By MICHAEL DeMARCO
STAFF WRITER
It's been one year since Hurricane Sandy went face-to-face with Freehold residents, with some still recovering from the aftermath today.
In the town that hosts Rutgers’s Western Monmouth campus, some say they recently just got their roofs repaired. They are worried about another hurricane hitting the area in the near future.
"We just got our roof repaired last month," said Jordan Clemente, a 43-year-old Freehold resident. "I really hope another hurricane doesn't hit this area for decades because I can't take this stress again."
"All the phone calls I had to make and the aggravation that I had to go through was remarkable," Medley states.
Others say the hurricane had no impact on them at all. Peter Gaines, a 55-year-old Freehold resident was fortunate to have a generator connected to the house before Hurricane Sandy hit.
"I knew some day Freehold would get hit by a massive storm, so I bought a generator a few years ago and was prepared ever since," he said.
Other Freehold residents say one problem about having a massive storm like Hurricane Sandy is that they had to cut down trees.
"While Hurricane Sandy was at its best, we had a big tree leaning on the house and I preyed to god that that tree better stay where it's at and not drive itself into my house," said John Licata, a 46-year old Freehold resident.
Rather than wait for another hurricane to hit the Freehold area, residents tend to put gas in containers so they are prepared for the next storm.
"Since Hurricane Sandy hit, I have extra gas in containers in the garage to fill up my generator, said Paul Thomas, a 57-year-old Freehold resident. "The first day after Hurricane Sandy hit our area, it was hell getting gas in New Jersey, and I will never go through that ever again."
After Hurricane Sandy hit, Freehold residents are now prepared by buying extra food before a storm comes.
Donna Springard, a 34-year-old Freehold resident, said that, a couple days after Hurricane Sandy hit, she and others were running out of food, but they didn't want to go to a supermarket because they were filled with “crazy people.”
"Hurricane Sandy taught me a lesson and since then, I buy extra food every week so my family and I are prepared for a storm if it ever comes," she said.
Chris Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Freehold resident "Hit himself in the head" for not putting his belongings inside before Hurricane Sandy blew them away
.
"I just had so much going on with securing windows and everything else, I didn't realize that I had things outside that could be blown away," Gonzalez said. "In the summer that just passed, I had to buy a brand new blowup pool that was pretty expensive and now I realize that if a storm ever hits, I will bring everything inside." |
