The Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

At our parents’ suggestion, we decided to stay at Ben’s parent’s house in Pittsfield, Mass. and wait for Hurricane Sandy to pass over New York City. We were just returning from a short vacation to North Conway, New Hampshire, for our 5th Wedding Anniversary.

We returned to heat and power, but we do live on a ridge. {That’s why our neighborhood is called Bay Ridge}. Many in our church did not fare so well. Our church is in Sheepshead Bay, very near to Coney Island and the ocean. This area was hit very hard, and there was extensive flooding. We don’t have any cell phone service right now, but we have heard reports of the following:

One couple had their basement apartment flood to the ceiling. They lost everything.
Our Pastor and his family are without power and phone. They had 5 inches of water in the basement.
Other families in our church lost power.
We have a couple of families who live on the Rockaways and Breezy Point. I don’t know the status of their homes yet.
The church flooded. I heard that we lost the piano, the new digital piano, everything in the nursery, and that there was standing water up to the hymnal racks on the chairs in the auditorium. So I think that means the hymnals are probably goners, too.

Please pray with us about these needs, not only for our church members, but also many others throughout the city.

The kids and I ventured out today to run a couple of errands. Most stores are open in our neighborhood. I was surprised to find full shelves of milk, eggs, cheese, and bread, but empty racks of potato chips. The bank was still unable to process transactions.

Elaine got a kite while we were out of town, and I took the kids to the park to try it out. We saw many split trees and large tree limbs in the ground. Here are a few pictures.

{this tree is leaning on the power line, but I don’t think it caused any damage}