Hurricane Sandy - Frankenstorm

I finally had some time to write a post on what's been going on...when Hurricane Sandy (or as some of us called Frankenstorm) hit and decided I would instead wait and post after the aftermath has cleared.  It was ironic that the last post I did was on the Atlantic City Triathlon where I talked about the best part of my day was running along the Atlantic City Boardwalk where most of my childhood memories were.  In fact, those memories coupled with all of my summers spent along the Jersey Shore.  Just for reference, this is the picture I posted on my last post from the race...

This is post-Sandy.

A Godsend was that Mike's parents house did not lose power.  His dad is hooked up to a fair amount of machines and extremely fortunate that they didn't need to go to the back up generator.  My parents are okay, they live by one of the bridges in Philly and extremely close to the Delaware River, but they said they heard both of the sub pumps kicking in during the storm.  We were also very fortunate and did not lose power and had no issues.  However, friends 5 and 10 min away did and are still without power.  I opened the house for coffee, charging and showers but I still feel a little guilty that I was so lucky. 

New York downtown was bad, some friends stayed uptown but I am sure it will take a while for the subways to get back in action.  It is horrible to hear about all of the homes and businesses.  

I remember when Katrina hit and my brother was in New Orleans, he, thank God, was smart and evacuated but I remember how much was lost among him and his friends and the sadness.  It becomes a different experience when it's even closer to your home.  I know this isn't the same size of a storm but the Hurricane Sandy coupled with the high tide made this a perfect storm.  It will take a lot to rebuild and get things going in a large city like NY and the East Coast beaches.  My thoughts and prayers to those who experienced the worst.

I went for a short run yesterday (given I have two running races this week and next) and posted that people need to be smart being on the road after a hurricane.

1. Keep your eyes on the road ahead, there are tree branches and small twigs that can cause a twisted ankle.
2. Look around you as well as there are things coming from the side, you may be better off on a trail..
3. Pick up your feet, don't shuffle along, you don't want a broken ankle.
4. Pay Attention, if you don't feel comfortable go to the gym

They say is still unsafe with all the trees being so weak from all the wind we had. So to all my friends...

•  Be safe
• Help out a friend
• Pray that we can get this rebuilt