Long Beach, and the Emergency Evacuation of my building The Lido Beach Towers

Being a Barrier Island resident preparing for the worst is second nature, but no one anticipated the devastating destruction that Sandy left behind. I was fortunate enough to find my JEEP unscathed, and Tuesday morn I took it upon myself to comb the area for anyone in need of assistance. I found myself back at my building after navigating over 4' sand dunes and debris caused by the massive winds and tidal surge. The Lido Beach Towers was a horrific sight! The parking lot was reminiscent of a destruction derby, the grounds were buried beneath 2-3' of sand, and the perimeter wall was reduced to rubble. The ground level apartments still remain under water, with nothing left except for metal studs and load bearing walls. I walked into the lobby and found the affected residents have serried into the lobby unsure what to do next. Our Super, Caesar and my fellow Board Member, Sy Landsman put our heads together and decided we needed to get everyone out NOW!!

Being that all the residents vehicle's were rendered useless, I went out to locate Emergency assets deployed to Barrier Island. I waved down a National Guard unit and explained to them our situation. Within minutes they scrambled emergency vehicles and services to our building. We coordinated an evacuation plan with our maintenance staff, NCPD, BSO, ESU, State Police, The local Fire Dept and the National Guard and got everyone out. This was a prime example of the necessity of helping your fellow citizen in a time of need. I only hope stories such as this are as common as I would like to hear.

Gilad Mizrahi