Hurricane Sandy
To me, hurricanes always sound like something that occur in the Caribbean only. Great big palm and coconut trees would sway in heavy winds and torrential rains while huge gray waves hit the sandy shores mercilessly. Or hurricanes were swirling white clouds we looked down at as they knocked around the Gulf of Mexico like a pinball in a pinball machine.
This comes from my earliest memories of weatherpeople predicting the weather on channel 11 (WPIX) or channel 4 (WNBC). Hurricanes don't sound like something that hit New York City. We're not sunny here or tropical or Caribbean. We get snowstorms and rain, not hurricanes.
Of course none of my perception about hurricanes is based in any kind of science as you've probably realized by now. I remember Hurricane Irene being a joke though I could swear I smelled the ocean and sand when it brought rain and a refreshing spring like breeze to Upstate New York.
Hurricane Sandy, on the other hand, was scary. We made sure to gather supplies like water and batteries beforehand but none of us thought this storm would be what it turned out to be. The wind buffeting against our apartment building was terrifying. It actually shook the building. Our lights flickered and we really hoped and prayed that they would not go out.
I watched Con Edison's power outage map, refreshing the website ever so often. People were losing power all around us. We did not, luckily.
My mind went backwards to the blackout of 2003. During that time I still had a laptop that could connect to the internet using dialup. That was our only way to access news about what was going on until the hour or two of battery life drained to nothing.
It seems we are technologically "advancing" to a place that increasingly isolates us. This isolation becomes more apparent during emergencies. Items that were so commonplace once upon a time are now considered obsolete right up until the point where you wish you still had a battery powered radio or a landline telephone that doesn't require batteries or electricity.
NYC was a dead zone for more than a week after the storm. There was no MTA service which is the main mode of transportation for New Yorkers, car or not. The familiar sound of police and firefighter sirens were more frequent in the otherwise unnatural quiet. Our section of Brooklyn was lucky. No heavy damage as in the more coastal areas of the borough or Long Island.
A letter from our state senator Kevin Parker took note of how lucky our area was by comparison and encouraged us to remember and help those who have been less fortunate in weathering Hurricane Sandy.
For those who are looking to help, he included the following links:
https://www.ujafedny.org/hurricane-sandy-relief-fund/
http://www.redcross.org/charitable-donations
For those in need of help:
http://www.disasterassistance.gov/
http://www.redcross.org/find-help/shelter