Hurricane Sandy...what a mess!

I can not even begin to count my blessing because they are too numerous to mention. This might be a bit long so I will warn you now. We are all safe. That is the greatest blessing.

It started Friday with a storm warning or at least that was the first the I remember hearing about it. Gerard and I had plans of doing family things with Anna on Saturday afternoon. I was sleeping Saturday morning because I had worked. I woke up to find Anna in bed with me at 11:30 am, Gerard told me then that he thought this storm was going to be bad. He told me that he had so much prep work to do.

Thank goodness he was off. He went around to our various homes, his parent's home, his aunt's home and my mother's home. He was unable to get one of the boats out of the water but was able to properly secure it. The same with the wave runners.

Saturday after fighting the lines at the grocery store Anna and I went to a friends to carve pumpkins. That was a blast. The pictures are so cute.

Sunday he was called into work and his parents and aunt came to my house. Jenny and my mother went to my other sister's house in town. Monday I went to work around 3 because I wanted to drive in the light. I took a very off beat path which was much longer but safer. Anna stayed with Grammy, Papa and aunt Nel. She only got nervous when the lights went out.
I was so thankful to be able to make it home on Tuesday. Gerard did not make it home until late Tuesday night. We knew mostly from Facebook that there was significant damage to where Gerard's aunt, uncle and parents live. The decision was made to send my Mother, Jenny and Anna more west to my other sister's home who had power near Philadelphia. As much as it killed Gerard and I to have her so far away it was the best decision for her. She packed her dinosaurs threw on new pajamas and was standing at the door to go play with Sloan.
Gerard's parents home was flooded about 3 feet. His aunt's home, his uncle's home and a rental all had close to 5-6 feet of water. We believe that they are total losses. I live about 2 miles from the bay with only marsh land separating us. Thank you God we did not get a drop on water in our home. We only have a number of trees that are down. Gerard has not gone into the crawl space yet so the damage report here may change.
As for the area less than a mile from my home it looks like a war zone. So many have lost everything. School is closed. Halloween was moved to Monday.

There is a gas shortage. Everything from my childhood is gone. My childhood home town is just gone. The dunes and beach are gone. Waves are hitting homes. I think my Church is still standing but I am sure the damage is tremendous. Residents in certain areas still have not been able to get to their homes in some spots. We are all in shock. As I was cleaning my bathroom this morning I started to tear up because there are so many who have nothing. Yes we will rebuild what we can and remember what we can not. My mother is devasted. Her family was one of about 10 that settled Barnegat Light.   

If you would like to see pictures of my area I believe if you Google search hurricane Sandy and Surf City, NJ (our favorite beach), Harvey Cedars, NJ (favorite restaurants), Fantasy Island in Beach Haven, NJ (our amusement park) and. Tuckerton Beach our home town you will be amazed and shocked by the damage.
Seaside Heights, NJ is about 5 minutes from where I work. I can not believe how God has watched over us this past week.

In all of this destruction I am amazed by my family. Me-Me is an extreme couponer has donated so much of her stock to shelters. When she texted me I thought "why did I not Thu.k of that?" Something wonderful will come from this destruction. That is what I believe. Thank you for keeping us in Your thoughts and prayers. As soon as I get my internet up again I am going to post a couple of pictures if I can.