What the hell?... Athena!

Hey all,

I'm sitting here in Long Island NY, again thinking about the last week or so. I posted a thread the day after Sandy made her debut and talked about some of the experiences I had
Here, and I thought I'd share a bit more for some of the folks that are interested.

It seems like it has been so long since Sandy made tracks, every day is so different from the day before. I don't think if you asked one person on this island where he will be tomorrow or what he will be doing you'd get a straight answer. More than likely you'll get a blank stare... On top of all of the craziness from the last few days, now Athena is bearing down on us with a vengeance that nobody could have imagined.

I just returned from driving my four year old daughter home to her mothers house. It's apocalyptic out there! There is four inches of snow in the streets already and the Noreaster has not even landed yet. The people of NY are frazzled to the core and driving around hysterical. It's not going to be good for us...

Let me start by updating from the last few days for those of you who participated in my last thread and wanted updates. I work with a great team of guys who are from all over the island, each of whom has had a different experience. Nobody really can focus on work these days as there seems to be a need by everyone to sort of decompress or something and it seems like all we do is talk about what has happened. We are very fortunate to have a company that has allowed us all to come and go as we please and get paid for working even though not much has really been getting done.

I'll start by telling my part. I work for a solar contractor. The first day I went to work, me and my partner went to the house we had been working at and when we pulled onto the street it was like we had drove into a different world. This particular neighborhood had not a branch that was broken. Every tree was perfectly manicured, all the grass was not a blade out of place, yet two out of every three trees was gently laid on it's side. Beautiful mounds of trimmed grass with exposed roots underneath, Blue spruce that were leaning at 45 degree angles, it was amazing. It gave the impression that one could just lean them all back up straight and everything would be fine. Not like most of the broken and mangled neighborhoods that I had driven through to get there. The house that we had been working on was perfectly untouched though, The sun seemed to be shining on it alone and we went to work. Towards the end of the day the buildings department inspector drove by and stopped and got out of his car. He walked up into the yard just as we happened to be coming down off of the roof. "How ya doin" he said. "What the hell are you doing out here! Go home!" he said. "There is no power! no cell service! God forbid someone got hurt, no one would respond even if a 911 call did go through!"
As we drove out of the neighborhood, I nodded my head and looked at Johnny and agreed "Yeah maybe it was a bit stupid." as I looked around at all the beautiful trees that seemed to be taking naps.
There had been Crews working up in their cherry pickers at both ends of the neighborhood trying to restore power. We might have been knocked off the roof by some kind of explosion if a mainline blew or something. The house still does not have power BTW and we haven't been back since.

I am one of the lucky ones though. My power was restored by Tuesday. I keep thinking it has something to do with the two little old Catholic ladies that came by this summer asking for donations for ST. Gerard. It took me by surprise because I couldn't see their heads through my door window when I looked out. They were so tiny and I couldn't understand a word they said, but I gave them the 10 dollar bill I had in my pocket. My street seems untouched and I really think that LIPA turned the power off for some reason, to keep from having problems later maybe.

My other partner Greg wasn't so lucky. He's big into surfing and lives in long beach. Actually all of his family lives there. He was lucky enough to park his truck on a high spot and still has it. His house and everything in it went into the drink. One of his aunts was chopped out of her attic. His other aunt and uncle had to jump off of their roof into the bucket of a front end loader and carried to safety above the waves and still to this day they have no idea who the guy was or where he came from. One of his brothers lost his whole house and has a three week old baby, another lost his house and has a baby do next week. There are one bedrooms in the area with eight people sleeping on the floors. Greg tells me of streets lined with garbage, furniture sheetrock rippings, and sand, bonfires and smokehouses that have brought all of their smokers out into the yard and smoked everything that they had and fed whole sides of town. Greg has spent most of these last days pumping sewage out of peoples basements, most of which have no idea who he is or what he is doing. Sometimes they come up to him and ask, when he's half way through, 'Who are you again, what are you doing?" Greg has only been to work twice since the hurricane, but when he is there, all he can do is talk about his experience. All day long. It's as if he has to retrace his steps and repeat everything he has done and seen to prove to himself that it is real... His family has pulled together and are working as a team though.

There is no gas! What little can be had goes to people in great lines. One out of twenty stations at a time all over the island. Lines are 250 strong and they may run out at any time. People line up at gas stations that are closed! You could get into a line if you're not smart and find that it goes nowhere! The few people who were smart enough to fill up before the storm and conserve it are just now starting to come out of the woodworks as well. I have seen guys sitting in front of a pump that was closed and they have been there for THREE days. Gas stations everywhere are filled with abandoned cars that drove in on E and the owners left them. Cars by the side of the street abandoned by people from Brooklyn and Queens who heard on the news that there was gas in Nassau County. They drove around looking for these places only to run out of gas.

On the other hand I could tell of countless experiences of compassion and humanity out there as well. I have had a house full. The few friends that I have outside of work have all crashed for a day or two at a time at my place and enjoyed the lights, hot food and internet. My daughter is in hog heaven along with most of the other kids around here who have played endless hours of board games, spent days on end with their friends, completely forgotten school and what not. It's been a vacation for the youngsters. It's the grown ups that can't handle the subtle differences in the lifestyle of Sandy's aftermath.

After all this and so much more we are handed Athena! The goddess of war and housekeeping!!! It's ironic. Who the hell gave this storm a name, and that name to boot. Power outages again all over the place, exhausted unexpecting drivers on their way home caught in this crazy blizzard. It all seems like some sort of gross punishment. Me and my girlfriend were joking today and said that they should have named the storm Karma Clown...

Good luck to all those out in it, stay safe and warm,
Take care of yourselves...

When did we start naming winter storms? I have never heard of this before

reply to post by TheOtter


This is a first for me, I have no idea. The funny part is, They named it after my ex wife, you can imagine the jokes are flying in from all my friends... I'm screwed!

Yea, this is the first time Ive heard of anything other than hurricanes being named, weird..
Anyway Athena is the goddess of wisdom, not war

Heres the answer to that.
WUG

The decision to name Athena The Weather Channel announced in October that they would begin naming winter storms this year, in an effort to aid in raising awareness and reduce the risks the public faces. One of the main criteria for naming a storm is its impact on populated areas; the meteorology of the storm may not get it named, if the storm doesn't affect a populated area. If Hurricane Sandy had not devastated the region of coast being affected by today's Winter Storm Athena, it may not have gotten a name. With so many people still under recovery efforts even well inland, the combination of heavy, wet snow and wind prompted the decision to name Athena.

Yeah, uh, not in my experience! You are probably right though. I tried to forget what she was the goddess of a long time ago.

reply to post by Quauhtli


You're in my prayers, stay safe.

This is rather a silly and mundane question amongst all the carnage, but, are there insurance companies out there inspecting? obviously, no mail service yet? what about bills? credit cards? car loans? Do these banking services expect people to pay late fees?

F##% them if they try to pull that kind of crap.

reply to post by Happy1


Oh yeah, all of those guys are here. This is going to be a money tree for them. The mail and garbage seems to be running okay. it's just the utilities that are not coming back online all that quickly for a lot of people. Some neighborhoods have received letters from LIPA saying that they are not going to be working on the power in their neighborhood until after the 21st. Which means that it may be December before they get power. There are going to be many thousands that have to find a new place to live before this is finished. People are finding out weeks after from inspectors that their houses are going to be condemned due to foundation failures.

reply to post by Quauhtli


After people are safe, and things are squared away, as much as they can be.... I hope that people post which insurance companies and banks were fair to them, and which weren't.

I"d change my bank and insurance company based on that kind of info...

The pictures look just horrible, it must be awful for people there... again, my prayers are with you all, just wish I had money to send.

Hmm. I haven't heard of anyone naming a winter storm. People do tend to name things if they want credit for it. Imagine people who engineer storms. Well they'd have to name it something to get credit for it and bragging rights.
"Yeah, remember Athena, that was my work," they'd say.

Your writing is so effective at painting scenes in my mind, with such ease and clarity, it makes me wonder if you are a published author!

I do wish you well, and your friends and family. How is the food situation at local grocery stores? What of restaurants? Are they beginning to open back up (the ones with power) or are many too damaged?

Also, I wonder where the trucks that run the mail are getting their steady supply of gasoline?

Originally posted by Quauhtli
reply to post by TheOtter

 

This is a first for me, I have no idea. The funny part is, They named it after my ex wife, you can imagine the jokes are flying in from all my friends... I'm screwed!

And Sandy is the name of my mother-in-law! Aren't they fitting names! sorry to hear about your families losses, lucky you're all safe and you've got power and a roof over your head

Tell me Quauhtli please how the Massapequa and Hicksvile areas fared?I was raised on L.I.Moved soon after 9/11.Essentialy how hard the south shore got hit and how far inland the the ocean went.

There is Always a reason why the Controlled Media chooses a name for something.


en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by Happy1


Yes, that is a great way of thinking about it. My friend Greg has told me that it is evident in Long Beach who the companies are that have been helping their neighbors and who are looking just to make a ton of fast cash. He said that there are a few places that will be getting all his business in the future. I feel the same way. I wish there were some sort of website or something for people to share this type of info. You know how it happens though, paid shills would come in and then you couldn't trust anything. I guess it has to come from word of mouth. I will do my best to pass on any good info about insurance companies and such in the future when this all pans out. I am a big fan of USAA already, they have taken excellent care of me in the past and are at the helm now ready to do their share, as far as all of the emails that I have gotten. I am one of the lucky ones as of yet and don't need any help.

reply to post by new_here


I'm not hearing of much of a food shortage from the grocery stores, but I also have not gone into any. I stock up all the time anyways and almost never eat things that I didn't cook myself. I have heard rumors of people getting food from the deli's and restaurants that is questionable. No one I know has gotten sick or anything, but it is a dice roll just going into a place that you're not familiar with and ordering food.

One of the most interesting things about all this is the amount of people who don't know what is going on in places just around the corner. Most of us are getting our info from word of mouth. I have heard things from my mother in KS that I did not know. People everywhere are taking a little bit more time to share info with the people they run into doing business. My job has taken me to all of the different sides of the island since Sandy struck and people everywhere are hungry to hear first hand experiences of those around who have been out and about.

reply to post by AgentX09


AgentX,
To be honest I haven't been to those places yet and haven't heard anything. I live in Glenn Cove, which is not far from Hicksville and I can imagine that they weren't hit all that much harder than myself. I live closer to the north shore.

It was the tide that really nailed the south shore because being the ocean side most of the land there is a very gradual grade, a mile in in most places has only a few feet in elevation change. This is why the tide came in so far. Long beach has two feet of sand in the middle of the strip. The tide carried things right up into the middle of town. There are so many other places along the southern coast that have been hit hard as well. So many I cannot count, I could easily get a list of the places that were hit the worst if you like, just let me know.

The North shore on the other hand has been slammed in quite another way. There are cliffs along part of the northern side and the elevation change is much more and closer to the beaches. There have been communities hurt pretty badly there as well, but most of the major damage is just a bit inland. The most effluent people all live on the north shore. Their properties are big and spread out. The areas are wooded with almost old growth as people have been settled here for so long. The power lines go through heavily wooded areas that are inaccessible to the line workers. A good amount of these richer neighborhoods will not be getting power for a good long time. This is why me and my girlfriend were joking about naming the storm Karma Clown... Guess in this situation the squeaky wheel will not be getting the grease any time soon...

Let me know if you have any questions about specific places, I'll do my best to find out what I can.

reply to post by Quauhtli

I replied here because of this.

One of the most interesting things about all this is the amount of people who don't know what is going on in places just around the corner. Most of us are getting our info from word of mouth. I have heard things from my mother in KS that I did not know. People everywhere are taking a little bit more time to share info with the people they run into doing business. My job has taken me to all of the different sides of the island since Sandy struck and people everywhere are hungry to hear first hand experiences of those around who have been out and about.

I am one of those that loves to hear from people who share from personal experience. Is so much better than what we get from the media. By the way, on the west coast it is out of the news. The media eye has shifted elsewhere. Thanks for being so detailed and descriptive of what you are seeing around you in the aftermath. I really got the surreal quality of it all from your narrative.

winter storm athena?

what's next, light drizzle danny and scattered shatters cindy.

the msm have just pulled all the stops in their news invention machine.

Yeah, last week the Weather Channel was talking about naming the Winter Storms... I was surprised to see they name this one Athena. But then again... I feel like I'm in a movie sometimes where all characters are playing out as expected. lol

Times are crazy!

reply to post by Quauhtli


I am really sorry to hear that the islands got hit so hard! I lived out in Montauk 20 years ago for a few years.. and moved because the water dreams just got to be to much -.. I didn't get power back here until Saturday, lost lots of trees at my house.. and lost a few more with Athena :-/ but, I didn't lose power .

That said, I think it is a good idea that they are now naming the storms, makes perfect sense..

During the upcoming 2012-13 winter season The Weather Channel will name noteworthy winter storms. Our goal is to better communicate the threat and the timing of the significant impacts that accompany these events. The fact is, a storm with a name is easier to follow, which will mean fewer surprises and more preparation.

Naming Winter Storms
Hurricanes and tropical storms have been given names since the 1940s. In the late 1800s, tropical systems near Australia were named as well. Weather systems, including winter storms, have been named in Europe since the 1950s. Important dividends have resulted from attaching names to these storms:

•Naming a storm raises awareness.
•Attaching a name makes it much easier to follow a weather system’s progress.
•A storm with a name takes on a personality all its own, which adds to awareness.
•In today’s social media world, a name makes it much easier to reference in communication.
•A named storm is easier to remember and refer to in the future.

Source

Read the source, it will give you the list of the upcoming names and additional information.

Be Safe All.