After the initial shock wore off, we began to realize that we were now in a powerless building, without elevator service and without hot water. Tuesday was spent mostly getting in touch with family and finding out where everyone was. We still had gas and cold water, so we were able to cook any remaining food we had and at least continue washing our hands and dishes. We spent Tuesday night in candle-light listening to NPR putting a nice dent into our wine refrigerator.
Wednesday (Halloween) dawned and the building was getting colder. Our apartment doesn't have many windows so even in the daylight, it's very dark.
A friend of mine, Nancy, invited us up to her apt. in the upper east side for some heat and hot showers and we quickly accepted.
Thankfully, our car had been spared (we fortunately were parked on the side of the garage that did not flood- little things!) and we drove up to her place. As we exited lower Manhattan (everything below 37th street was without power), it was so odd because it was like nothing had even happened! Business as usual in the rest of the city.
Entering an apartment that was warm and lit made us realize how stressed we had become in the dark and cold. The kids were getting equally stressed, not understanding what was going on so it was great to get a little slice of normalcy.
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| Trick or treating in the UWS |
Jocelyn did a little bit of trick or treating and then all five of us headed back downtown so Nancy could see the damage. All we could smell was fuel as we walked around our once beautiful neighborhood. Workers were pouring in, which was a welcomed site, but we realized that we just couldn't continue to live here and needed to make other plans. So at 6:30pm Wed night (48 hours after the storm), we started packing up the kids and left 2 hours later, heading to Phili to stay with Chris's friend Christian.
We thought we'd only be staying in Phili through Sunday at the latest, but upon arriving began to realize the extent of the damage not only to our building but the neighborhood. It would be awhile before we returned. We received estimates of about a month, and after getting myself off the floor from shock and dismay, we started to try and make plans.
It was tough not only on us, but also Jocelyn (Shea had no idea- just feed him and give him a place to sleep, he's ok). She asked at least once a day when we were going home and when she'd be going back to school. We left so quickly and had such limited car space, we didn't grab J many toys, so we sent out an email to Christians building to see if anyone had any toys that either kid could borrow. The response was wonderful and we were able to borrow some toys and dvd's to help keep her distracted and entertained.
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| Shea is not fazed by any of this |
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| Neither is Burton- he just looks for the nearest cozy couch |
We stayed with Christian for a week and half, and he was a wonderful host. It's times like these that you realize how fortunate we are to have such wonderful friends. He would leave for work around 7am and didn't return until 7-8pm that night, so for the majority of the day, we had the place to ourselves. Chris returned to work after the first week and found office space at a local brokers place. Jocelyn, Shea and I kept ourselves amused with local parks, museums and shopping.
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| 'Please Touch Museum' with Nanny and Grandpa- they came in for a visit since they were nomads as well. |
After 9 days, we headed down to Chris's parents house who had just recently gotten power. We've now been down here for the last week and half. We left NYC on the 31st and it's the 19th today, so we've been nomads for 20 days.
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| One of the many parks around Phili |
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| Election party! Jocelyn went with Uncle Christian to place his vote. |
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| Brownie making |
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| A Princess crown has to go everywhere |
We've headed back into the city twice now to pick up more items and for various events (plays and birthday parties). It's been sobering to see the neighborhood and how much work has to be done still, and also hard for Jocelyn to comprehend why her friends are home but she can't be.
