Hurricane Sandy
Help us fix the damaged hearts from this devastation
Perspective: First Hand Encounters
Never Saw It Coming
“There are mass evacuations taking place in low lying areas…” I heard on CNN
“The entire transit system of New York City and New Jersey will start shutting down…” I heard on NY1
“Bloomberg is preparing the city for unseen damages, possibly totaling $10 billion…” I heard on Fox News
I on the other hand expected this storm to be rain and just that. When Hurricane Irene was brewing up near North Carolina last year, everyone was afraid for catastrophe and although it affected some smaller states, it didn’t have much of an effect on New York City. I figured that if Hurricane Sandy was only a Category 1 hurricane, it would be nothing to Hurricane Irene.
What was supposed to be a 30 minute ride to the supermarket ended up being a 3 hour disappointment. I was supposed to just run some errands at two nearby stores but faced the problem of finding parking, finding a cart, and getting through interminable lines. Never in my life had I seen so many people at these stores. Everyone was gearing up for a strong storm, yet I still convinced myself that it would be minor.
2 days later.
“They are estimating $20 billion dollars worth of damage…” said CNN
“Hurricane fires have burned down 80 to 100 houses…” said NY1
“In it’s 108 years, the MTA has never seen a storm like this…” said the Governor
I was shocked that a storm I expected to be mere drizzles had such a catastrophic effect. For the first time in history, the New York Stock Exchange was closed for 3 days, due to weather conditions. I spent all of Tuesday just sitting on my laptop looking at the debris this storm left behind. I had never seen New York so vulnerable before, with the entire city shut down. It really taught me the reality of how strong nature can be.
Hurricane Sandy
A hurricane? It shouldn’t be too bad. I’ll stay in my dorm for the weekend, it won’t be a big deal. Growing up in a neighborhood like Fresh Meadows, I’ve never seen anything happen because of these hurricanes. The worst that’d happen were a few trees here and there being knocked over, but even then, there were no damages.
I guess that was an understatement. Even though I had doubts, I went to the grocery store early Sunday evening, picked up some food, and waited about half an hour in line. When I got back to my dorm, I packed my duffle back with a few bottles of water, some chips and cookies, and a flashlight. School was already closed and I was ready to sleep in to catch up on all the hours I lost from staying up late the week before. I had a few papers that were postponed due to the hurricane so everything was grand and dandy. The dark clouds started rolling in and the winds started picking up. Even through my headphones and the sounds of my friends joking and laughing in our video chat, I heard the wind howling and slapping against my thin dorm windows. The windows were closed but the windows were shaking and blinds were dancing. I decided to go to bed to avoid how scary Sandy seemed to be.
The next morning, I looked out the window. The trees had dressed the streets and the top of cars with their leaves. I was surprised none of them had fallen, considering how fragile they normally seem. The skies were gray and everything was quiet. I thought that it wasn’t such a bad storm until I turned on the TV and checked my phone. The news showed a ton of different places that were strongly affected by the storm. A bunch of my friends had texted me saying they lost power and had to evacuate their homes. I got a text message from my brother telling me a few trees had fallen into our yard. My building was fortunate enough to still have power and hot water. With the subway completely shut down and suspended, I had nothing to do but snuggle in bed and watch movies on my laptop.
School turned out to be closed for the rest of the week. I was a little frustrated; if I had known, I would have gone home as soon as possible. I decided to go home on Thursday night and what usually took me a little over an hour to get home, it took me three full hours because of train problems. When I finally did get home, I found a little welcome-home-surprise.
A Taste Of The Past
It is amazing how our society is entirely rooted on technology that requires the constant influx of electricity. I did not realize how vital electricity was until hurricane sandy hit. In a blink of an eye, my lights turned off. Television, computers, microwaves, and my alarm clock all became obsolete.
I walked around my house to access the powerless appliances lying around my house. Pacing back and forth, I was hoping that it would only be a sudden power outage. Five minutes passed and nothing came back. I decided to take nap thinking maybe after an hour or two it would be back. After two hours, the power was still out. I was not prepared for this.
However, my parents were prepared and had bought candles, flashlights and food. Things became interesting when I became bored. Sitting around with nothing to do, I realized that in the past there was not any electricity. Without electricity, we were essentially sent back to a time when things were simpler.
I quickly realized that our society is incredibly fast paced and information if constantly being spread. Everything changed on this one night. For the first time, I did not feel that 24 hours was too little time in a day. I used my time to talk with my parents and sleep. I felt relaxed and free of stress as I felt like I had all the time in the world.
Looking outside of my house, the neighborhood was pitch black. Cars were nowhere to be seen. It truly felt like my neighborhood had been sent back to a simpler time.