By Lauren Wanko
Last year, the wrath of Hurricane Sandy could be seen in New Jersey.
“Mike, conditions here are going from bad to worse, so bad I’m just trying to do everything I can to keep my feet planted on the pavement.”
“Check out this street sign behind me, we are on Beach Avenue, we are on the street right now but as you can see, the street has turned into a beach.”
We moved farther North to Ocean County and reported on pure destruction, destruction that’s still so vivid for Toms River resident Kathy Cicala.
“I just knew that I was trapped and I just figured I don’t know if I’m ever gonna get out of here, I just didn’t think I would,” Cicala said.
The night of the storm, she fell asleep on the couch. Her husband woke her in a panic.
“I went to turn around and get my feet on the ground and my knees were in the water,” she said.
Kathy was surrounded by rising flood waters she felt like a prisoner in her own home.
“I was screaming on my couch,” she said.
Desperate, the couple was for searching for a way — any way — out.
“Boats we’re just floating down the street so we thinking we could get a boat and get out but there was no way, there was no way,” Cicala said.
Kathy and her husband huddled together throughout the night — soaking wet, freezing and wide awake.
“I can’t go to sleep. If I go to sleep, I’ll drown. I was just so afraid to sleep,” Cicala said.
Finally, the couple heard a loud knock on the window.
“There was a guy in full wet suit and he said are 321 Maria and we said yes and he said well gather some of your things together and I’m gonna get you out of here and I just not could not believe that was gonna happen, I could not believe we were finally gonna get out of this house,” Cicala said.
She climbed onto a front loader with a view of the devastation.
“Just looking around at things that had happened and boats all over the place, people’s belongings all over the place. It was so sad,” Cicala said.
The next morning, Kathy returned home. Everything was ruined by the flood waters. Emotionally drained, she sold the home to her son who spent months making repairs. He transformed the storm-ravaged house into a home again.
Meantime Kathy and her husband are building a new home nearby. A home they say will be Sandy proof. They hope to finally move in by next winter.