HURRICANE SANDY, THE AFTERMATH

Hurricane Sandy has come and gone.  I am glad to report that my family and I made it out OK.  The worst for us was a trash-strewn front yard, some debris in the backyard, one night of no power, and, it appears, one day of partial power.  We lost power around 6 PM on Monday then it came back on around 9 AM Tuesday but shortly afterward power was gone for certain parts of the house.  Kitchen, with the refrigerator, has power, all living room lights have no power, but the main TV and its FiOS box have power.  Internet router did not have power but relocating its plug to a nearby wall outlet and all is well again.  I confirmed with some neighbors on the block and the same thing happened to them.  I suppose Con Edison cut back on power distribution so that everyone has some to use.

After a late lunch I ventured outside to see what happened to the neighborhood.  The wind had decreased much and it was only drizzling rain.  Not too far away at Benson and Bay 40 was the first uprooted tree I saw.  A few meters away an evergreen tree in someone's backyard was also tipped over.  Benson Avenue was not open to traffic.

A block away on Bath Avenue near the bus depot was another tree downed, also blocking the avenue. I continued my way toward Calvert Vaux Park then made it over the footbridge to Dreier Offerman Park.  Calvert Vaux Park did pretty well, only a few big branches broken here and there, no big trees were toppled.  But then again, the park is relatively new, whatever big trees, if there were any, would have been bulldozed to make room for the soccer fields etc.

Benson Avenue between Bay 40th Street and 25th Avenue was closed to traffic.

Uprooted tree blocking Benson Avenue in Bath Beach, Brooklyn.

On the same block a few meters away a tree in someone's yard tipped onto the street.

Bath Avenue between 25th Avenue and Bay 40th Street was also blocked.

On 26th Avenue near Harway Aveneu, a tree was ripped apart.

A small tree blocked part of Shore Parkway near Bay 44th Street.

Calvert Vaux Park fared pretty well.

There were a few broken branches in Calvert Vaux Park.

A white van with Jersey plate near Dreier Offerman Park was crushed by a tree that was snapped near its base.

See https://plus.google.com/photos/109153989599275468311/albums/5805218577016790833?authkey=CLjFsI_VgOvN8wE for more photos of the devastation in the Bath Beach, Brooklyn area.