A natural disaster down at the Jersey Shore that no one on the east coast will ever forget. After the hurricane, I drove down with my family to my summer home in Long Beach Island. My stomach was in knots when I saw the outcome of the storm. I didn’t know what my house would look like, or if it would even be there and didn’t know what to expect when I entered the island.
Not only do I have a house there right on the water,but my friends and other family members have houses down there as well. The footage on the news after hurricane sandy hit shocked me so I was prepared for the worse.
Once I got to my house, which is located in Beach Haven West, New Jersey, I was relieved to see there was no damage to my house. We had tons of debris in the back yard, our front storm door was broken and a few shingles on the shed were missing. We were so blessed to have not as much damage as I expected.
However, just two streets over my neighbors weren’t as fortunate. Their entire house was destroyed and had to be taken down and rebuilt. Some people live on the island all year round but most are summer homes.
After driving around my development and seeing the destructions I was beyond nervous to see what my aunt’s house would be like. Her house is over the bridge. I knew that there was water damage because her neighbor had already been there and seen the porch, which was full of water.
My mom, two uncles and myself spent all of Saturday going through everything from the first floor. We ended up having to take out all of the wall-to-wall carpets, throw away old toys and many clothes could not be saved. The furniture from the porch had to be thrown away.
As of right now, a lot of our home appliances were ruined and full of mold.
Sandy destroyed so many homes and it will take months to rebuild. For now, I’m taking it one day at a time and trying to do all I can to help those who lost everything. I’m trying to keep in mind that we can always rebuild and to always keep the memories.
