I'm in Bucks County, PA, and this time I got whacked pretty hard by the storm (literally and figuratively).

SUNDAY OCTOBER 28
13:00 - Prepping for storm, basically getting stuff I already had in place.
13:30 - My son seems to be developing a rash on his face. My wife decided to monitor.
20:30 - The rash gets annoying, incredibly, we're out of Benedryl. I drive to far away store that's open and buy more.

MONDAY OCTOBER 29
08:00 - My son awakes, his face severely swollen, throat in pain, breathing difficult. I am in town getting early preps for hurricane done with township. Wife takes kid to ER.

13:00 - Storm starting, winds strong, wife returns home with son, three prescriptions, an epi pen and no clear reason why my son is having a severe allergic reaction.

18:00 - Winds gusty, rains blowing, light branches coming down.

20:30 - Winds seem just gusty, not as severe as expected. Send daughters to their room, they get in their bunk bed. After a few minutes, I hear wind getting stronger and stronger, I yell to girls to retreat to basement, which is previously set up for spending the night in the laundry room, the most secure and storm proof part of the house. As children's feet touch stairs to basement, there is a huge crash, the power transformer out on the road explodes, and our house rattles so hard the pictures shake off the walls. I peer into my daughter's room and there's a large tree limb through the ceiling directly where their bunk bed ladder was, as well as extensive other damage. Rain is flowing into the room. My son's room is also damaged similarly. We stay in the basement, additional trees fall.

21:00 - All roads in my township are blocked by fallen trees. I am able to update our county information desk via a laptop tethered to my iPhone.

23:00 - A fire breaks out in a home in an adjoining township. Crews are unable to reach the home, despite being able to see the house burning. They are cutting trees as fast as they can to get near enough to the scene. It burns to the ground. No injuries are reported.

OCTOBER 30
01:00 Wind is slowing, but still strong. Wife and I take steps to try to reduce water damage to contents of room. We move most contents to other parts of the house.

02:30 I notice that my Bucks County emergency radio is no longer working - the radio is fine, it's clear that the radio system itself has failed.

02:35 AT&T Cell Service fails completely (turns out to be related to Bucks County radio system failing due to loss of T1 line to the tower). Verizon still operational, but with limited signal quality. I fall asleep.

07:30 I awake to asses the damage. There is a very large tree down into my house, other large trees are down on my property. There are 5 trees across my road directly in front of my property. The transformer has burst and there's oil all over my driveway. There is no access in either direction from my house, with dozens of trees and wires down. There are no working communications of any kind - all cell service and emergency radio systems are down. There are no working landlines.

08:30 I decide it's time to at least try to get a tarp over the roof, and so I proceed to the roof with a chainsaw and begin to slowly cut up branches.

08:45 Verizon Cell Service is operational again.

09:00 As I am cutting a large limb (6" diameter), I am unaware that the part I expected to remain on the roof has just slid down perpendicular to the gutter and then rotated, causing the end of the limb to strike me in the right rear of the head. I feel what I perceive to be a severe electric shock, lose consciousness and fall off the roof, landing squarely on my hip on a basketball sized rock. I awake quickly, and am ambulatory, however, I have severe blurring of vision in my left eye and am seeing "floaters" and other distortions. Nausea sets in and I realize that I am at immediate risk from possible intra-cranial trauma. I call my counterpart in the emergency management office and tell him I need an ambulance. The roads are impassable. Using only cell phones and person-to-person communications, word is spread that access to my home is needed, and members of Bucks County Station 42, 48, 49 and 47 literally cut their way as close as the possibly can to my home, and, at 0940, the medic crew walks the last 1,000 feet that are simply impassable over the road. They strap me to a backboard and since I know them, and I'm conscious, and I have strapped many a patient to a backboard with these folks, the banter is easy and factual. I need a level 2 trauma center, due to the mode of injury, but there's no way to get me to one. My neighbor's pickup truck is called into service and they drive me off-road through yards to get back to the ambulance and I go to a "regular" hospital. I've gone on long enough, but to summarize, my head is harder than even I knew, my hip is a horror to behold - but not broken and I found a few other dents and scratches after I got home from the hospital.

I rest.

October 31: I have a concussion, short-term memory and confusion are issues, plus now I realize just how badly I hurt my hip. My job as Emergency Management Coordinator is, fortunately, made easier by the fact that despite the huge winds and tree damage, there is actually minimal damage to the area- in fact, my home is the worst hit of all that we are aware of. Roads are still mostly impassible, communications are poor, but for the most part, things aren't that bad.

1 November: I'm feeling well enough to resume ordinary duties as Emergency Management Coordinator, but more slowly. My yard cleanup and house cleanup is a wonder of friends, community and strangers - at one point there are over 30 people in my yard cutting up the ash tree that hit my house as well as the others that fell. I have what appears to be 12-14 cords of firewood, we're splitting and stacking every day for a few hours.

2 November: Power is still out, but people are very well equipped. The American Red Cross has a shelter operation at the high school and we have been going there for hot showers in the evening.

My own prep plans were sufficient in most every way - and having a rotating stock of gasoline - a miserable monthly chore I've put up with for years - has been tremendously beneficial this time. The only thing I could have done differently was to not have the huge trees near my house - an issue that has at least be partially solved by this storm, and will be solved as soon as possible, as I'm having the remaining 6 large trees cut down.

EDIT: ADDENDUM
I realize that this post does not thank the members of this forum for the years and years of great advice that changed how I think and prepare. Some specific things that I was ready for because I what I learned here.

- I didn't actually need anything I didn't already have in a dedicated cache for emergencies (except the benedryl)- tarps, fuels, batteries, everything - it was all in the place where I had put it, clearly labeled and quarantined from day-to-day supplies.

- My aversion to cash was argued out of me here in this forum, and when the hardware store opened up with a big sign that said "Cash Only" and all the ATM's were off and/or empty, I was able to buy a few items I wanted (but didn't really need).

- I once read here that when the Red Cross and other do arrive, it will be three days later, with more stuff than you can imagine - and that's 100% true. But those first three days...you're not quite on your own, you're only as ready as the people around you.

Finally, I learned that what you give is what you get is the single most true thing ever spoken. I have given of my time and energy in emergency services and planning over the years because, quite frankly, I like it, and when others thank me for what I do, to me it's like being thanked for enjoying a good meal - who wouldn't like doing this? When it was my turn to be the one needing help, I realized how important giving in the past can be to needing in the now.