N.J. Hurricane Sandy survivor wrote letter pleading with God

BY JANE WOODRUFF

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

At the height of the hurricane, a man in Ocean County took refuge in a neighbor’s unoccupied home. Alone, soaking wet and in the dark, he feared he would not make it, and wrote a desperate farewell note, which you can read read here, on NYDailynews.com.
 In the letter he identifies himself as Mike, with no last name. Mike wrote his note in total darkness, and addressed the homeowner, saying that he had been run out of his house by rising water, and had taken some blankets and a jacket to keep warm. Thinking that he wouldn’t survive, he asked the reader to call his father, Tony, and provided the phone number.

     Mike did make it. When his note was found, a local radio station, 92.7 WOBM, called the number for Tony, and eventually tracked down Mike. They spoke with him, and here you can read the transcript of their conversation.
Mike describes staying in his home, which was on the bay in Toms River, despite rising waters of four feet coming into his house. He eventually leaves the house, gets carried away by the current and manages to keep afloat or swim in waters that were sometimes ten feet deep. After being washed out into the bay, he was able to make his way back to a home near his own which had not flooded. By this time he believed he was suffering from hypothermia, and might die.
         He was rescued by a man in a wave runner and taken to that person’s home where he was able to get warm and safe.
Mike is fine now, but says that he was in the dark for so long, with 15 foot waves crashing over him, that he is now terrified of the dark. His ability to survive, though, and to pen that note to his family, has moved many people, and the story has been circulating on social media. As he put it, “You know, I wasn’t a baby about it. I tried, I did my thing.”