Aftermath in Jersey City

God has simply put a hand on us and turned us away from Jersey City, as the storm was approaching.
Our area was not damaged as bad as some parts of Queens, Long Island, Staten Island, our building was still there, but even then it was not a pleasant sight to come to. Just see the lobby of our building, the shops, restaurants and the coffee shops in our neighborhood, the streets and the play ground.

Two elephant statues toppled by the storm

A snowplow is used to clear debris from a flooded grocery store

Damaged building 

A walkway along the waterfront has been lifted and pushed on to the river bank by the flood waters

We spoke to our doorman, George, who was on duty when the storm has arrived and was stuck in the building for 72 hours. Water, Wind, Dark and Silence, these are 4 words we were told repeatedly. Bear in mind, we live in a good neighborhood, where buildings were relatively new and well kept, where people who could go away, did go away, where there is a possibility to restore some kind of live relatively quick (by quick I mean 2-3 weeks). I can only imagine how it was and it is for people in other areas, especially now when the cold weather is approaching rapidly.
As usual we have a plan or two. Learning from the previous storms (the one last year) and the location of our building (yes, we are right on the Hudson river), learning from the previous experience with Mortens company, we decided not to trust our naivety, not to wait, see and hope, but to take a matter in our hands and simply to evacuate ourselves as far as we could. And I am so thankful to God to give us all the green lights to do so.
Mortens manager eventually did contact us, a week later, wondering if we were all right. Yes, you are reading this correct, a week later. The same manager, who was praised that despite the weather conditions, he did manage to go to the client and work for them (a guy is single and has nothing to loose). Evacuate yourself and never look back - that is the way to do it. Employees, what employees, oh, those ones, oh, whose with families, wives, children, houses, oh well... What can I say, thank you for contacting us at all, but what I really want to say, is that I am grateful that God gave us senses to follow them and I pray for those who are in more need then we are. At least we could pay ourselves out of that mess (out of our own pocket!).