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SURVIVING SANDY!
 Scribbles New Jersey Pal Joanne Kildow Describes Life Amidst the Perfect Storm

We've all seen the pictures of the horrendous damage Hurricane Sandy left in her path a few weeks ago, especially in New York and New Jersey.

Our dear friend Joanne Kildow lives in New Jersey and shared her story of what it was like when Sandy made a direct hit, destroying everything in its path.

 EXCLUSIVE TO SCRIBBLES

"It has been quite a week! I worked from home on Monday [Oct. 29] as the weather progressively got worse and finally at about 4pm I sent my last email fearing I might lose power. My son Mark - who has always marched by his own drummer- told me that he found a very cheap generator on Craigslist just by his dads house. Of course I told him not to go as the storm was coming but he decides he's going anyway. 

Meanwhile minutes later I lose power at the house. I am all alone because [my husband] Kent works for Verizon's disaster recovery group and he has to go to work and will be there over night. So it is just me and [my cats] Rocky and Dean....with the 3 flashlights I had the foresight to have prepared. I called Mark's dad again and Mark actually bought the broken generator with the thought that he could fix it, but hearing that I had lost power decided to come home...again even though I told him not to.

The next 40 minutes were the longest of my life as the winds picked up outside and I had the secondary fear that one of the many trees that surround us would come crashing through the house. Mark did make it home although he admits it was scary especially when driving he came upon a downed tree and had to make the snap decision to just drove over it.

Luckily it was small enough for his Ford Explorer to handle. I broke into tears when I saw him. We then spent the night downstairs just listening at the loud sounds of branches fall all around us outside.

For hours we could see some sizable branches fall but nothing too bad ...then all of a sudden we heard the sound of a deep crackling then a loud thump. We could see a huge tree that miraculously fell between and not on any of the houses that were so close all around.

That night was followed by another 3 nights without power until Thursday night as we drove back from my parents where we had a warm meal and I could shower and dry my hair....as we approached the house we could finally see...lights!!

The nights had been chilly but bearable, but the forecast was for increasing cold so getting our heat back was such a relief! I tell you the driving around the streets the sight of these huge trees totally uprooted is surreal. And driving at night with so many traffic lights not working is very dangerous!

When I see the pictures of the damage on the Jersey Shore it is even more catastrophic.

And now we are dealing with the gas shortage ....people are on line for hours to fill up. Mark took my car to a gas station at 2am two nights ago and got right in...but tried again last night with his car at 1am, and again at 3 am and there were huge lines both times. Tonight we found out that Gov. Christie has ordered gas rationing. It is like nothing I could have ever dreamed of!

All in all, I feel very blessed that Mark got home safely, that the big ass tree In my backyard I had trimmed just 2 months ago held up and didn't fall on my house, that Kent has made it back and forth safely to work working crazy hours, that I got my lights back in a reasonable time frame as I look out my back window and see that those neighbors have yet to get their power back."


WOW Joanne, that sends shivers up my spine just thinking about it. So glad you and your loved ones are all ok. I hope life returns to normal soon.  Thanks for sharing your story with Scribbles.