Friday (02-November-2012) — New Jersey

Hurricane Sandy Aftermath: Day 4 — Power Still Out.

Before the power can be restored, there is a lot of cleanup work that needs to be done. One of the transformers that went down has been leaking oil for several days. It is not known if the oil contained PCBs. A PSE&G truck was sent out to put absorbent down to clean up the oil. Unfortunately, at least one driver (in the last image) had been giving the PSE&G worker a hard time because he wasn’t being allowed to drive through the oil and under the downed power lines. The PSE&G folks are working 16 hour days to restore power and need to be acknowledged – not hassled.

Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Transformer Oil Cleanup. Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 4. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)

Thursday (01-November-2012) — New Jersey

Hurricane Sandy Aftermath: Day 3. Power Still Out.

Power went out again. PSE&G says it could be a week or more before everyone has power restored. I’ve moved back into my RV (White Ram). I should have enough diesel and propane for several days. I also have about 40 gallons of water. Before I retired, the Safeway stores in PA closed and I bought a lot of food for an emergency. Looks like I will get to use it.

Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 3. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)

30-October-2012

Hurricane Sandy Aftermath.

Around midnight the wind and rain subsided. No power, but I could hear multiple generators running. Once it was light out I went out to survey the damage. A few trees in the yard were down or lost large branches, but less damage than from Hurricane Irene.

I was lucky as the power came back on at 8 AM. Most of my neighbors are still running on generators, when I checked found that I was one of two houses that had power. I set up a free cell phone charging station at my front door. Cell phone & internet signals are weak and intermittent. I gave 2 gallons of gas to a neighbor with a generator.

When I checked the basement, I only found a small amount of water. I did see a lot of house centipedes (Scutigera Coleoptrata) and crickets. Also, the mouse/rat poison trays were empty.

Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Montgomery Township Fire & Rescue. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Montgomery Township Fire & Rescue. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Basement Critters. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Basement Critters. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Basement Critters. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Basement Critters. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Basement Critters. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Basement Critters. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)

29-October-2012

Hurricane Sandy Getting Closer

When I woke up this morning, only light rain and little wind. As the day progressed the rain got heavier and the wind increased. This still does not seem like a tropical storm as the temperature is only in the mid 50’s °F. Now that the wind is increasing, there have been several power glitches. I decided to grill this Porterhouse steak I got from Mallery’s Grazin Meats before the power goes out. Once the power goes out, no idea how long it will be before power will be restored. I have everything in the RV (water, food, fuel) ready for a few days.

The power just went off at 5 PM.

Porterhouse Steak Dinner Waiting for Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica VLux 30 camera (ISO 250, 4.3 mm (25 mm equiv @ 35 mm), f/3.3, 1/60 sec) internal flash. (David J. Mathre)
Porterhouse Steak Dinner Waiting for Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica VLux 30 camera (ISO 250, 4.3 mm (25 mm equiv @ 35 mm), f/3.3, 1/60 sec) internal flash. (David J. Mathre)