After Irene.

Down the road from us, my cousin Shannon had a very different story to share. These are her photos:

-Photos 1 and two of are of a large oak tree that fell on her block. The oak tree is no more. I feel bad for the homeowner whose fence is destroyed. 

-Photo 3? That is NOT a lake or a river. True, there is a river nearby...but it's never flooded that bad before. Not as long as we've been here anyway. The diner across the street (way off in the distance if you look closely) is where our cousins and myself hang out on the regular. It's a cute little place. I'm unsure how the diner is affected currently. Hopefully, they got all the water out of there. Shannon's comment on the photo? "I don't understand how people wade through disgusting." Neither do I cousin. Neither do I.

-Photo 4 is a shot of JFK Boulevard, a heavy populated area, full of stores and restaurants. It's hard to imagine that I've driven on that road all the time on the way to my grandmother's.

You get the idea. The photo below was taken by my friend Erin. Luckily, the house we're moving into soon was not damaged by the storm.

A town not mentioned on the news much (national or otherwise) is Monroe Township, NJ. Monroe Township is an area that was hit incredibly hard with unexpected flooding. In one development, all the homes were destroyed. Those residents are now homeless. Businesses that have been in the area for years  have been closed until further notice. They may not be able to reopen at all. Most of these businesses and residents are not covered by flood insurance. Since the area has not been hit with this kind of disaster, flood insurance was not offered. Monroe is such a wonderful community. It's maybe 12 minutes from where I am. Six of my friends live there, and I'm always driving back and forth. It's just so odd to see this devastation. Please send your prayers to them.

This photo was taken by a member of the Facebook group: Help Hurricane Irene Flood Victims in Monroe, NJ

Local residents have just learned that FEMA will be helping Monroe. If you would like to help as well, please go to http://www.njredcross.org/.