“It was like something out of a movie,” said Rose Perry, The SandPaper’s layout supervisor.
But she wasn’t recalling a slew of stories she had put together for the paper. She was talking about her journey off of Long Beach Island on Monday afternoon, during the midst of Hurricane Sandy -- a story she said she was happy to have lived to tell.
Perry and her family, including her husband Ken, their two dogs, and sons Kyle, 24, and Dakota, 18, who was picked up on Friday from Monmouth University after the school closed down in preparation for the storm, had planned on riding out the hurricane in their Ship Bottom home on 10th Street. The group had been through many natural disasters before, having lived on the Island nearly 20 years. Ken’s parents’ summer home in Barnegat Light, which was built in the ‘40s, had weathered many storms as well. And last year’s Hurricane Irene, they said, “wasn’t what they thought it would be,” even after all of the excited talk on the news.
They considered taking their suitcases, which they had packed in case of an emergency, along with some nonperishable food and water, to their next-door neighbors’ house since it was up on pilings and had a better chance of withstanding damage. But without knowing when they’d be able to get off the Island again, they said they didn’t think it was the best idea.
They watched another pickup truck, followed by the Ship Bottom Volunteer Fire Company and National Guard trucks, make it over to the bridge. Following those same tracks, the family finally made it over, too.
But she wasn’t recalling a slew of stories she had put together for the paper. She was talking about her journey off of Long Beach Island on Monday afternoon, during the midst of Hurricane Sandy -- a story she said she was happy to have lived to tell.
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| Photo by Ken Perry Central Ave. and 9th St. in Ship Bottom, Monday morning |
Perry and her family, including her husband Ken, their two dogs, and sons Kyle, 24, and Dakota, 18, who was picked up on Friday from Monmouth University after the school closed down in preparation for the storm, had planned on riding out the hurricane in their Ship Bottom home on 10th Street. The group had been through many natural disasters before, having lived on the Island nearly 20 years. Ken’s parents’ summer home in Barnegat Light, which was built in the ‘40s, had weathered many storms as well. And last year’s Hurricane Irene, they said, “wasn’t what they thought it would be,” even after all of the excited talk on the news.
“I’m never one to stay. If I’m told to evacuate, I’ll go,” admitted Perry.
She had wanted to leave Sunday when LBI residents were under mandatory evacuation. But she said the rest of her family thought she was just “having a nervous breakdown.” When floodwater began bubbling out of a manhole in front of their house and water started breaching their front yard on Monday, something they had never witnessed before, the family changed their tune.
“Finally I said, ‘I’m leaving. I need to find a way off' (the Island),” Perry remembered.
She called 911, looking for help vacating the Island, and was told her family would be put on the list to be rescued and transferred to the shelter at the Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin; but they were only allowed to bring one bag, and their dogs would not be accepted. The family decided they couldn’t leave their dogs behind; they’d have to find another way out.
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| Photo by Ken Perry Between the Sheets at Central Ave. and West 10th St. in Ship Bottom, Monday morning |
“Food and water will only go so far. And I’m not a camper; that’s not my idea of a fun time,” said Perry.
The situation was time-sensitive. Strapping on his son’s waders, Ken headed out into the waist-deep, water-filled street, looking for a way off the Island. When he finally saw a path he thought he could manage driving through, the family quickly piled into their 10 year-old four-wheel-drive, Ford pickup truck.
They drove through front yards and over knocked down fences, and managed to break through a troublesome berm they nearly got stuck in, before reaching the eastbound road on Ninth Street. They proceeded in the opposite direction until they reached the parking lot of the Country Corner Farm Market, where they passed through to the other side on West Eighth Street. Trying to keep above the water, Ken drove along the sidewalk “as much as possible,” before reaching Barnegat Avenue where the water was waist-deep again. In the distance, they even spotted a woman in a Cadillac with water nearly above the roof trying to drive off the Island.
“We came a lot farther than I really expected. This is the biggest adventure of my life. You wouldn’t believe it,” said Perry.
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| Photo by Ken Perry 8th St. and Barnegat Ave. in Ship Bottom, Monday morning |
They drove to Moorestown to stay with Ken’s parents, where they’ve been keeping in touch with friends at home via phone and Internet. Though they haven’t lost any power there, they said they did maintain some gutter damage from a fallen tree Sunday night.
“That doesn’t even come close to anything that’s happened to me these past few days,” said Perry. “We made it through a harrowing journey. Gutters can be replaced.”
Like many people who live on the Island, Perry and her family don’t know when they’ll be allowed back over the bridge. They don’t know what their property looks like, or what sort of damage their house sustained.
“There’s nothing we can do at this point,” said Perry. “In the meantime, we’re just glad everyone’s safe. We’ll deal with what happened when we get back.”
This article was published in The SandPaper.
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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