New Yorker stuck in Wisconsin, separated from family

By Tom Murray

CREATED Oct. 31, 2012

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PORTAGE- Jay Langkamp is supposed to be back home in New York, instead he's sitting on his brother's couch in Portage, Wisconsin talking to TODAY'S TMJ4 reporter Tom Murray.
 
"I found out my grandmother had died, so I had to fly out here.  My wife and two kids had to stay in New York to weather the storm," Langkamp said.
 
Jay is a public school teacher in New York.  He lives on City Island in the Bronx with his family.  Jay's house on the bay is boarded up.
 
"We live right on the water.  So we knew that when the water rose, it would probably come into our house," he said.  "Half the island we live on, which is City Island, lost power.  If you lose power, your pumps stop.  Our house didn't."
 
Internet in Jay's neighborhood is down, but he was able to get a shaky cell phone video connection with his wife and two teenage children.  They evacuated to higher ground during the storm's peak.
 
"We got off the island during the hurricane and were glued to the TV, hoping that our house was still standing when we got back," Jay's wife said.
 
There is minimal damage to their home.  A backyard shed was washed away.
 
Jay is supposed to fly AirTran from Milwaukee to LaGuardia, but that airport's been flooded and closed.  AirTran does not fly to the other two New York area airports.
 
"There aren't that many empty seats to begin with," he said.
 
A statement on AirTran's website reads, "We have suspended service to/from New York LaGuardia (LGA), and resumption of service will be contingent upon the condition of the runways, taxiways, and airport services."
 
Jay may hitch a ride with someone who is driving to New York if his airline luck does not change soon.