Hurricane Sandy

Well, we happened to move to the east coast at just the right time.  In the past three months, we have had two fairly large storms, both testing our ability to use our 72 hour kit and be prepared for a catastrophe. 

 

This time around, it was Hurricane Sandy.  There was so much on the news about how to prepare for this "huge" hurricane coming, and so much speculation as to who would be hit the hardest and what we should expect. 

 

Thankfully, we had a lot on hand already, but I picked up lots of bottled waters, more candles, and some more batteries.  Before too long, all of the stores looked like this:

 

Just before the storm hit, we got out our 72 hour kit, filled up gallon sized bags with water and stuffed our freezer, got out all of our flashlights, headlamps, candles, batteries, radio... We also filled up our pantry with lots of food that we could prepare with just our gas stove or without anything at all. 

 

Then came the storm...

Fortunately, we weren't hit very hard.  The wind was extremely loud all night and it just kept raining and raining and raining.  But our home was untouched and the only damage in our neighborhood was the loss of a few trees.  We didn't even lose our power!  Woooo hoooo!

 

With that being said, that wasn't the case for everyone.  New Jersey and New York were hit very hard and a lot of people were struggling... for many weeks.  Just recently (about a month after the storm), our Area President from our church asked our stake to send volunteers to go and help those in need.  He asked for 20 Elders from each ward.  I think he got about double that!  That included Preston, on the Friday after Thanksgiving through Sunday.  (Yep, that went right over our 5 year anniversary!) 

 

They went to New York to an area that was hit hard.  Preston drove up and brought lots of supplies from home and from work!  They worked all day and provided intense labor for those who hadn't received any help since the storm. 

 They worked with a group called "Mormon Helping Hands."  Here is a glimpse of what they did.  This wasn't their group but was with the Mormon Helping Hands the weekend before.  They wore these yellow jackets and were helping anybody who needed it!

One of the things that struck Preston the most was all of the cars that were parked throughout the roads.  If you notice in this picture, there is a line on the back window of where the water went up to.  Then on the red car, there is a mark from the insurance company that says "T/L" or rather Total Loss.  All of these cars were completely ruined but hadn't been able to be taken away yet.  All of these abandoned, broken cars lining the roads.  Crazy! 

It was a great experience for Preston and a great opportunity for us to serve those who were hit so much harder than us.  Even though Preston slept in the back seat of his truck...

We are much more grateful to have a home that is still intact, cars that still work, and power that provides so many conveniences in our lives.