11-05-2012, 01:50 PM
I was up in Staten Island, NY Saturday clearing debris and about 4 very old, very thick trees from the shop I work at. I didn't really see any of the major damage, but I had no reason to be in those areas.
What WAS interesting, was seeing just how high the water got. Our shop is high up, and was never in danger of being flooded. However, we have an access road to get to the beach along the Arthur Kill (this is an area immeadiately north of the Outerbridge Crossing, on the western shore of the island for those familiar with the region).
When the Access road was built in 1957, my Great grandpa and grandpa decided to make the "landing" several feet higher than the highest water in the previous 100 years (back to 1857). It had never flooded since it was built, that is until monday. You could see where the high water was. The ground was completely free of leaves and other small debris, and standing at the base of the access road, the water would have been over my head.
even weirder, prior to the storm, I put some stones and boat parts on a timber from an old barge just for fun. They were still there! I'm guessing that the water didn't so much crash in, as it just slowly rised.
What has been really upsetting me is all the stuff I used to know that is gone. When I was young, I used to go to Seaside Heights all the time. Until very recently, I only ever went to the Casino Pier and the Funtime pier. Now, almost ALL of that board walk is gone, and the big roller coasters I used to enjoy have slipped into the sea, along with a few other rides i have fond memmories of. There are a few resturaunts, game stands and other places that I wonder about now, since I can't seem to get a good view of them in photos.
Of course, this pales in comparison to all the other things people lost, but it just seems surreal.
What WAS interesting, was seeing just how high the water got. Our shop is high up, and was never in danger of being flooded. However, we have an access road to get to the beach along the Arthur Kill (this is an area immeadiately north of the Outerbridge Crossing, on the western shore of the island for those familiar with the region).
When the Access road was built in 1957, my Great grandpa and grandpa decided to make the "landing" several feet higher than the highest water in the previous 100 years (back to 1857). It had never flooded since it was built, that is until monday. You could see where the high water was. The ground was completely free of leaves and other small debris, and standing at the base of the access road, the water would have been over my head.
even weirder, prior to the storm, I put some stones and boat parts on a timber from an old barge just for fun. They were still there! I'm guessing that the water didn't so much crash in, as it just slowly rised.
What has been really upsetting me is all the stuff I used to know that is gone. When I was young, I used to go to Seaside Heights all the time. Until very recently, I only ever went to the Casino Pier and the Funtime pier. Now, almost ALL of that board walk is gone, and the big roller coasters I used to enjoy have slipped into the sea, along with a few other rides i have fond memmories of. There are a few resturaunts, game stands and other places that I wonder about now, since I can't seem to get a good view of them in photos.
Of course, this pales in comparison to all the other things people lost, but it just seems surreal.
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.
![[Image: logosmall.png]](http://i543.photobucket.com/albums/gg445/CAB_IV/Model%20Trains%202013/logosmall.png)