So far, I've summarized the first couple of months of the Fall 2012 turtle pictures. The
bobbleheadturtles.tumblr.com blog was created in July of that year. This blogspot is focusing on my favorite photographs that I've taken of the turtles with some stories and back stories.
I made the turtle blog to make use of all the turtles my boyfriend, fam, and friends have given me.
I didn't know that it'd be a way to record history as well.
We were affected by Superstorm Sandy. At first, we thought it wouldn't be too bad. A few days before Sandy, I was at the yacht club. This turtle is from my friend who gave it to me as a surprise present early 2012. We didn't have sailing practice that day. It was the calm before the storm, literally.
I also went to the beach and took pictures of the turtles there.
Jersey Shore house! We're locals so we had to stop by the beach one more time before the storm. Little did I know that it would be several months before beaches on the island barrier would open again.
These were photographed in October 2012. I tried going back to this beach, but it was closed. It was closed throughout 2013. I don't know if it's still closed now. I stopped trying. Today, there is a lot of construction going on in Seaside and other towns on the island barrier.
This pier is from Seaside which ended up getting damaged by the storm. You can faintly see the roller coaster that later ended up in the water.
I love going to the beach any season. In 2011, we had Hurricane Irene, but it didn't turn out too bad. My friends from Seaside stayed at my house until the storm passed. When we heard news of Hurricane Sandy (later named Superstorm Sandy), we didn't realize how unpredictable Mother Nature could be... especially in New Jersey where we rarely get affected by damaging hurricanes.
I lost power for a little bit. It came back on, then we lost it again.
The winds increased as time passed. I was afraid that tree branches would come flying through the window. My other friends who lived by the water were evacuated from their homes. The storm surge ruined everything.
Fortunately for my family and me, we lost power for only 8 hours. Our development is new and they had electrical wires underground which were not damaged from the storm. My other friends were out of power for several days to almost weeks. Driving around the roads were almost impossible because power lines and trees were down. I don't remember if we had tornado warnings too, but it sure looked like a hurricane and tornado hit the entire area.
It was really cool talking to the followers on tumblr who were also being affected by the storm, and also hearing from other followers about their concern about us on the East Coast. I put photos on queue during the storm of old pictures I took of the turtles in the forest before the storm hit.
You know, this place was so beautiful, but Sandy was unmerciful. People lost their homes, businesses, some people lost their lives, and there was so much damage. Insurance companies would not give as much help as they promised in their contracts with customers in fear of losing a large amount money. There were a lot of burglaries because there was no power. No power, no security. It was an ugly time, and it still is. I mean, Jersey Shore is getting better, but it isn't fully restored. People are struggling to rebuild their lives.
I was out of school for two weeks because it didn't have power. Many of the schools were used as shelters for families who lost their homes. I donated as much as I could and did charity work. When some of the roads were finally clear, I saw on corners of the streets free food and goods for people who needed it. I thought that was pretty cool of the community uniting like that.
Nearby the yacht club. This is a beach by a river which connects to the Barnegat Bay. Water levels rose 5-10 feet tall here. They were above this fence! I spent two days with my friends cleaning up everything. It was a very cold November.
I think the crazy thing was how we also had a snowstorm after Superstorm Sandy. There were still people who didn't have power or running water at this point either. I felt conflicted photographing the turtles during Superstorm Sandy because the turtle blog was made for fun. I didn't intend for it to be a reality turtle diary where people would know what was going on in my life at that exact moment, but my followers were concerned and sent me messages. I had more pictures during the storm, but without the turtles. I'd rather not publish them because 1) you've probably seen them on the news 2) you could google it/have googled it 3) I don't like revisiting Superstorm Sandy memories.
Restore the Shore!
