Author: Cindy LeClaire
Ban together and help your neighbors.
I am a victim of Hurricane Sandy and would like to talk about this.
I live on the East End of Long Island and I am still without Power. I have no telephone service and no heat. Thank goodness for a fireplace and the help of a wonderful neighbor that is allowing us to use his power and his internet service. I did have a guest in my house that traveled here with a generator, we were able to power the freezer for sometime so my food would not go bad and power the hot water tank so we can take showers. We were also able to lend our generator to another neighbor so they can power their freezer and their water tank as well. My guest has left and now it’s up to the power line from the neighbor that is keeping my internet alive and a light source in my home. We are still using candles, the entire house does not have power. There are wires hanging from the telephone poles on my block and cable lines hanging all around us. It’s pretty scary to walk around with my little dog that needs to go outside to do his thing, while dodging the wires hanging around us. We have not seen any power companies on our street all week. The only truck we saw was one that cut some tree branches that decided to land on the wires and break them. Well, this is why we have no power!
I have no right to complain, and I’m not. I have a roof over my head and plenty of blankets. There are many people that do not have a fireplace, many people that do not have a nice neighbor like mine and many people that lost their homes and have no place to go.
I heard on the radio that a “Nor Easter” might be hitting us later this week. I hope my power comes on in time for us to turn on the heat. It is getting cold in the house even with the fireplace on.
I know the news keeps telling us to be prepared for storms like this but people do not listen because they think “This will never happen here” We all need to pay attention to the weather because this is just the beginning of the fall and look how much devastation one storm caused! Be prepared.
Here are a few things I found that worked for me
**I filled gallon jugs of water and froze them. When you loose power, take the jugs of frozen ice and put them into your refrigerator. You will be surprised how cold the inside of the refrigerator will remain for a couple of days with this frozen jug.
**Go out and buy the candles that are powered with led’s. I left these unattended in the bathrooms and what a place to have light when you need it!
Small flashlights are great, I like them better than the larger ones.
**Make sure you have new batteries in the CO2 detectors. Ladies, make sure you know how to change these just incase they go off, and your husband is not around. You need to know how to open these and replace the batteries if they go on and off like mine are.
Be warm and safe and help others if they are not so lucky as you are. Still no Power here!
Be Safe!
Cindy