Hurricanes Sandy heads for New Jersey or not

[sadams]

Went on generator for about 4 hours Monday night then we were fine.
But a lot of the south coast got whacked. 3-4 feet of beach across some roads, houses washed out to sea.

RIDOT took these photos
http://www.flickr.com//photos/ridotnews/sets/72157631891636224/show/

[Napoleon]

I need to be in Houston next week. Now I just have to figure out how to get there from here (via NJ or not).

If it is not via NJ you would be nuts to drive. Fly out of Akron Canton or Pittsburgh. Pitt is already 2 hours back on your way home and if you are able to get a direct flight out of Ak/Ca they are ussually pretty cheap (well, at least if you get them way ahead of time) and it is a breeze to get in and out of that airport (I always try to fly out of it if possible, I can make it home driving from it in under an hour).

[gjc2]

Breezy Point, Queens

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A6dScELCMAApZGM.jpg

I know a few people who have houses in Breezy. I don't know how they made out, but I do know a few people who lost everything (expect thier lives). We made out fine, just no power.

[TravelGal]

If it is not via NJ you would be nuts to drive. Fly out of Akron Canton or Pittsburgh. Pitt is already 2 hours back on your way home and if you are able to get a direct flight out of Ak/Ca they are ussually pretty cheap (well, at least if you get them way ahead of time) and it is a breeze to get in and out of that airport (I always try to fly out of it if possible, I can make it home driving from it in under an hour).

Checked both for this Sunday. Definitely cheaper to try PIT, especially if you use USAirways and change in Charlotte. Good luck!

[dando]

The scenes of the NJ shore are just sickening. 20 years we've been vacationing there. Just so sad. :(

-Kevin

[Elmo T]

My Aunt has a place in Ship Bottom - with a dock on the bay. Reports are that the ocean and the bay were essentially one.

Still no reports on the property. They can't even get out there.

Crazy.

NJ Gov getting lots of good press.

[Rogue Leader]

Woke up to 2 feet of water in my street, it ended up close to 8 feet, but I got the F out of dodge.

Spent the night on our rescue boat pulling people out of their house, had 2 fires as well. Quite the evening.

Back at work today, but I have no heat, hot water, or electric at home or at my folks house.

[Andrew Longman]

Thanks travel gal. I am currently booked for Monday out of EWR. Don't have a clue when the airlines will be back to normal and I haven't even been able to get throught to deal with the refund for my cancelled flight to Akron. I will need to make the call on what I will do tomorrow.

The kids school lost the roof on the gym and dangerous roads will keep it closed at least through Friday. Too many limbs and wires still down.

Yes Christie is showing up well in this. I guess he learned his lesson when he skipped town to take his family to Disney World right before a snow storm shut down the state a few years ago. Took some lessons from Mayor Booker ;)

[dando]

My Aunt has a place in Ship Bottom - with a dock on the bay. Reports are that the ocean and the bay were essentially one.

Still no reports on the property. They can't even get out there.

Crazy.

NJ Gov getting lots of good press.

The barrier islands are just GONE. The media has been focused on the NoNJ cities/towns (due to the proximity to NYC), but SoNJ has got to be just as bad if not worse. The storm center hit just south of Cape May, NJ. Having spent so much time in South South Philly :) I can only fathom the devastation. :( Wonderland Pier and the boardwalk has got to be gone. :saywhat: :cry:

I may write in Christie for POTUS. ;)

-Kevin

[Napoleon]

Took some lessons from Mayor Booker ;)

Why, did Christie run into a burning building or run down some mugger?

[cameraman]

Why, did Christie run into a burning building or run down some mugger?

Christie run:eek::confused::saywhat:

[Andrew Longman]

None of the Shore is good but some is worse than others. The casinos are ok but the neighborhoods not so much.

OCNJ dunes are mostly gone but many homes just got flooded. More here http://oceancity.patch.com/articles/record-storm-leaves-residents-stranded-and-island-devastated

[gjc2]

Sandy parks boat on tracks.

http://s12.postimage.org/4cb97hmot/sandy_aftermath_10_30_28.jpg

That reminds my of the scene in the beginning of Close Encouters where the find a ship in the middle of the Gobi desert.

[TravelGal]

Thanks travel gal. I am currently booked for Monday out of EWR. Don't have a clue when the airlines will be back to normal and I haven't even been able to get throught to deal with the refund for my cancelled flight to Akron. I will need to make the call on what I will do tomorrow.


At least Newark is open again, unlike LaGuardia. Biggest problems for EWR and JFK seem to be the limited transportation to them. Hard to get the workers and crews there, much less the passengers. I'm hoping for a flight next Monday back to LA so I've got my fingers crossed they get all the aircraft correctly re-positioned by then.

[Andrew Longman]

Why, did Christie run into a burning building or run down some mugger?

Besides actually going out into the storm and riding snow plows? More this:


This is the same Cory Booker that has responded to people’s requests for help through Twitter by snowshoveling their driveways etc:

After a blizzard started blanketing the Northeast on Dec. 26, an event that earned the Twitter hashtag #snowpocalypse, Booker turned the microblogging site into a public-service tool. Residents of the city, which has a population of around 280,000, swarmed Booker’s account (@CoryBooker) with requests for help, and the mayor responded. He and his staff have bounced around Newark shoveling streets and sending plows to areas where residents said they were still snowed in. “Just doug [sic] a car out on Springfield Ave and broke the cardinal rule: ‘Lift with your Knees!!’ I think I left part of my back back there,” he reported in one message. One person let Booker know, via Twitter, that the snowy streets were preventing his sister from buying diapers. About an hour later, Booker was at the sister’s door, diapers in hand.

And then there was this superhero action you obviously heard about:

CBS News has the story:

At first Rodriguez would not let Booker into the burning house. “He basically told me, ‘This woman is going to die if we don’t help her,’ and what can I say to that?,” Rodriguez said. “I let him go and without thinking twice, he just ran into the flames and rescued this young lady.”

Booker said that as he jumped through the kitchen on the second floor, “I actually wasn’t thinking. When I got there and couldn’t find her in all the smoke, looked behind me and saw the kitchen really erupting with flames all over the ceiling, that’s when I had very clear thoughts that I’m not going to get out of this place alive and got … very religious.

“It is a very, very scary thing. And I’d like to say that I, at that point I was feeling so courageous, but honestly, it was terrifying, and to look back, you can see nothing but flames. Look in front of you see nothing but blackness.

“Thankfully she started yelling out to me and I was able to find her through all the smoke. At that point I grabbed her.”

He admitted he was “not gentle” with her – “I just sort of threw her over my shoulder and dragged her through the kitchen.”

In case you missed the Chuck Norris comparisons floating around the innerwebs, some of my favorites...


Not to be outdone by Cory Booker, Chris Christie just ran into a bakery and saved a tray of Cinnamon Rolls from burning.

I hope Obama says something good about Cory Booker so Republicans will start defending arson.

After the incident, Smoke was treated for Cory Booker exposure.

Cory Booker isn’t afraid of Friday the 13th. Friday the 13th is afraid of Cory Booker.

One time I needed a kidney. Cory Booker instantly ripped out his own, handed it to me & flew away.

When Chuck Norris has a nightmare, Cory Booker turns on the light and sits with him until he falls back to sleep.

Ghosts sit around campfires and tell Cory Booker stories.

Thank you. I have a million of them. :)

[Gnam]

I see a CBS/Lifetime/Hallmark channel drama series in his future. :thumbup:

[Napoleon]

Well the little strip center 1/10 of a mile from my house still does not have power and they are sending in crews from Colo. and Mont. to help restore electricity in Cleveland.


After the incident, Smoke was treated for Cory Booker exposure.

:rofl:

those were pretty good

[Elmo T]

Trucks from Progress Energy in FL working all over the town now. :thumbup:

[Gnam]

Interesting article on a proposed sea barrier to protect NYC.

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Experts-NYC-sea-barrier-could-have-stopped-surge-3998933.php#photo-3674234

http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/16/01/01/3674234/3/628x471.jpg

That would be one huge wall. The Verrazano Narrows Bridge shown below the sea barrier is 6,690 ft between anchorages. It would be comparable to the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China, which is 7,661 ft long.

Stupid ocean.

[Andrew Longman]

More obvious and critical need is to build another rail tunnel into the city from Jersey and they can even agree on that.

Might be more economical anyway to barricade the subway and rail tunnels from flooding and tell everyone else to move/build away from the water or else they need to pay their own reparations.

[Napoleon]

Re ^^^^

I swear that NPR had an interview with an engineer type who has looked at this morn which I can not find a link to on their web site and he felt it was very doable.

[Napoleon]

Just ran across this slide show of plans for NYC:

http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-storm-surge-barrier-2012-11#-1

[cameraman]

I don't understand these barriers, the Hudson River moves a very large amount of water. What happens when you put a cork in the bottom of that flow? Where does 317 miles of pent up water go?

[dando]

I don't understand these barriers, the Hudson River moves a very large amount of water. What happens when you put a cork in the bottom of that flow? Where does 317 miles of pent up water go?

Inconceivable. Period.

-Kevin

[Napoleon]

I don't understand these barriers, the Hudson River moves a very large amount of water. What happens when you put a cork in the bottom of that flow? Where does 317 miles of pent up water go?

Just a wild guess, but what if the barrier has a bunch of one way valves? Water can easily flow one direction but the valves close when the flow reverses.

[Napoleon]

NY Times have 5 people discussing the issue of seagates.

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/11/01/should-new-york-build-sea-gates?hp

[Rogue Leader]

Just a wild guess, but what if the barrier has a bunch of one way valves? Water can easily flow one direction but the valves close when the flow reverses.

I think thats exactly how it works

[extramundane]

VA Power got everyone back online yesterday, so somewhere between 800-1000 of their workers are en route to help Jersey Central & ConEd.

[Rogue Leader]

VA Power got everyone back online yesterday, so somewhere between 800-1000 of their workers are en route to help Jersey Central & ConEd.

I saw a pic of Southern California Power trucks being loaded onto C130's to head for here.

[cameraman]

I saw a pic of Southern California Power trucks being loaded onto C130's to head for here.

What you saw was a picture taken by someone who doesn't know the difference between a C-130 and a C-17...

[TravelGal]

I saw a pic of Southern California Power trucks being loaded onto C130's to head for here.

I'm pleased. Californians may be a lot of things but they generally do step up when needed.

[Elmo T]

Con-Ed from Illinois all over the town today. :thumbup::thumbup:

[Napoleon]

In case you missed the Chuck Norris comparisons floating around the innerwebs, some of my favorites...

So now he is inviting people who are withoug power and need to recharge their batteries to just stop by his house to do so.

[SteveH]

Possibility of a nor'easter next week?

[Elmo T]

Possibility of a nor'easter next week?

Looks that way.

NWS Briefing on Nor'easter (http://dema.delaware.gov/documents/NWS_Weather_Briefing.pdf)

[Napoleon]

Some of those sliding before and after photos:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204846304578094571077436406.html?m od=%3C%25mst.param%28LINKMODPREFIX%29#project%3DSL IDERS1112%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive

[Anteater]

Some of those sliding before and after photos:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204846304578094571077436406.html?m od=%3C%25mst.param%28LINKMODPREFIX%29#project%3DSL IDERS1112%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive
Those are awe-inspiring! :eek:

[Gnam]

Looks like a disaster movie. :(

[gjc2]

Looks like a disaster movie. :(

It really does. There are military helicopters flying overhead and gas lines miles long. People are parking in closed stations waiting for delivers. On Wednesday there were long lines for coffee. Food supply is OK.

We just got our power back after five full days without. There's no more beautiful sight than a cable box booting up!

In all seriousness we're hearing about people we know who suffered substantial property loss, thankfully no injuries of loss of life.

[Rogue Leader]

I feel like I live in a Mad Max movie. There looting going on around my apartment, I sleep with a loaded shotgun next to the bed. I witnessed an assault of a woman for her purse right on my lawn Saturday morning.

I've been to 3 fires this week (biggest one saturday night), And luckily a sympathetic gas station owner has made a deal with us to get us fuel first, we had to block off the station at 2AM, and some people were actually outraged that the fire dept was cutting the line. Most were ok with it.

My place won't have power for up to 6 weeks, all gas and electric service was destroyed. We are working on getting some backup generators for the building but its tough. No heat and 30 degree weather, sucks.

[KLang]

Read someplace this morning that Bloomberg won't call in the National Guard to help out because they would be armed. :saywhat:

[Rogue Leader]

Read someplace this morning that Bloomberg won't call in the National Guard to help out because they would be armed. :saywhat:

They are here on LI, I believe they are in the city as well. Not all are armed.

[Gnam]

RL, would you say this is an accurate description?


report from Westchester County:

I have been forced to drive up to my in-law's home in Maine, because our house has no power, heat, water or sewage, and no prospect of their return. In addition we have no access to gasoline, groceries, or food of any kind. Around 50 percent of our roads are closed and blocked by huge downed trees, power poles and wires. None of these are indicated until you literally find yourself facing a wall of trees, power poles, wires and transformers, and have to turn around and look for another route or attempt to bushwack under or around it in the woods. We are driving under and around huge trees that are laying across the road, suspended 10 feet up by the power lines on the roads that are considered open!!!

We left late Wednesday night for my in-law's in Maine with all the dogs and cats in tow when we had still not seen one single power truck, Red Cross vehicle, FEMA truck, military aid, or any other kind of assistance at all. Any tree removal to allow movement of any kind has been done by ourselves and our neighbors until the fuel for chain saws ran out and we moved all larger limbs from blocking roads and driveways using a chain to the hitches of our large SUV's and trucks when available.

As generators at cell towers now begin to run out of fuel, what little cell service there was has disappeared, leaving us with NO way to communicate with anyone other than drive, which we cannot do due to lack of fuel, road closures and rules etc.

There are no banks or ATM's to get cash and no way to deposit funds into accounts. Nobody can run credit cards because there is no power. ATM's and banks that happen to have power or generators are running out or already out of cash or rationing the amount you can withdraw in cash.

People are helping close neighbors, family and friends but are ready to kill any outsider who turns up looking for supplies.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/call-help-after-sandy_660347.html?page=1

[cameraman]

I was talking to some people in Rye and the city crews are doing a good job clearing the roads but there are only so many people and machines. There is a tremendous amount of damage to the electrical infrastructure. The kind of damage where an entire crew would have to work all day just to get power back to a few houses. There are areas where the lines are broken at almost every pole. Ultimately they will have to entirely replace the system in some areas. It is going to take a very, very long time.

Over half of the Con Ed customers in Rye have no power as of Monday AM. Two of the schools still have no power but the high/middle school and one of the elementaries got power back over the weekend.

[dando]

And my wife is planning to take our girls to NYC for Thxgiving. :saywhat: :shakehead :irked:

-Kevin

[extramundane]

I was talking to some people in Rye and the city crews are doing a good job clearing the roads but there are only so many people and machines. There is a tremendous amount of damage to the electrical infrastructure. The kind of damage where an entire crew would have to work all day just to get power back to a few houses. There are areas where the lines are broken at almost every pole. Ultimately they will have to entirely replace the system in some areas. It is going to take a very, very long time.

Over half of the Con Ed customers in Rye have no power as of Monday AM. Two of the schools still have no power but the high/middle school and one of the elementaries got power back over the weekend.

I guess it depends where in Westchester. Friends in Hartsdale had no power for a bit but overall it wasn't much worse than some summer thunderstorms. An acquaintance 7 miles away in Mamaroneck described a scene like that in Rye.

[Rogue Leader]

RL, would you say this is an accurate description?

Its actually quite a bit different here, less trees down, but no power in a lot of places due to them being under as much as 8 feet of water. Many peoples homes if they weren't washed away were just deemed uninhabitable, and beach communities have up to a foot or more of sand in the streets making them impassible.

Thousands have no home, and no possessions so they are living in shelters. I feel bad for whats happening up there, but at least their homes are intact, here if you stay in your home after the flooding the mold will probably kill you. And when they are turning power back on in some areas, the wires are sparking and burning down homes and businesses.

[cameraman]

I guess it depends where in Westchester. Friends in Hartsdale had no power for a bit but overall it wasn't much worse than some summer thunderstorms. An acquaintance 7 miles away in Mamaroneck described a scene like that in Rye.

Rye is right on the water, I don't think any part of the town is more than a mile from the beach, Hartsdale is quite a bit in from the Sound.

[extramundane]

Rye is right on the water, I don't think any part of the town is more than a mile from the beach, Hartsdale is quite a bit in from the Sound.

Yeah, I know- it's just remarkable how much difference a few miles makes.

[Andrew Longman]

Re ^^^^

I swear that NPR had an interview with an engineer type who has looked at this morn which I can not find a link to on their web site and he felt it was very doable.NYT this morning had an article about how engineers predicted in 2009 that a surge would do exactly what it did. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/05/nyregion/in-2009-engineers-detailed-storm-surge-threat-to-new-york-city.html?hp

40K out of their homes across NYC.

Countless buildings in lower Manhattan and elsewhere that will literally take months to De-contaminate and make habitable -- if ever. Heating oil and submerged cars (and associated auto liquids) in parking garages under the buildings make the whole building uninhabitable.

Some interesting reads: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/nyregion/protecting-new-york-city-before-next-time.html?hpw

[Andrew Longman]

And my wife is planning to take our girls to NYC for Thxgiving. :saywhat: :shakehead :irked:

-KevinWell...

I flew out of EWR this morning and it was a piece of cake. I haven't seen the airport that empty in years.

But... word is that if she wants to do holiday shopping she might be a bit challenged. The storm hit just as holiday inventories were set to flow through the supply chain. OMG people are hoarding gas and next they will be hoarding Tickle Me Elmos or whatever the braindead must-have gift this year is.

And she might have trouble finding a hotel room, which is always a trick in NYC anyway but given that there are 40000 people out of their homes and on the street, the city will surely be housing them in hotels.

[Elmo T]

Projecting 3-5" on snow and wind 35-50MPH as you get closer to the shore. :thumdown:

[dando]

Projecting 3-5" on snow and wind 35-50MPH as you get closer to the shore. :thumdown:

Salt on the wound. :( I saw this AM on Today that they were building massive sand berms in Seaside, NJ to prevent further erosion.

-Kevin

[TravelGal]

Salt on the wound. :( I saw this AM on Today that they were building massive sand berms in Seaside, NJ to prevent further erosion.

-Kevin

That's the big problem with the barrier islands gone.

Glad your flight to Houston went well, Andrew. My cousin in Norwalk, CT said he had no Sandy problems but they are threatening to cancel his flight tomorrow to Chicago because of the oncoming storm. Talk about worse and worser.

[Gnam]

from the internet:

There is a new drink called a "Sandy." It is basically a watered-down manhattan.

;)

[Andrew Longman]

That's the big problem with the barrier islands gone To a point... Especially as many of those matchbox weekly rental properties became massive multimillion dollar vacation homes for the rich, owners got a lot less enthusiastic about having their beach front views obstructed by massive berms. (BTW many of those high priced homes in Seaside fell vacant in the last few years with the housing collapse when over leveraged owners realized they had overpaid and overcommitted)

Further south in OC where berms were more tolerated and up north in Long Branch where they are mandated they made a big difference and save a lot of homes, even if they did get flooded.

I have every sympathy for anyone who lost homes and/or are in hardship, but when a few use their money and political clout to supersize risks for all, that makes me angry.

[Elmo T]

I heard from a local developer/builder who was VERY excited about the mess at the shore. His words - "a Katrina-like opportunity people like me"

[Andrew Longman]

I heard from a local developer/builder who was VERY excited about the mess at the shore. His words - "a Katrina-like opportunity people like me"i have a roofer friend from MO who literally spent a year in SC replacing roofs after Hugo.

I have a client who makes aggregate for roofing shingles who told me this week his company loves small hurricanes that tear off roofs but don't do any other damage.

Most evidence from weather disasters causes things to come back better than before. Probably true for the jersey shore too but it isn't likely to be anything like the blue collar vacation enclave it historically was -- especially so long as that no matter how expensive your home is you can get cheap subsidized wind/flood insurance if your mansion blows away.

[TravelGal]

i have a roofer friend from MO who literally spent a year in SC replacing roofs after Hugo.

I have a client who makes aggregate for roofing shingles who told me this week his company loves small hurricanes that tear off roofs but don't do any other damage.

Most evidence from weather disasters causes things to come back better than before. Probably true for the jersey shore too but it isn't likely to be anything like the blue collar vacation enclave it historically was -- especially so long as that no matter how expensive your home is you can get cheap subsidized wind/flood insurance if your mansion blows away.

I hate to admit it but one of the first things I said to my mother when we saw the aftermath was that all the contractors who have been out of work in Florida (or anywhere) should be in their trucks on the way up north.

I wonder if the insurance will still be cheap? We had earthquake insurance in 1994. Very cheap. Now it is 4 times as much and covers one fourth the amount of damage. :saywhat:

[cameraman]

The GOES-13 video of Sandy

fWMgrlzXUb4

It is the infrared cloud signal superimposed over the standard blue marble globe, in case you were wondering how the satellite could see at night.

[Andrew Longman]

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/11/09/how-big-oil-left-motorists-stranded-at-the-pumps-in-superstorm-sandy/

Why there is no gas (still) in some parts here. And why Bloomberg imposed rationing in NYC yesterday.

Comes down to people like Leon Hess building a business on the premise he was in the business of selling gas to a paying customer vs ExxonMobile thinking it is just in the business of making money for shareholders.

[Elmo T]

Wawa :thumbup: ^^

[dando]

Wawa :thumbup: ^^

Except you'll be visiting Hess down in Orlando in a week. :gomer: Of course I love how I was gouged by Exxon a couple of years ago leaving WDW. :saywhat: :irked:

-Kevin

[Elmo T]

Except you'll be visiting Hess down in Orlando in a week. :gomer: Of course I love how I was gouged by Exxon a couple of years ago leaving WDW. :saywhat: :irked:

-Kevin

Hess is close to the BCV, but...

Wawa in Orlando (http://www.wawa.com/wawaweb/florida.aspx)

[dando]

Hess is close to the BCV, but...

Wawa in Orlando (http://www.wawa.com/wawaweb/florida.aspx)

The Hess near SSR/Epcot/DHS is actually reasonably priced. The Exxon outside of WDW (near DtD) was 30% or more higher. :saywhat: Unfortunately we needed ga$ and were on a time constraint. Lesson learned. :(

-Kevin

[Rogue Leader]

HESS and Valero (and one Gulf nearby) are the only stations consistently offering first responders the chance to get Gas ahead of the lines. HESS even allows you to cut any line with a FD/PD/EMS ID, although IMO you'll probably get shot doing that.

[Gnam]

A Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Tale

The gas line became an eight-block long small town that took on a life of its own. “I’m in six hours when I see a guy storm to the passenger window of the car two cars in front of me,” Califano said. “He reaches in, smacking the woman passenger, trying to drag her out the window. I’m ready to grab him, but he’s screaming at the driver to mind his business, that she’s his wife! The driver spins the wheel and burns rubber outta there with the wife half-hanging outta the window and her husband chasing after the car down Bath Ave. I gain one car length in six hours.”


http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/30-hour-wait-fuel-offers-plenty-intrigue-gas-article-1.1199283#ixzz2BlwpdbpD

A great story about a horrible situation. I hope it gets better soon.

[Gnam]

Used Cars

Insurance Auto Auctions Corp. has taken over the runways of Calverton Exectuive Airpark in Riverhead, N.Y. and has parked about 15,000 Hurricane Sandy-ravaged cars there, according to the New York Post. The cars will be scrapped, used for parts or auctioned.

http://www.weather.com/news/hurricane-sandy-cars-20121231

http://s2.postimage.org/ctq22a9y1/Sandy_cars.jpg

[Andrew Longman]

Hopefully those insurers have cut the checks for all those cars. The regions has been waiting for two months for the House to cut the aid package from the Feds. NJ has run out of most of its funds. The last of the state's own funding source dry up next week.

More locally, I am about 70 miles inland and there are still countless trees down everywhere. Drive around on a weekend and you will see people out all day still clearing storm damage from their yards. My next door neighbor has I think eight trees still down waiting to be cleared.

[TravelGal]

Those cars can be used for parts? An argument for new parts if I ever heard one.

[cameraman]

There are quite a few parts that won't be damaged by being under water, you need to pick and choose but there will be value in most of them.

[Elmo T]

More locally, I am about 70 miles inland and there are still countless trees down everywhere. Drive around on a weekend and you will see people out all day still clearing storm damage from their yards. My next door neighbor has I think eight trees still down waiting to be cleared.

Same here.

We get calls each week for people asking about permits for roof and siding repairs. Drive around and you'll still see homes with the ever present blue tarp.

Only thing topping that are the calls for people putting in whole house generators. Talk about a sales boom there.

[Rogue Leader]

They are still towing cars out of the area around me. For 2 months there was a nonstop stream of tow trucks, with everything from Civics to Lamborghinis. My friends that lost cars however all got paid already and very quickly. In fact all those cars in that aerial photo have already been paid for by the insurers. IAA is the last step of the process, when the insurer needs to dispose of the car after paying the claim.

[TravelGal]

There are quite a few parts that won't be damaged by being under water, you need to pick and choose but there will be value in most of them.

Thanks. Didn't know that. I guess it never came up before. We don't have too much of an excess water problem here in SoCal. har har.

Speaking as someone who spent months clearing up and then months out of the house after the Northridge earthquake, I can well understand how slowly the clean up seems to the outside world AND to the people doing it. We often had comments like, "Oh, are you still involved with that?" The date was January 17. We moved out in June and back on December 23. So, yeah, we were still involved for a while.

[Elmo T]

The date was January 17. We moved out in June and back on December 23. So, yeah, we were still involved for a while.

Thank you TV news cycle. :rolleyes:

My cousin's house burned down in September 2011. It took him a full year to demo (while concurrently designing new house) and then to rebuild. And that was with the help of someone who knows the process.

Extended family members were stunned when he had the house-warming party. Thought he was back in a few months. :shakehead

[Gnam]

Some photos of the cleanup one year later.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/slideshow/Superstorm-Sandy-then-and-now-72627.php#Superstorm-Sandy-then-and-now-72627/photo-5359312.php

Glad to see some places were rebuilt.