By REBECCA BLEICH

Hurricane Sandy was a deadly and destructive storm that had devastated millions of people all across the country. It became known as Superstorm Sandy and lasted from October 2, 2012 to November 2, 2012. This storm inflicted most of its damage on New York and New Jersey which caused massive flooding, power outages and damage to buildings and homes. The process of recovery after the storm lasted for several weeks and even months. Some places never recovered or even bounced back from the terrible tragedy that shook the nation. 

Interview: Kirk Bleich, 54, gas line inspector for PSEG and been with the company for 23 years. He works for the Oakland PSEG office and has been working as a gas line inspector for 13 years. His preferred source of media to hear about news is from news feeds on his phone or from the  news broadcast on television. 

AUDIO: :https://onlinej.ramaporecord.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/RebeccaOralHistoryEDIT-1.mp3

Transcript: 

RB: State your name, occupation, and age. 

KB: Kirk Bleich, 54, currently works at PSEG as a gas line inspector. 

RB: Where did you grow up? 

KB: Cliffside Park 

RB: What news event are you talking about?

KB: This pertains to Superstorm Sandy. 

RB: Where were you when this storm happened? 

KB: It basically started while I was working but it was a multi day, week long storm, Basically 

RB:How were you affected by this storm?

KB: It was no ordinary work week. The normal forty hours was not fourty hours. Basically they needed people around the clock to assist on the gas side and to also help out on the electric side. 

RB: And what did you have to do exactly with this job? 

KB: So basically, for the gas side, we just had to make sure that the gas services or the gas manes were not ruptured and they needed bodies on the electrical side when poles and wires were down which were numerous to count more so down than what they had to actually repair them so contractors from other states came across to help out and people from gas side helped out and monitored the situation and made power lines and made sure the area was safe and no people crossed into hazardous areas. 

RB: How did people react when you showed up to their house to fix their gas? 

KB:They were obviously upset because they were without gas for days on end, sometimes weeks and they see you out there and they see PSEG and they don’t know what you are doing or if you have been working around the clock and they don’t know our schedule. A lot were upset when they saw us standing around for a minute or two, not realizing that we haven’t had a break in 10 or 12 hours. For the most part it was not too bad 

RB: What was your schedule like?

KB: There really wasn’t a schedule. The normal schedule is Monday thru Friday 7 to 3:30 but that kinda went out the window. There were a few days that we got home at three thirty and then called back in around 10:30 and we would work overnight til 7, end until you got relieved and then go home during our normal work hours to catch up on sleep if you could . And then you would come back the next day to do it all over again. 

RB: How long have you been with the company for? 

KB: It will be twenty three years in July. 

RB: And have you ever dealt with this before? 

KB: No, Never. We had a similar situation when I first started in 1999 with hurricane floyd that happened in October. I had started in July and it was almost a similar situation but it was a lot more rain and stuff during Floyd. There were alot of down trees that caused downed power lines and I had to question whether or not I made the right choice of working here. But that was only short, maybe two or three days of this. Hurricane Sandy was about 9 or 10 days of floods and stuff like that. 

RB: When you were not working, what news source did you use to stay in contact with what was going on? 

KB: Mostly the news, we got some updates on our company phones but mostly from the news or from our supervisors 

RB: Do you think the media talked about this story in the right way regarding personal stories about where you were working? 

KB: Most of the stuff on TV was from New York and we pertain to mostly Northern New Jersey. I’m sure there were some similarities, but from what I remember there were almost three million customers without electricity. And they had the other utilities a lot less but we were able to get our customers back way before they did so that kinda was good pride for our company. 

RB: Did people in your company still remember Hurricane Sandy and do they still talk about it? 

KB: Yeah no one will forget that storm and it was actually a couple of days later that when the water actually rose. It wasn’t about til three or four days later til the water actually came up and floods started to happen. 

RB: Do you guys believe that you will be better prepared if this were to happen again because you went through this? 

KB: Yes and no. Prior to me starting this company there were plenty of storms so I’m sure they have dealt with this before and I’m sure they will deal with them when I am gone but it’s mother nature. 

RB: Today, do you have any news sources that you trust or do not really listen to the news? 

KB: I still listen to the news, it is hard nowadays with social media. You get a lot of quicker info than the news sometimes so maybe with that it might change things a little bit. 

RB: If Hurricane Sandy happened today do you think the media would have an effect on it in reaching more people or do you think it was just the same? 

KB: I think it would be the same but like I said with social media people are on that more so than the news so that would be the outlet. 

RB: Thank you for your time. 

Related Stories: 

https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/13/world/americas/hurricane-sandy-fast-facts/index.html

This article discusses some quick facts and background information about Hurricane Sandy. It touches on the destruction that came from the storm and what people went through days afterwards. The article also gives us a detailed timeline of the events of the hurricane and describes where it hit and what was the aftermath. The article not only touches on the coming weeks after the storm but also a year or two later explaining how the rebuilding process is going along. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-20193482 

This article talks about several stories from different parts of New York and New Jersey. Each story goes into depth about what happened and the aftermath and devastation. It also includes real time photos that capture the damage done by the storm. New York and New Jersey talked about in the article were hit the worst and suffered most the damage and devastation.