This day, I finally got to see some of the destruction from Hurricane Sandy. A few of us signed out a vehicle, since I didn’t start until noon, and the others didn’t start until 4pm. We headed out into Long Beach along the pier.

We were told about half of the 3000 staff of South Nassau Community Hospital, where we are stationed, were affected. That meant they are severely understaffed here. I have heard from team members working in the hospital that many staff don’t have warm water, some don’t have electricity, but they still make it into work. Now, that’s rough. We (DMAT team) certainly have nothing to complain about here!

Instead of writing a lot, I will just post my favorite pictures from the morning. I will say that it was eye-opening to see the entire innards of people’s homes piled up on the sidewalk, waiting to be removed. Personal pictures, games, books, furniture, whole floors, insulation, and Halloween decorations, piled over our heads.

A large crane, like the ones that you use to catch stuffed animals in those silly machines at Chuck E. Cheese, whisked it all away. The trucks full of debris were lined up outside of what looked like a dilapidated factory, but I am guessing that’s where they incinerated all of the “debris.”

Cars outside of the homes made it seem like the neighborhoods were occupied, but if you looked closer, you could see the yellow writing on the windows. Geico had come around, assessed each car and dated it. Most of them were totaled, even though they looked fine on the outside.

The rest of the day was uneventful, just worked the pharmacy for 12 hours, so I will proceed with the slideshow:

Going to need a new boardwalk after Hurricane Sandy