I’m a Long Islander, I’m not always a happy Long Islander but it is my birthplace and I’ve lived here for 39 years now. So I feel I need to step up and defend my fellow Islanders in the eyes of the Prepping/Survival community. This storm was like nothing I’ve seen in all my years of living in the Northeast. It came on so fast and with such ferocity that even as some one who styles himself a Prepared person, I was taken aback at how fast the situation went down the tubes.
How It Began
When I left for work at 6AM we were forecasted to get 6″-12″ ,with the height of the storm in the early evening after the rush hour commute. While I was at work the forecast changed dramatically but the light rain we were getting led no one to believe how crazy things would get. I think what really went wrong was the weather in NYC and the more western suburbs was just not jiving with the weather report. When people got out of work and started home they left into a drizzle that turned nasty as they headed east.
The Storm Rolls In
At 2:40 I was on the South Shore and it wasn’t that bad, but I did notice that it was getting a bit slushy out. I left the garage at 3:15 and started my trek home. My usual 12 mile commute took an hour and a half. I bailed out on the main roads as they were already getting nuts. I ended up on the side roads in a white knuckle 4×4 ride through the neighborhoods of Holbrook, Holtsville, Selden, and Coram. I came over the worst hills on Long Island and I was puckered tight. I went through the snow wall into my neighborhood like a freakin’ Jeep commercial. I was glad to be home.
Roads Worsen
The cars stuck on County Route 83 were following the plows up the hill until the plows themselves went off the road. The Police were there and told the stuck that they would back them down the hill in an orderly manner when traffic subsided. After 4 hours the cops told people “Good luck, you’re on your own.” Now we find ourselves in a situation where the lighter plow trucks can’t move the snow and the stalled cars are blocking the heavier equipment from getting through.
Courtesy of Mike Desz
The Aftermath
So for all those out there Monday Morning Quarterbacks out there, this was a freak storm for Eastern Suffolk County. Critique the fact that a lot of suffering and anxiety could have been avoided by having some basic vehicle preps or a Get Home Bag, but don’t be so smug to think it couldn’t happen to you. If you are so in tune with things that you’d never get caught why bother with the Car Kits, EDC, or Get Home Bags? Instead of laughing and pointing, or the name calling why not try to educate someone on why or how to prepare?
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Well said – I was as prepared for Sandy as I thought I could be, yet I still had to swim out with the family. Situations can change rapidly — We prepare but cannot anticipate every contingency.
Glad you liked it.
About 2pm in Commack in my work van and the snow was already sticking to the black top and had accumulated anywhere between 1/2″ to 3/4″. That didn’t include the slush that was underneath. One of the bigger problems I saw was that no one at these still open business’s said “hey, you know what? Let’s be safe rather than sorry, everyone go home early in case it turns to crap”, which it did rather quickly. Commutes for many of these people are in excess of 45 minutes on a good day. With blizzard weather, business just has to be prepared to take it on the chin and close early so that people can be home safe and roads can be cleared by professionals.
Yeah, I headed out from Bellport back to Commack around 2:30/3:00 and white knuckled it all the way. It didn’t help that I was at work until 2am the night before and back at work that morning at 7am. Driving in a slushy, driving snowstorm while trying not to nod off to the melodic motion of your wiper blades in a warm car is a tough thing to do! Anyway, I was incredibly surprised at how quickly this thing attacked us. I have no doubt that if I had left work even 30 minutes later than I did, I would be one of the people abandoning their car somewhere on my way home. Can’t believe how quick this thing hammered us.
So well said! I was very upset with people calling us idiots for getting gas and preparing for the worst!! We endured Sandy and after that, I listen to all warnings.
We did not get any snow in Island Park NY till 10 pm we had ice rain, So I knew the poor people who worked west of the LIE but lived out east, were going to be in trouble!!
I pray everyone is safe. I have friends that are trapped in thier homes still on Sunday!! they can not even walk in their streets!! This was another freak storm that did it’s own thing!!
Ragged on by your friends and neighbors if you prep, ragged on by the internet mafia if you get caught in a Freak Storm! Sometimes you just can’t win!!!
I think you said it! I grew up in Buffalo – have lived through blizzards & have seen how quickly they come. I remember my brother being stuck for hours in his car literally a mile from his house.
I think what Randy said hits the nail on the head – if businesses/companies saw it was getting bad they should have closed. We had that problem with Sandy – everyone wanting to stay open.
I also admit, I do not have a bag in the car. Even though we were spared with Nemo in my area of Philly, I have bought a bag & am filling it with essentials, because you really never know.