & Dennis made it home finally, it was great to meet you, enjoyed having you join us for the study. You are always welcome here! Wish we could have wheeled with you, we are looking forward to seeing the West chapter grow.

We just got power back, but I wasn't home to enjoy it.

I've been on the road 24/7 doing emergency response/recovery work. The size of the impacted areas is incredible. The power companies have been doing a great job repairing stuff though, but when you need a truck to go to almost every single street in a half dozen states to repair downed lines from trees, etc...its just an overwhelming amount of work.

The areas where there's NO people anymore, like some areas of barrier island off the NJ coast..where it was all just washed away, that's a low priority...no house = don't need utilities.

The areas where there are still people, but the roofs blew off or the lower floors flooded, the streets are clogged with trees laying on power distribution lines, etc, they are in real need.

Some people have power, but can't turn it on because the panels and wiring, etc, were all under water before...and the house might catch fire/electrocute them if energized. Salt water is a great conductor, and the sopping wet fiberglass in the wall cavities with the receptacle boxes, wire nuts, etc....works wonders for screwing things up.

Once contacts in electronics, etc, are corroded, they tend to prematurely fail, leading o future problems.

I circumvented a lot of problems at home because I have a large supply of rechargeable lithium ion cells I use for search and rescue lights, a lot of lights, etc, plus, I left a car battery jump starter for family members to recharge cell phones, the cells for the lights, etc. I also have a solar panel that can recharge cells during the day...so the lights have juice at night, plus, a propane grill for some cooking/water boiling options.

So, other than not having heat, we did great. :)

We are so glad to hear from you.

We sent Dominic an e-mail too asking if he knew if everyone in the club had made it through the storm Ok. Den and I are planning to go up for the Jeeps in the Vineyard this weekend and are happy to hear they are collecting supplies for the area.

Our church did a huge drive this weekend and are taking up supplies to NYC for distribution today. The need is just so great.

God bless.

Areas in North Jersey are still without power and a number of streets are blocked. Most major county roads are open. Some people at work just got power today, some still don't have any.

Now, the big issue in North Jersey is getting gasoline. For most of last week, almost all of the gas stations were without power, and therefore could not pump any gas. The few that did have power quickly developed enormous lines (I have reports of 4+ hours) and quickly sold out of the gas they had in the ground. That eased up a little this weekend when a number of stations got portable generators to power their pumps. They still sold out in less than a half a day. Then came Phase 2 of the problem. Very few stations are able get any gasoline to fill their tanks. The problems have ranged from lack of power and storm damage at the storage facilities, to transportation issues for large trucks due to storm damage. There is one station in my area that has been able to get and pump gas, but the lines are crazy. There is a police presence at virtually ever gas station that is open.

There were some mighty angry people on Saturday. The gas lines usually start forming real early in the morning, hours before the stations even open. At some time on Saturday morning, the State annouced that effective at noontime, odd-even rationing (based on the numbers on your license plate) would go into effect. There were people who had waited in line over 4 hours, only to arrive at the pump a little after nootime, and be told that they could by gas because they had an even license plate.

k_enn

I have a long-term disaster recovery on a medical with the roof blown off by Sandy, and the patients needing to be evacuated...but them wanting a temp roof, repair of water damage, and re-occupancy as each wing is restored, etc...in North Jersey.

The big pain as Ken mentioned is GASOLINE.

Last Wed I pulled off the NJ TnPk to a rest stop (T. Edison) to get gas...and the line to get TO the pump started ON the Tnpk...as in I am in line for gas while ON the turnpike right lane...

THAT line was then met by the car/truck exit (I was exiting off the cars only lanes...)...so that ~ 4 lanes of tnpk traffic was ALL trying to get to a gas pump...while still ON the tnpk itself.

Even if you just needed to take a leak and didn't need gas, you were stuck......people who got out and walked to the rest stop to use the facilities where sometimes almost run over by crazed fuel starved zombies driving on the shoulder to try to get a few car lengths ahead, etc. It was a mad-house.

People are in 7 hour lines at 3 am....etc....there's no practical loophole to exploit up north....its just insane



I'm going through about 10-12 gallons/day with a 19 gal tank...and the way it all fell...I started that odd/even day cycle needing fuel, and being the wrong plate#.....

So I am now in a cycle that makes me drive down to Bordentown, NJ to get gas (No plate # restrictions south of I195).

Ironically, I can avoid waiting 4 hours in line for gas by driving an extra 30 minutes...as long as I fuel up down south, and make it back after working up north.

Its over $4/gallon up north with ~ 2-7 hr gas lines....and ~ $3.36/gal with NO LINE down south. Bordentown didn't even lose power...life as usual there.


Its freaky...up North, there are cops directing gas station traffic and you are in lines so long you can't even see the station let alone the pumps, and they run out of gas before you GET TO the pump sometimes, etc...and the $ gas is jacked way up to boot.....

Down south, I see a station with a lone attendant watching TV in the office...no one at the pumps....and pull in...and its open, they have gas, and the $ is normal...much better.





The Fedex schedule even changed...they used to have late pick-ups to overnight stuff as late as 7-8:30 pm....and I have samples to send out after 5-6 pm, and no where to drop them or get a pick-up, etc. 4-5 pm was the latest drop offs nearby....and yesterday they added some open as late as 8:30, but trying to GET TO them was impossible due to massive traffic jams. (Roads and bridges out, so detours everywhere + funnel effects, etc...)

So now I am stuck going to Newark Airport every day after the other locations...as its the only Fedex place I can get TO on time....as THEY take stuff up to 10 pm...and ARE open.

unbelievable! We are planning to head up to the Jeeps in the Vineyard show this weekend - do you know if there are any issues with getting gas around that area? We can't make it up and make on one tank.

Mudslinger wrote:

unbelievable! We are planning to head up to the Jeeps in the Vineyard show this weekend - do you know if there are any issues with getting gas around that area? We can't make it up and make on one tank.

Luckily Shamong is below I-195, so you should be good to go.



Bring a spare lic plate if in doubt.

TJ wrote:

Mudslinger wrote:

unbelievable! We are planning to head up to the Jeeps in the Vineyard show this weekend - do you know if there are any issues with getting gas around that area? We can't make it up and make on one tank.

spare lic plate if in doubt.

I saw a guy at the gas station the other day. He filled up his vehicle, and also had with him a 14 gallon marine container which he filled up.



No need for a spare plate if you have one of those containers.


I was able to get gas at 1:30 this morning without too much of a wait on a major highway near the New York state line. Apparently the highway routes from the N.J. refineries are clear and the delivery trucks can get there. Other locations are still a problem.


FWIW, Hess (a regional gasoline refiner) seemed to have their act together than any of the major companies. All of their stations (most, if not all, of which are company owned) had generators; so pumping was never an issue for them. Also, they tend to be located on, or very near (1/4 mile) from major highways so most of them had deliveries. (Apparently, they generated their own power at the refinery / storage field and could load trucks). They also posted hourly updates on their website of the inventiory amounts of each of their stations, so you knew how much they had at a given station and whether you were likely to get gas if you waited out the line.


k_enn

Ken, good info.

It looks like most of the stations are getting power back, and now just need gas.

Today, almost no line in Lawrenceville....but long lines at the few places with gas up by the Oranges, Cedar Grove, etc. The T Edison TnPk rest area is still backed up onto the tnpk itself it seems ~ 24/7 though.

Some stops have diesel but no gas....so the big rigs are fueling up, but no cars really.

You get up to Cedar Grove? If you are ever there around lunch time, give me a call. I work only 10 minutes from there.

Also, the highway I mentioned is Route 17, in the Ramsey area. A few more stations areound here have gas and the lines seem to be a little smaller, but it is still tricky to find gas without a crazy long wait. It may get worse the Nor'easter coming in today.

k_enn

k_enn wrote:

You get up to Cedar Grove? If you are ever there around lunch time, give me a call. I work only 10 minutes from there.

Also, the highway I mentioned is Route 17, in the Ramsey area. A few more stations areound here have gas and the lines seem to be a little smaller, but it is still tricky to find gas without a crazy long wait. It may get worse the Nor'easter coming in today.

k_enn

Ken, I am there 7 days /week...so...lunch time is always an option.

I ate at 6 Brothers Diner today for example...not bad...they were on generators when lunch started, and had their permanent power come back on line during the meal.



Is that by you?

six brother's diner is about 25-25 minutes from me. Closer to me is the Pilgrim Diner in Cedar Grove, on Rt. 23 across from the Kings Supermarket Mall. That is less than 10 minutes.

Where in Cedar Grove do you go - out by 46 or more by 23? Also, there are a bunch of places byWillowbrook at Rt 46 and Rt 23 - Chipolte Grill, Bahama Breeze, TGIF, Olive Garden, etc.

We got to get to get together.

k_enn