I just got power back in NJ after 49 hours. [View all]

[athena]

After 49 hours without power, we just got power back in our little house in central NJ.

For a little over two days, my husband and I had no lights, no internet, no refrigeration, no heat. It was suffocating; it was depressing; it was psychologically painful in a way that seemed irrational but was very real nonetheless.

When the lights came back on, I was ecstatic. A miracle had just taken place. My belief in humanity was restored. I wanted to go and thank in person the PSE&G people who worked overtime in the cold and dark so that I, along with the hundreds of people in my neighborhood, could have power and heat for a few hours tonight.

I know that we were relatively lucky. We didn't have trees fall on our house; we didn't get our basement flooded (mainly because we don't have a basement). But simply losing power for 49 hours makes you realize how vulnerable and dependent on your fellow humans you really are. People talk about small government in the abstract, but it's with a disaster like this that you realize at a visceral level why a strong government is necessary. I hope that people will see this and make the right decision next Tuesday.