Interview with Angelita Liaguno-Dorr, March 22, 2013

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Today's date is March 22, 2013; it's about 11:45 a.m. I am at Jakeabob's Off The Bay with Angelita Liaguno-Dorr. And this is Brittany Le Strange and I'm going to start the interview. So how old are you?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Forty-nine.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Okay, and how long have you had the business in Union Beach?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I've had two businesses in Union Beach. The first one was in 1989 called Pluggy's Place, it was a deli and then I had one location on Union Ave[nue]. I went further up the street to Front Street and then I went across when we bought the restaurant in '99, so in town since '89.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Okay. What did you think of the neighborhood?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I love the neighborhood, it's a small close-knit community, always, it's great.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: And you like living in New Jersey?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I love living in New Jersey.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Is your family involved with everything as well?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Um-hm, Jakeabob's name--Pluggy's Place was, Pluggy's was named after--my father's nickname was Pluggy. He passed away April 4, 1989 and we opened the deli in June of '89, and Pluggy was his nickname, so Pluggy was the name of the deli. Jakeabob's, I have two boys, Bobby and Jake. So very family oriented.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: And, what do you like about living in New Jersey, like what attracts you to the area?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I lived in Florida also. I like seasons, I like the four seasons. I think it's because I grew up with it, so it's something I was used to. When I lived in Florida, the warm weather was very nice, but you know Christmas lights on palm trees, just it was kind of weird. It's just what I'm used to.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Understandable. When you go to the shore, what shore do you usually go to?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I stay here.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: You stay here?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Um-hm.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: What is your view on The Jersey Shore, the show?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I don't think that honestly depicts the true--I mean there is a sector that, that is the younger crowd. I'm forty-nine, so that's really not my--that's not how I think it is. Maybe if I was twenty, it would be where I would be at, but you know, it's okay. It takes all kinds of different people to make it go around, so that's okay.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: And how are you involved in the community, besides being a business owner?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Well since the storm, I was one of the ones who spearheaded the pantry center and the donation center up at Borough Hall. My objective was to really just try to help as many as we could because everybody was--so many have been misplaced. So many, you know, just need direction and 00:03:00guidance and help. So hope, help, you only get--.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: (clattering in background) Were you involved with anything before the store, like community events and things like that?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Minimal, I would a lot of donating. We would do fundraisers at the restaurant, I would do a lot of donation stuff. As far as hands on, in the community, not so much. Work was really--we were busy, you know, summertime we were very, very busy. So I didn't have much time.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Okay. When did you first hear the storm was coming?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I'm going to say it was a week, I couldn't give you the day, or the date, but I'm going to say it was a week prior to the storm, and I remember seeing, we called it spaghetti strings, because they kept doing like different paths, like if it comes this way, or if it comes, you know, makes a right, if hooks out or what ever. So I'm going to say a week prior.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Okay and what were your first thoughts about it?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: At first I dismissed it. It's like we're fine and in fact Wally was the one who said to me, "Oh, I don't like how this looks." And I said it's fine, we're fine. But then as the week kept going, it kept getting closer. I was like this is something, like you knew it was going to be--

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Right. And what did you expect?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Honestly I was hoping that we would have the same about of damage, if we had to have critical damage, as much damage as we had in 2010. In 2010 there was a nor'easter that came in on March thirteenth. That wiped me out for five months. Blew out the back wall, the floors came up, we really gutted everything inside because we kept finding different issues, so I was hoping it would be that. It was much worse, though.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: And what did you do to prepare?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: We sandbagged everything, we lifted everything, we took 00:05:00everything off the--we moved, we lifted, like everything was on top of the bar, my office stuff was on milk crates. We took everything off, you know four feet below, it was, everything was up.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: What about like after the storm, how was--or before the storm, like the availability of supplies, to get things?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Before the storm it was okay.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Do you believe you had adequate warning?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Yes.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: What did you make of Governor Christie's warnings?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: (drilling sounds in background) I love his--I love how he is spunky. I think he--I think he calls it, I think he calls it, the way a Jerseyan, quote-unquote, would call it. I like how he's just no muss, no fuss. I 00:06:00like him.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Okay, were there evacuation warnings in this area, and how did you respond?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: We were mandatory evacuation, and we left.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Take me through the day of the storm. Where were you the first signs--?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Sunday we kept coming back and forth. We left town and we came back in, we were waiting for high tide to see how high it was. On Monday, let me see, Monday afternoon, probably around three. Between twelve and three, we came in. The water was ugly, it was angry. I kept saying, The bay is angry. We have pictures of the waves crashing over, it was, you know, it was windy, it was just ugly. We left at three o'clock. We could see like the water, it just 00:07:00kept coming in and coming in, it was just not so good. So we decided that we would come back after high tide so we made it into town, 11:30 at night, and we sat. And I remember calling in, because I'm friends with the police officers, and I was like, Can we get down there? And they said, We don't know if we could get you down there. At that time the water was really high. And then they said it's--I remember Timmy saying to me, "I've never seen anything like this in my life," and I could hear his voice. So I said to Ronald, "We need to go." So we figured out how to get here, and even driving here, like all the power was out. And I remember seeing all the power lines, I kept seeing like these green like--it was the transformers blowing. Like the night was illuminating with this green. We finally, we got here, and we were driving over trees, and that really 00:08:00wasn't so bad coming in. We sat at Borough [Hall], at headquarters from 11:30 to 2:30 in the morning and I asked twice, Is the building still there? And they kept saying, We don't know; you know, the water was so high we can't get down. At 2:30 somebody had come in and said that we can get down to the beachfront so I was like, Can we go now? And they took us down and when we turned--driving into town from Borough [Hall], we were driving over couches, toilets, dressers, trees, hot water heaters, I mean it was like, I was like, What is this? Like I honestly didn't understand like what--it was just a mess, it was like there was cinder blocks, there was parts of buildings, there was doors, I mean it was just everywhere. It was--it looked like the town blew up. And then when we finally got to Front Street to turn, now again it's 2:30, three o'clock in the morning, it's dark. (Deniece Williams, "Let's Hear It for the Boy" plays in background) 00:09:00Chucky had the light on the side of the car so he would flash it over to the buildings and our building had a teal top. And I saw the teal, so I was like, Oh, the building's still there. But then when he went to the back, there was another building that was completely gone. So my hopes of the wall not being there, there were no walls there, there were no walls, there was no roof, there was nothing. I was like, Oh my God. And then I could hear, there was a gas truck there and I heard this (hisses) and I was like, What is--? Mom was like, That's the gas. And they were trying to turn off the gas because all the pipes were busted. It was a mess. So we decided to go home. I said, "Well we'll come back at daybreak," because you really couldn't see. So we went home and I just waited for the sun to come up and then we came back and it really got ugly.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: What did you do for--you said you were here for most of the night--what did you do for dinner that night? Did you eat?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I don't know. (laughs) I don't know. Wow, I have to think 00:10:00about that. I'm going to say no. Pizza, maybe. I'm thinking it was pizza.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: And you said you had gotten most of the information from the police station and all the people.

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: You know what, when we were at headquarters, I remember the one thing that still gives me the chills is the dispatcher was saying we--because as I sat there, I mean I didn't say anything. I was just sitting in the corner quietly. I kept hearing all the calls coming in. You know, this structure fell, people were stuck in their attics. People we stuck on their rooftops. There was one call that somebody said that their neighbor was floating on their roof, they don't know if they went out to sea. There was calls of fire structures that they couldn't get to. So you know as I sat there, as I sat there for three hours, like all these things you're hearing, so you're envisioning 00:11:00what they're saying and then you think, And what is going on? And once I actually went down and then I saw what was going on, I was like, Oh my god. And then we got to Brooke Avenue, which was--there was nothing. Front Street, nothing. It's--you know.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: When did you finally go to sleep?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I don't think I've slept yet. I don't think I've had a good night sleep yet.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: When did the immediate storm end?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: We're still in it. We're still in it.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: What was going through your head when you--if you did sleep, but you said you didn't--the next day, when you finally got up and were able to do something?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I kept thinking I needed to get to Borough [Hall]. For some reason, for some reason I just felt like I needed to be here. And I remember again in headquarters for me I just knew that it was something, it was something big, like something--they needed help. So I remember talking to Mike 00:12:00Harriott, who was the OEM, and I said to him, "What do you want me to do? What do you want me to do?" I remember him saying, "There's clothes coming, you can fold clothes." And I'm like, "No, no, no, I'm not going to fold clothes." I just knew that it was, What else do you want me to do? And he says, "I'm going to go speak with the borough administrator," which at the time I didn't even know her. And I said, "Well, I'm coming with you." So I went with him and then he was pulling out papers and you know, this person was donating food, this person was donating food. Then he said, "I have a church in Holmdel, Gateway Church of Christ, this guy's name is Carl [Williamson], he's coming with a tractor-trailer full of supplies on Friday." I said, "Okay, so I'll meet Carl," and that's how the pantry donation center began with Mike Harriott giving me Carl's number, Carl's name, and then Carl coming on Friday. (Fergie, "Big Girls Don't Cry" plays in background) It was the first tractor-trailer they brought in, was ninety thousand dollars worth of cleaning supplies, non-perishables, food, it 00:13:00was blankets and pillows. So that was the beginning. And now we've duped ourselves, the pastor and the bar owner.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Obviously you've suffered plenty of damages. Can you describe the mood of the community on that day?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I'm going to say shock. I'm going to say everybody was numb, everybody was in disbelief, I guess is a better--and now I think everybody is, we're coping as best as we can. I believe that people still need to hold on to that hope, that we'll be able to figure this out. I have often said, you know, this is the Northeast, like, we're a tough crowd. You know, we need to press forward and just continue and move.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: What would you say was your breaking point, like to come out of the shock? Like what made you finally realize, Oh wow, this happened?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I don't know. Oh wow, this happened to us? Or, Oh wow this happened to me?

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: To you.

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I think it was the realization that that building was not there. There was no salvaging that building. There was, you know, knowing that it had to come down. When that was, I don't know. I had somebody ask me, you know, would it have been easier if we came in the beginning and there was no building? Or was it easier that the building was still there and we were able 00:15:00to--which was easier? And I said for me, I thought it was definitely harder for the people who came back to where their house was and there was nothing there. At least I was able to--mine was rubble, but at least I got to grieve over my rubble and look at my rubble, so it's almost, it's a death. It's either a quick death or its a long, drawn out. I was the long, drawn out.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: How did you manage to get in touch with people throughout the first few weeks with the cell phone coverage being horrible?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I still do not have a not-so-smart phone. When we were at Borough [Hall], we had a lot of our employers who worked with me, came to Borough and helped organize and do the donation center, and a lot of them somehow--I mean they're young kids, they figured this out, I'm sure you can figure it out, too. We did everything on Facebook. How they did it? I couldn't 00:16:00even tell you. But they did it.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: And you have Verizon?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I have Verizon. Not-so-smart smart phone. (laughs) So I have to go home at night and check my e-mail.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: You said you were out, at home, without power for a few weeks?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Two weeks.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Two weeks? How did you deal with your day-to-day necessities and everything at home, while also dealing with everything here in Union Beach?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Well, what happened, what transpired at the house, we had fifteen extra people at our home. So I came, I removed myself from the house--not completely, but I focused on coming here. That was my job. Everybody assumed different positions and things that, you know, chores that they need to do at home. I remember on one day, it was a Thursday, I don't remember what Thursday it was. We drove to--because that's when the gas lines were long, it was three hours, it was that odd or even thing. So we packed up the truck and we 00:17:00drove three hours to Pennsylvania to get gas, because I said I'd rather, just to kind of, you know, just to kind of remove ourselves from everything around here. And we were able to walk into Walmart and just, no lines, no--we got gas tanks, gas cans, we filled them. And then we drove home. So it was, you know, a full eight-hour day, but it was good for us. We kind of just needed to--

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Take a breather?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Take a breather, exactly.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: And so you did stay at home, then, during the whole thing?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Um-hm.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: When did the stores start opening again, do you believe?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I don't remember. I don't remember.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: What would you say about mail service? Did you receive mail during this time?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: We did. They kept on going. So they're true to their 00:18:00word. Snow, sleet, superstorm, whatever. Yeah, they were good, mail was good.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: How did you start your cleanup of Jakeabob's?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: We walked around town. We had different people telling us where our things were. We had our pretzel machine on Dock Street. We had parts of our deck eight streets in, four streets over. So we drove around, we walked around, and we tried to find what we could. Some of it we never found. Never found anything of my office, except for my filing cabinet. Which was in my office, we found it underneath everything in the building. It took us seven hours to get to it, but-- (vacuum in background)

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Do you want to take a minute?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Yes.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Who did you look to for support or help during this time?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I think my blessing was Carl, the pastor from Holmdel, from Gateway Church of Christ. He was definitely my spiritual leader. And him was the most and I believe just the community in general. We were able to--I found strength in everybody else. Want me to close those doors? (crying)

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Yeah, actually.

(Liaguno-Dorr closes doors)

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Okay, how did you deal with like insurance companies and FEMA?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Ugh, insurance. From the last storm, from 2010, I knew 00:20:00that I had to get a public adjuster. I would never ever, ever, ever, ever walk a step without one. The insurance, it's an issue. FEMA, I think they're just overwhelmed, they have too much going on. So we were resolved with our flood insurance, but our wind is still fighting, and our business interruption is still fighting. Now we're five months in. That's a long time. That's a long time.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: How do you believe the community coped? Do you believe the response was positive or negative afterwards?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I believe the response, hands-down, positive. I believe everybody, for the most part, they're trying to make the best of the situation. And you know what? (Belinda Carlisle, "Mad About You" plays in background) After 00:21:00five months you know there's, you know, people are--you know, now the tension is starting to rise because they just want answers. And I kept saying from the very beginning, the very beginning, like anything, What's the plan? There should have been a plan from FEMA, there should've been an outline of what needed to be done for disaster, for the municipality, for the police station, for the fire department, for the first aid, for the mayor and council. We're not the first disaster, we're certainly not going to be the last. I think something needs to be done within FEMA. That even if it's something as simple as a binder, this is what you follow, and this is what you do. This is for, you know, the mayor, the borough clerk does this, the chief of police does this, the fire department does this. Just to give you some kind of outline, because when you're in it and there's so much going on, you need guidance.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Did you feel safe in the community afterwards with looting and everything going on?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I felt safe. I felt that there was a strong presence of the police. They're still here. The National Guard was here for a while, I think the first six or seven weeks. The streets were shut down, you couldn't get in. I felt--actually, you know what? In the beginning when we couldn't get into Jakeabob's, when it was--we could get in, you just had to get escorted in. You had to prove that you were a resident there or a business owner. So I actually felt better when they were there. Because I felt like there was a protection. Once they left it actually bothered me that I could get in so easily. I kind of like, it was almost like a protection, you couldn't get there. Out of sight, out of mind. But I felt protected.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: What was your interaction with emergency personnel, besides 00:23:00sitting in the Borough Hall?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: We did a lot. It was, you know, we were always in touch with the fire department, everybody just kind of--I've said to our communities, We're now one big family. The community, kind of we all worked together. So it was just everybody helping each other. Whether it was the fire, the first aid, the police, we were all just kind of--

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: What about the religious community? I know you said you had the pastor from Holmdel.

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Yeah, Carl from Gateway. He's been great, he's still doing really amazing stuff. The Gateway Church of Christ disaster relief, they've gotten over a million dollars worth of products into this town. They're the ones who helped get the appliances and building supplies and furniture, so they've done a lot of good stuff, so you know it's--

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Did you yourself get any aid from government, community, or anything like that?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I have gotten paper towels, you know, minimal stuff. Government, we're still--you know, nothing from, you know, FEMA's just--.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: How long was school out in the area?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Well, they're still not in their school. The grammar school is still not here, they're all over.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Okay, and you, how did you contribute besides your time? You said you also opened your home to fifteen people?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Fifteen people were living in my home. There was just, I mean, I really was just here. We cooked, we were at Borough [Hall] and did what ever we had to do at Borough [Hall].

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: How extensive were your losses?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Completely, completely gone. I don't have a business 00:25:00left. Like I said, this is our temporary location. I keep saying Jakeabob's Bay is in the bay. Everybody says, Why are you calling it Jakeabob's Off the Bay? I say, because Jakeabob's Bay is in the bay. It was blown away there's nothing left.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: So you are planning to rebuild then?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I'm going to try. I'm still waiting on insurance, though. So I have to see what the difference is for how much it's going to cost and then what the actual insurance company is going to give.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: And are you renting here, or--?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Yes.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: How did you feel about the response of the government and FEMA, insurance, and the governor and everything like that, all the organizations?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: My biggest gripe is the insurance. I think that they have 00:26:00to be able to get a faster response, faster help to these people. Like again, we're five months and I'm still waiting to hear on two different ones, and I have an adjuster, I have a public adjuster. So I mean some people are still waiting on flood, don't know, it's just crazy. That part of it is, that's frustrating. I think the insurance and not having that, like we survived the storm, but now we're like, you protect yourself but you don't--.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Do you feel like New Jersey itself prepared adequately?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I don't honestly know that. I honestly don't know that you can prepare with this magnitude. You know, this was so big. This was, you know, can you prepare for a hurricane and, you know, winds and sand and rain 00:27:00and--yeah you can do that, but when you have something that comes in and wipes you out? Like, it didn't matter how much sandbags we put up. It didn't matter how high we went up. It didn't matter, you know, if I could've removed my building and gone someplace, then I would've prepared adequately. You know somebody had somebody in the insurance say to them, "Did you take your stuff?" I said, "Take my stuff?" I said, "I took a couple TVs. I didn't take anything." You know, I didn't--I said, "We lifted, we, you know, we prepared. We kept everything in that building." I needed to take everything out of the building. As, you know, a lot of the people who, with their content, you know, if you would've known that it would've been, you know, submerged in water or washed away, you would've taken it.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: What do you think could've been done differently?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I think that outline from, like I talked about, that binder from FEMA. From a federal level. Like, just give us, give towns of disaster areas, like guidelines.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Do you think there's anyone to blame, or was it just a freak occurrence?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: The only thing I've--I don't want to finger point, because this is, you know, it's Mother Nature. So is it because it's--is it the weather that's changing? What caused the weather? You know what came first, the chicken or the egg? Like what, you know, how do you go there? The only thing I can say again is, I wish that we would've been able to be more prepared as a community and I think it needed to come from a federal level. I think that, like again, I keep going to those binders. Like some kind of organization just to help guide, because there's still many things that we, you know, we don't know. We're still asking questions about, now we're asking questions about grants. Who is going to get the grant? How do you get the grant? So, it's almost like it needs to be, I think, like you need to have somebody on the federal level who is 00:29:00completely like OCD to the max with organization. That's what--in my opinion, that's what I think is needed.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: How did you feel about the media coverage? Did you believe it was accurate, and did you feel represented?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Definitely. I thought the media coverage was good. I also feel that, I know that the local Channel 12, which I really think--maybe because it's local too, that they've done it. Like they'll do, This is day 141; this is day 144. Like they keep reporting on the days. So it's almost like, remember the hostage--you're too young. It was like, you know, it was like four hundred and whatever how many days they were kept in hostage, because its still very real. It's still very--and there's many people who don't have their homes or many people who, you know, were displaced. So it's still, I think it still needs to 00:30:00be covered a little bit more.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: What did you think about Obama and Christie, their response?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: In the beginning I thought it was great. I thought it was, you know, if we're going to erase those political lines and just kind of get together and figure this out. I would love to see more of that.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Has this whole experience changed your opinion of Governor Christie?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: No.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Okay. How did you feel about the response of the rest of the country?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I think, from what I've seen at Borough [Hall] with the donations that have come from everywhere, I think it's heartwarming. I think if more people saw, though, exactly how we are here--like if they're not in it, 00:31:00they don't know. And as we are, I am guilty of not knowing how it was--like you heard about Katrina, you heard how bad it was, but we weren't in it. So you don't really see it. When you're in it, you're just like--when you drive by, you're like, What is going on here? Now when you drive by and you see, now there's just empty lots and piles of, you know, homes, and just piles, and then you're just like, Okay, wait a minute, there's something. You know, even if you drive by and say, Well there was a house there, there was a building there, there was a business over here and there's a--. It's flat canvas. Now you kind of see the devastation.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: How has it shaped any environmental issues, do you believe?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I haven't thought about that.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Okay.

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I have thought about what is going on in that water. Like what's environmentally, what's all the stuff that was in, that's in the bay, like what's in there now?

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Right.

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I think I'm more concerned with getting people back into 00:32:00their homes.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: When do get a chance to rebuild, do you believe you're going to raise the building--

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Have to.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: --or take any precautions? Have to?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Have to. Or you're going to pay, you know, out of your kazoom for insurance.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Do have an idea of how high they're going to tell you to raise?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Nineteen.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Nineteen feet?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Nineteen feet. My pilings, like if you look, the piling out there is twelve, so it's got to be another seven.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Oh wow.

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: (laughs) We're going to catapult into the building.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: I know, it's obvious you're not completely back to normal. But does anything feel like it's back to normal? Or does everything still feel like chaotic?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: It's definitely still chaotic. Doing this temporary business kind of has helped me get a little bit of normal feedback. I haven't worked. I haven't worked since October--well, the beginning of November. So for somebody who worked, you know, a hundred hours a week till now. You know, that's why I was good at the Borough [Hall] because I just focused up there.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Right. Any changes to daily life now? Obviously you come here instead, anything else?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: That's it.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: That's it? Any changes of your outlook on the community?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: I think we're better.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Okay.

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: For as much destruction as we had, I think we're closer. I think it's more like--I've said it before. I think that God hit that reset button and it was, you know, kind of like--.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Any changes to your political views? Or your vote in the election?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: No.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Did you actually get to vote?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: No.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: No? What would you want to tell your children or your grandchildren about this experience?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: That my faith in human compassion has been restored.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: And if you wanted to give a message about the storm in general, what would it be?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Hold on.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: What do you believe the legacy of the storm would be?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Oof, the legacy? I think that's still in development. I would hope that the legacy would be, we got our asses kicked, and we picked ourselves up, and we went and we pressed forward. I still think we're in the process of picking ourself up.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: And now I have a question about the doors. How did you come--obviously this temporary of all the doors from different houses throughout Union Beach. How did you come up with that idea?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: One day I was sitting, one evening I was sitting at home with my manager, who is still in our basement with her daughter and her parents. My last name is Dorr, so I kept thinking Pluggy's Place was the first business, 00:35:00and it was Pluggy's Place and our LLC was The Dorr's Open. So I was trying to figure out how to incorporate Dorr into the name of this business. And then I went, "Oh, wait a minute," and she was like, "What?" I was like, "We'll go and we'll get doors." She said, "What do you mean we'll get doors?" And I said, "Everyone is throwing away their doors." So we went around and we knocked on homes we, everyone was throwing them out so we would knock doors of homes and say, I have a project, can we use your door? We're going to make tables. We're going to restore them. And then it went to dividers and then we went to--just kept on going.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Do you believe, when you finally get back on the bay, are the doors coming with you?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: Yup. They're all coming with me.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Is there anything I missed, anything you wanted to have known?

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: No. The most important thing I think is--like that binder, like I keep thinking--it's simplest terms of like, we needed to have and 00:36:00still need to have just some major OCD person who just wants to like, put it all--like when you do a business, you have to have a business plan. You have to have, if there's agencies that do this, you know, this is what they do, is disaster, then help us figure it out because when it hits, you really, you know, you're disrupted, the borough is disrupted. So you need to be able to be organized from the top. They're the top. So bring it down. It's like when I'm the business, I'm the top. So when something goes wrong they look to me. I have to be able to tell them what to do. That's what was missing here.

BRITTANY LE STRANGE: Okay. Well that concludes the interview. Thank you very much.

ANGELITA LIAGUNO-DORR: You're very welcome. Thank you, I hope it helps you.

end of interview