Welcome back, Tony, we're glad you okay! Sorry to hear everything's going so bad over there though. Never have I been so happy to be stuck in this boring little pocket in the middle of the country.

CeCe wrote:

Tony!!!!!!! Glad you're ok! Hope things become at least bearable soon!

Your plight has been making the news - that it is going to take a long time to get NY and NJ livable again and there are lots of ppl out of homes. Also there is another storm coming on top of all that.

DAMN! Tony, wishing you well in all this.

Tony Marino wrote:

Hey gang I made it back, my internet just started working at home. Thanks for your concern!! Thank you to FM for delivering my message too! If you have not heard from NYstyle its probably because her power might be out and she has no way of charging her cell phone. There are still thousands on Long Island and in Queens where NY lives that have no power. Mass destruction everywhere, I have never seen anything like this in my life. I was fortunate my house was spared but one brother and one sister of mine lost everything when the surge came in and flooded their homes. I have my sister living with me now until she can get everything back in order which is going to take a very long time.

Trains just started running again out here so I can go back to work tomorrow. One of the biggest problems is getting gas, the lines are blocks and blocks long, some friends of mine have waited up to 7 hours on lines only to be turned away when the station ran out of gas. I don't understand why the governor did not call for odd and even days like they did in Jersey, its sickening. A lot of gas stations have gas but no power to pump it.

Most of the beaches are now gone, destroyed in the storm. In all my years I have never seen a storm of this magnitude, never saw wind blowing the way it did, all trees toppled over into the streets and on homes and power lines. My house missed a tree falling on it because another tree next to it caught it and held it up.

I am frustrated because I wanted to help my brother out but had limited gas and could only get to my sister's house to start the process of throwing everything in her house out. I hope in the next few days things will start getting back to some semblance of normalcy but it is going to take years to repair all this destruction to Long Island and Staten Island and New Jersey.

This completely sucks. I went on leave (to Philly) for two weeks and was really hoping to get up there, but it's impossible to get gas and my Aunt is still without power. So basically, I flew to the other side of the country, and I'm not even going to see half of my family. But I guess it could have been worse and there are people much worse off than me, so I have to count my blessings.

Glad everyone is okay. Tony, I KNOW how ur family feels losing everything. the thing to keep in mind is that all are safe. the insurance and fema is a nightmare. truly wish u all the best.

My mother is the bluest democrat i have ever seen, and even she is saying that she likes Christie's way of handling things thru this tragedy. The odd/even were a good idea.. as they did in the 70s... he has really been out there trying to organize and get help. I have to commend him for that... cause normally i think he is a huge jerk.

TONY!!! Boy so glad to hear from you!!!


Now it's time from MS NY AND NYHAIYEL !!

Tony, I am so glad you checked in with us but am so sad to read some of your family has been so tragically affected. I wish nothing but the best for you all as you work together to build it all back. xoxo

Supernova wrote:

Welcome back, Tony, we're glad you okay! Sorry to hear everything's going so bad over there though. Never have I been so happy to be stuck in this boring little pocket in the middle of the country.

Thanks SN I am happy that you were spared this tragedy, its like living in a live nightmare!

wants2laugh wrote:

Glad everyone is okay. Tony, I KNOW how ur family feels losing everything. the thing to keep in mind is that all are safe. the insurance and fema is a nightmare. truly wish u all the best.

My mother is the bluest democrat i have ever seen, and even she is saying that she likes Christie's way of handling things thru this tragedy. The odd/even were a good idea.. as they did in the 70s... he has really been out there trying to organize and get help. I have to commend him for that... cause normally i think he is a huge jerk.

WTL I know you know what its like. I am finding out about the insurances and Fema now and like you said its a real pain. Hopefully you were spared this time.

Thank you all for your well wishes. I guess Alan is o.k. I see posts from him.

CeCe wrote:

Tony!!!!!!! Glad you're ok! Hope things become at least bearable soon!

Thanks CeCe, me too!!!!

Nephew! I'm glad you were sparred but sorry about some of your siblings. That's what I keep telling myself as other people we know chime in on Facebook, "We just got power back!" as we sit in the dark...we're still a lot better off than others.

Alan Smithee wrote:

Nephew! I'm glad you were sparred but sorry about some of your siblings. That's what I keep telling myself as other people we know chime in on Facebook, "We just got power back!" as we sit in the dark...we're still a lot better off than others.

Glad your ok too uncle. I guess your right we are better off than others but it is still causing so much stress, especially in the wake of the next storm coming.

BIG BRO!

Forgiveness Man wrote:

BIG BRO!

Lil Bro

Welcome back!

tony... if u need any answers to the FEMA stuff let me know. they tell u to wait to apply for FEMA until after the insurance makes a decision, but then the deadline is BEFORE the insurance makes its estimates because they have so many months from the date of loss to complete the paperwork. Most likely, you will have to have your insurance adjuster, then a FEMA rep come in. After that... FEMA gave us $1800 to cover 2 months of rent. Then FEMA does nothing else and wants you to go to the Small Business Association for a low interest loan. There should be a FEMA office set up in your area-- they stay there for a couple months. It sucked tho.. cause we had to wait for the insurance check which included the mortgage company... send it to them to endorse, then wait for them to cash it, and pay off the house with it before we could knock it down and rebuild. That was all over a year ago, and the house is STILL standing because the county and the state are arguing over what kind of zone it is, and if rebuilding is possible. It's a mess.

Don't lose hope tho. everyone is safe... could have been much worse. Glad u n Al are ok. Still worried about the others.. hoping its just a no electricity thing

Glad you're back and safe. I can't even imagine what that situation must be like.

Now I'ma need Ny to chime in soon too.

wants2laugh wrote:

tony... if u need any answers to the FEMA stuff let me know. they tell u to wait to apply for FEMA until after the insurance makes a decision, but then the deadline is BEFORE the insurance makes its estimates because they have so many months from the date of loss to complete the paperwork. Most likely, you will have to have your insurance adjuster, then a FEMA rep come in. After that... FEMA gave us $1800 to cover 2 months of rent. Then FEMA does nothing else and wants you to go to the Small Business Association for a low interest loan. There should be a FEMA office set up in your area-- they stay there for a couple months. It sucked tho.. cause we had to wait for the insurance check which included the mortgage company... send it to them to endorse, then wait for them to cash it, and pay off the house with it before we could knock it down and rebuild. That was all over a year ago, and the house is STILL standing because the county and the state are arguing over what kind of zone it is, and if rebuilding is possible. It's a mess.

Don't lose hope tho. everyone is safe... could have been much worse. Glad u n Al are ok. Still worried about the others.. hoping its just a no electricity thing

Thanks WTL I too hope everyone else is o.k.

Its my sister and brother who lost everything. She has a meeting with her flood insurance advisor today at her house. Basically they already told her that her policy only covers structure damage to the house no contents which she was not aware of. FEMA has been to see my brother already and they wanted him to prove that it was the Wind and not water that wiped him out???? Did you ever hear of such a ridiculous thing? I was under the impression FEMA was for flood damage not wind damage. Neither of their home owner policy covers hurricane damage they only cover fire damage. The flood insurance only covers The Gas Burner, Water heater and supposedly appliances. I didn't know appliances were part of a structure of the house.

Lesson to all, read the fine print of your policies and make sure you understand what you do have and don't have.

I will know more later when I see my sister.

Damn, Tony. I am sorry they are going through shit with their coverage.

Cheaps wrote:

TONY!!! Boy so glad to hear from you!!!


Now it's time from MS NY AND NYHAIYEL !!

Thanks Cheaps

RedBedroom wrote:

Damn, Tony. I am sorry they are going through shit with their coverage.

My sister hired an Adjustor and he basically said "Bullshit" to the insurance company. I overheard a man say during Irene he had property damage and his insurance did not want to pay. He hired an adjustor and got 25 grand to fix his damage. Who knows, we shall see.

It sounds like a good move to have hired the adjuster. You will have to update us in a few weeks. I will keep your brother and sister in my prayers many nights in the coming weeks.

RedBedroom wrote:

It sounds like a good move to have hired the adjuster. You will have to update us in a few weeks. I will keep your brother and sister in my prayers many nights in the coming weeks.

Thanks so much Red

Bless You and you family Tony!! I can't begin to imagine what you guys are going through.