Hurricane Sandy

[Rob]

My friends finally got back into their house on the Jersey shore for a few hours today. From the photos, it looked like they were flooded, but had no major structural damage so they were lucky. The town allowed the first 100 people in line on a bus that took them over the bridge from Toms River. Then they had 4 hours to get to their house on foot, get out what they wanted in one small suitcase per person (airplane carry on size), and get back to the bus. Their first goal was to try to crack out moldy sheet rock. rugs, flooring so the mold wouldn't get worse. They are allowed to leave that kind of thing outside for clean up crews to haul away. Then save photos, artwork if time permitted. She and her husband were trying to do this in 4 hours for their own house, his mother's house (she is 86), and their 92 year old next door neighbor. She got in line at 4 am for an 8:45 bus to make sure she got on. Haven't heard how bad her house was flooded.

[dbell1]

Big ruckus in Seaside - there's a towing company charging people upwards of $900 to get their cars back. Borough hired the guy and he seems to have decided to tow everything in sight - breaking into one to get the brake off while the owner slept inside the house.
http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/to...slide=55371311

Hope there's major charges filed here. It's big news on Facebook and a lot of the shore sites.

Update on one of the cats I considered fostering - Mr. Hissy was reunited with his mom today. He had broken into a house during the hurricane to save himself. 3 cats were pulled from the house, and when the owners of the 2 cats went to claim them they were pretty surprised to be told a 3rd was inside. to the cat who used up one of his 9 lives a few weeks ago. I'll go back this weekend to see how the deaf one made out (and yep, we're still considering the fat orange guy).

[cruisin]

^^ This Seaside towing company is evil! they have towed cars from private property. They have damaged cars and then told owners that's the way they found the cars. They are telling some owners that they don't know where their cars are. Owners who refuse to pick up their cars are being told that the cars are going to a dump and that they will be charged for transport. Disgusting!

[Anita18]

evil towing company. for resourceful kitty!

[AragornElessar]

That's wonderful that Mr. Hissy and his Family found each other again. YAY!!!

Let know what you decide about Mr. Orange Buddy Boy dbell. My Much Missed Puss Puss was an orangey big ol' lug of a sucky boy and one of the most loveable cats I've ever had. Orange cats rule.

Disgusting is one word to describe it cruisin....

[Marge_Simpson]

My coworker who lives in Staten Island lost her house. She's currently living with another coworker, who has an extra bedroom.
Ways to help in Staten Island:
http://mobile.silive.com/advstaten/d...l=true#display

[GarrAarghHrumph]

a coworker was complaining in the kitchen a bit ago. Her neighbors have a huge yard, their trees in the back broke off and their fence is old, ugly, and falling apart. Seems the neighbors won't do cleanup since they don't have to see it from their front door. Since the damage is on 'their side' they won't touch it and can't be forced to clean up. Meanwhile, coworker is trying to sell and has been told that's a major problem (especially in this tough market).

If this is really hampering his ability to sell, he may want to invest some money in this. He could either put a fence up on his side that hides their fence, and do some landscaping along the edge to do his best to camouflage what's going on next door, or else he could offer to pay for the fixes needed on his neighbor's property - at least pay to have their fence fixed.

[cruisin]

We planted evergreens on the side of the house that faces our slobby neighbors. It helps with what we have to look at, but it will effect our property value, when we want to sell. All of the houses and yards, in our neighborhood, are well kept and neat. The house next to us stands out like a sore thumb. Others have put anonymous notes in their mail box asking them to do something about their yard, they don't.

[Cachoo]

^^ This Seaside towing company is evil! they have towed cars from private property. They have damaged cars and then told owners that's the way they found the cars. They are telling some owners that they don't know where their cars are. Owners who refuse to pick up their cars are being told that the cars are going to a dump and that they will be charged for transport. Disgusting!

Also probably criminal: I think price gouging is illegal in disaster areas and it seems this company has gone beyond gouging....I hope the Gov makes an example of them...

[GarrAarghHrumph]

The city is going after such tow truck drivers:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/n...%20%20%20Local

Most of those that are doing this are unlicensed, and not approved by the city, although they say they are.

[missing]

I just heard from my cousin in Great Neck. It took them 10 days to get their electricity back, but things sound back to normal.

[elka_sk8]

Wow about the towtruck diver- lets hope charges are brought against him!

So I have a cousin in CT who had major flooding damage to her house during the storm and then gave birth to a new baby a week later! Everyone is fine, they are staying with her parents in the meantime and her husband works in construction so he is busy fixing the house (thankfully it was repairable). I'm trying to think of an appropriate "new baby" gift- usually I send books, cute baby clothes, etc. but I'm wondering if in this case something like a Target gift card would be more useful. What do you guys think?

[cruisin]

Wow about the towtruck diver- lets hope charges are brought against him!

So I have a cousin in CT who had major flooding damage to her house during the storm and then gave birth to a new baby a week later! Everyone is fine, they are staying with her parents in the meantime and her husband works in construction so he is busy fixing the house (thankfully it was repairable). I'm trying to think of an appropriate "new baby" gift- usually I send books, cute baby clothes, etc. but I'm wondering if in this case something like a Target gift card would be more useful. What do you guys think?

I think the gift card - Target, Babies R' Us, etc. If for no other reason than they probably have no place to put physical gifts, right now. Or, you could give them diapers, baby personal products, things that are consumable and they might need right now.

[Garden Kitty]

I'd vote for the gift card as well.

[Anita18]

Third the gift card. When they're ready to buy stuff, it will be there. I'm not sure what the law is in CT, but in CA, gift cards never expire.

[AragornElessar]

Another vote for the gift card. As others have said, anything else would bring up "Where will we put it?" issues since they're not at home right now. Other than stuff like diapers that is. So I think a gift card is perfect right now.

[Garden Kitty]

Big ruckus in Seaside - there's a towing company charging people upwards of $900 to get their cars back. Borough hired the guy and he seems to have decided to tow everything in sight - breaking into one to get the brake off while the owner slept inside the house.
http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/to...slide=55371311

Update on the towing company - the MJ Consumer Affairs Division reached an agreement with the towing company, and people who had their cars towed by this company can retrieve them free of charge.

[Vagabond]

The New York Times had a very good piece this week on the infrastructure needed to address the risks to New York from another hurricane.

Vetoing Business as Usual After the Storm

New York clearly ought to have taken certain steps a while back, no-brainers after the fact. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority ought to have installed floodgates and louvers at vulnerable subway entrances and vents. Consolidated Edison should have gotten its transformers, and Verizon its switching stations, out of harm’s way, and Congress should have ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to study the impact of giant barriers to block parts of the city from the sea.

Scientists, architects, planners and others have, of course, been mulling over these issues for years. They’ve pressed for more parkland and bike lanes, green roofs and energy-efficient buildings, and warned about the need for backup generators, wetland edges along Lower Manhattan and barrier islands for the harbor to cushion the blow of rushing tides.

Hurricane Sandy was a toll paid for procrastination. The good news? We don’t need to send a bunch of Nobel laureates into the desert now, hoping they come up with some new gizmo to save the planet. Solutions are at hand. Money shouldn’t be a problem either, considering the hundreds of billions of dollars, and more lives, another Sandy or two will cost.

So the problem is not technological or, from a long-term cost-benefit perspective, financial.

Rather it is the existential challenge to the messy democracy we’ve devised. The hardest part of what lies ahead won’t be deciding whether to construct Eiffel Tower-size sea walls across the Verrazano Narrows and Hell Gate, or overhauling the city’s sewage and storm water system, which spews toxic waste into rivers whenever a couple of inches of rain fall because the sea levels have already risen so much. These are monumental tasks.

But more difficult still will be staring down the pain, dislocation and inequity that promise to upend lives, undo communities and shake assumptions about city life and society. More than requiring the untangling of colossal red tape, saving New York and the whole region for the centuries ahead will become a test of civic unity.

I encourage everyone to read the full article.