The Post asked for news from Salisbury residents affected by Hurricane Sandy. James Carli, now a graduate student, sends this report:
I am a graduate student at Seton Hall University, located in South Orange, N.J., about 30 miles west of New York City. Presently, Seton Hall is closed Monday and Tuesday. There is a public shelter at the South Orange library and one at Seton Hall. Current time is 2:40 p.m., and we have not lost power yet, but it is getting much darker outside and the wind, which had been just a strong breeze is starting to get unnervingly strong and sustained. However the worst of the storm looks to be focused in central and southern New Jersey, and it looks like the metro-New York area will be spared the brunt of the storm.
I have stocked up on bottled water and canned food, filled my bathtub with water, frozen my candles (that’s a neat trick to make them burn 3 times as long), and charged all my electronics. The general feeling among my friends and classmates is that this is a welcome break from school, and an exciting adventure to be shared with friends. We have all run into friends as we have been stocking up on supplies at Target and Costco, and a sense of camaraderie runs through all my friends from the diplomacy school. Nevertheless, the severity of damage and destruction to be suffered by others because of the storm is not lost on us.
Last year, Hurricane Irene hit New Jersey just days after I moved up, and people in New Jersey were actually getting upset with me for bringing a hurricane with me from Carolina (only half-kidding). But Sandy is already as bad as Irene was at her worst, and Sandy has just gotten started here, so I anticipate a wild next 36 hours. There is a tangible sense of anxiety among everyone in New Jersey, as if everyone is holding their breath for something that might or might not be absolutely destructive.
Share your storm experience by emailing editor@salisburypost.com.