“5 Days From Hell”

Once again I am sitting on a US Airways flight, travelling to Dallas, TX for our annual EZLynx sales meetings. It’s always an enjoyable time, getting to visit with “our gang”, learning about new products, and sharing ways to improve the technological experience for all those involved in this thing of ours that enjoy the technology that we provide to the insurance industry. However, leaving home early this morning (quite frankly feeling a little guilty for leaving our town, knowing that so many people are still in need), was surreally different than how I usually leave the friendly confines of my home for a business trip, because today is Saturday, November 3rd, 2012 and after kissing Ann Marie good bye I also said good bye to our dear relatives (and their little dog, too) who have been staying with us this past week due to Hurricane Sandy and the wrath of death and destruction that followed in her path throughout the Northeast. Our guests, who are a few among the millions of people who have been devastated by this Hurricane/Cyclone /Nor’easter/tropical storm/low pressure/ left-turning major “PIA” of a storm (and I am NOT referring to “PIA” as in the “Professional Insurance Agents”) were fortunate, thank God, to escape with their lives, but lost so many of their possessions that they treasured, including their home and a new car, as so many others did as well…including many of our readers of this column.

You know that being in this industry, you see it all: death, destruction, fires, floods, thefts, assaults, accidents…you name it and an insurance agent has seen it, and has also most likely handed someone a check to help ease some of the emotional pain that they have endured. But this one seemed to be among a few of the most difficult natural events in our lifetime to deal with. I feel that way because although my immediate family and I were unbelievably fortunate enough to not be within the 90% of Long Islanders who lost power for any extended amount of time (all we lost was internet access and landline telephones for a week, intermittent electrical power loss, and to make or receive a cellular call we had to walk down the block, stand in the middle of the street, lift our left leg, and touch our nose to get a signal).

However, when we were able to receive or send a cell phone call or text, it was always the same reply: some dear friend or relative was on the other end of the message or call, literally crying because they lost everything…some even including a loved one or two. The stories were horrific: families running full speed up a flight of stairs to escape rapidly rising flood waters, while their entire first floor floats up behind them, as though the contents were chasing them up the stairs. Families having to be rescued by emergency service responders in boats and choppers. I was told multiple times by many victims of their incredible stories of how their family had to race down the street because a wall of water 25 feet high was on its way towards the beach. A very dear friend of ours (and also to many of us in this industry) not only lost his current home and all of its contents, but also lost the home that he and his family were closing on next week! He was just thankful that he, his wife, and their baby were able to escape alive.

To add further insult to injury, those fortunate enough to have not lost their home and to have generators to run their household, or whose vehicles were not swept away by the floods, then lost the ability to obtain fuel for their engines as gas stations who had fuel were unable to open, stations who could open rapidly ran out of fuel within hours of opening, and all because the ports were closed, refineries had no power to accept or distribute the fuel (or were destroyed), bridges, tunnels and roads were closed, blocked by debris such as fallen trees, live wires, and contents of homes, so basically fuel deliveries were not being made so the end consumer simply ran out of gas and could not replenish it. Cash machines were inoperable, as is the ability for many stores to accept credit or debit, as those methods of payment were also impossible to facilitate. Oh, and if you were one of the unfortunate who lost a vehicle? Good luck trying to find a rental car.

There were also many other subtle signs that a disaster had occurred, such as when you look towards the sky not a plane was to be seen…except for an occasional military or police helicopter, C 130, or News media chopper, …eerily reminiscent of the days following September 11th. With all of the devastation around us, the heartwarming stories continue as well, also bringing tears to one’s eye, but tears of joy as opposed to tears of sadness, as you hear of people opening their homes to strangers for a place to take a hot shower, or have a home cooked meal. One house that I walked by had extension cords laid down the length of their driveway, with a huge sign that read, “Please feel free to charge any device you like.” Another friend of mine set up their RV on their driveway, with a sign that read, “We have power, please use this RV for anything you wish.” During the storm a very large tree fell across one of my neighbor’s front yard and across the street stretching from one side to the other. When I walked over to help him clear it the next morning, it was gone…just about a half hour after I saw it from our bedroom window. Amazed, I asked him how he removed it so quickly, and he replied that a pickup truck with a couple of young guys drove by, jumped out, and using chain saws cut it up and cleared the road, saying they were concerned that emergency vehicles would be unable to get by in the event they were needed to save one of our neighbors. Others in my neighborhood got together and collected food, blankets, water, candy, anything that they could from anyone who was kind enough to give, and distributed it to families without the ability to cook themselves or keep warm as the chilly night air set in and their heat and electric were both out. Our local supermarket made up food boxes and sold them at cost to those who would buy one. Once you paid for it, the supermarket workers would then take the boxes to areas affected and distribute them to those in need. The Red Cross activated many schools as shelters, and placed on standby many other facilities in the event the toll of those displaced grew more than the capacity of the current shelters. Donations poured in to the shelters, and even EZLynx, the wonderful company that I am proud to be a part of, donated a very large sum of money to the Red Cross in our area to help defer some of the operating costs of these shelters.

These stories of love for one another go on and on as well, and I am so proud to live in a place where people care about those whom they don’t even know. However, with this said, there are still a few lowlife deadbeat A-hole losers who need to find a way to scam people in times like this…such as the gas stations charging in upwards of $6.00 a gallon for fuel that they had in the ground from last week before the storm even hit; or the convenience store in a Nassau County town that was charging $9.00 for a bag of ice; or the dirt-bag skells that posed as utility workers to gain entry to homes without power, only to rob them of what wasn’t already destroyed.

These horror stories continue, and will continue to do so for many months to come. As of this writing our schools are still closed, along with so many stores and gas stations. Almost a million homes on Long Island, and another million in New Jersey are without power, as are thousands upon thousands of homes and apartments still dark in the City of New York, which by the way still has some tunnels that serve vehicles and trains closed because engineers are still pondering ways to pump water from them. Bridges are intermittently being opened and closed for pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and non-commercial cars who wish to enter Manhattan better have 3 people in them or you are going to be turned away by New York City’s finest. On my way to the airport this morning, at 0500 hrs., there were already lines of cars a mile long at some gas stations, waiting patiently for the station to open…in hopes that these stations even have gas available to sell. Schools are appealing to the State Education Department to waive the mandatory 180 days of instruction rule, as they have already lost all of our their snow days (it hasn’t even snowed), and are now cutting into vacation days. Not to mention the days that will still be lost as many schools are still without power, or essential services, or have been damaged by the storm, or have impassable roads. Some school buses cannot traverse their normally traveled paths to carry the kids safely to school, and who even knows if these same buses will be able to obtain fuel to even get them running…that is of course if they have not been destroyed in the storm themselves.

From an economic stand point, Insured losses (and I emphasize the word “insured”) were already estimated two days ago at over $11 billion, with estimates of total losses somewhere in the $50 billion range, once it’s all said and done. Future economic losses will certainly exceed the current number, and will last far into the future as we attempt to measure the true loss that we will endure. For example, casinos on the devastated Atlantic City Boardwalk are losing $5 million a day in revenue, as so many other businesses are affected with precisely the same types of lost revenues. God knows what the actual loss figure will be, and much of it won’t even be known for many months, or even years, to come.

I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment here to thank all of the rescue workers, police departments, military personnel, and civilians, who are still out there risking their own lives to save and help others. To the store owners who are distributing free baby food and milk to families who have children, to the Lion’s Clubs, Rotary Clubs, VFW’s, Knights of Columbus’, Churches, Synagogues, Mosques, and all those who are collecting and distributing food, life essentials, shelter, and hugs to those who need it. To the insurance agents and carriers who have remained open all hours of the night, and some even by candlelight, to process claims in order to help strangers rebuild their lives as quickly as possible. To the local and federal elected officials who reached across the aisle in a true spirit of caring in order to get the funding to clean up the mess and to reopen the ports by relieving some of the bureaucratic paperwork requirements in order to get the fuel carrying barges to port. Last but not least, I thank everyone across the globe for the prayers and thoughts that were sent to us all, to get each and every one of us through this disaster and emerge from it mentally stronger than last Monday night. I think my son Devin put this in perspective when he said, “Dad, we’re New Yorkers. We’re resilient, and we will persevere.” Thank you, son, very well said.

Stay strong, everyone, be safe and God bless. Ciao for now.