One Week Later: Post-Sandy Reflections

Last weekend at this time, I was just settling in from a day of battling crowded grocery stores, purchasing a few needed items--batteries, an extra flashlight, my healthy food items for the next week--as the NYC area and indeed much of the east coast prepared for the impact of Hurricane Sandy. I'm a worrier. Last year, when Hurricane Irene was scheduled to hit the area, I did much the same thing. They always say be prepared. I checked the storm drains in the back of the house to make sure they were free of the fallen autumn leaves, and I hunkered down. The storm proved to not be as bad for most of New York City as it was forecast to be. As a city-dweller, we are used to hearing the sad reports from those who live on the coast, whether it  be on Long Island or on the Jersey Shore, and how they always go through flooding, wind damage, etc. NYC though? We usually come through unscathed.

So I guess that is why even though the weather forecasters were saying from Friday night on that this storm was going to hit the east coast like nothing we had ever seen before, we didn't think that things would be THAT bad.

It was worse than bad. Worse than I think even the biggest worriers like me could have truly thought.

Atlantic City boardwalk, post-Sandy

I remember going on a Maryland crab feast weekend with my Road Dawg and some of her friends sometime in my 20's. On our way back to NYC, one of the stops was a 4 hour layover in Atlantic City. Not being gambling women, and not wanting to spend a lovely day in a casino, we ventured over to the board walk and had the time of our lives. From the taffy shoppes, to the amusement park with the roller coaster my Road Dawg and her friends rode and screamed like little teenagers, and the slingshot ride that even had grown men screaming in delight and fear, it was a great day!

The boardwalk at Atlantic City, by all accounts, and all photographs, is gone. Only the wooden support beams stick up in the last bits of sand that did not go out to sea or get swept into boardwalk shops and homes with the water surge.

There are areas of Queens, Staten Island, the Jersey Shore, that not only had to deal with the winds and water of Sandy, but also had to deal with fires on top of that. There are entire city blocks that are simply gone. Burned to the ground. Houses washed out to sea.

The darkness of lower Manhattan post-Sandy.

My beloved NYC is just starting to get power back in areas below 34th Street. But we know from all the snow storms the city gets hit with that Manhattan always gets taken care of first. The other four boroughs are still hit hard and still struggling to make it everyday. Particularly Far Rockaway, where my friend Marcy reports about what is being done, and asks her FB friends to spread the word that people need even more done. Even in my Northeast Bronx, the houses that have power kind of hop scotch through each block. One tree down can knock out one house, or an entire half of block, depending on whether your block is mostly older homes, or are the newly wired two and three family row homes that have crept up through this area in the last 10-15 years. It would be one thing if this happened in early September, when the temps were warmer. But to not have heat, or power in November, as the temps start to go down below 40 at night?

And it wasn't only Zone A people who were affected. My friend Renee lost everything in her apartment, which was in Canarsie (which is not in Zone A), when the waters crossed from a swampy marsh across a street and into her garden apartment front door and up through her tub and toilet. She barely got out without being electrocuted. And she's lost everything! Her story is one of several thousands of people and families who are now forced with the task of starting over. Renee has a great network of support on FB. People have rallied around her with the quickness, because if it was the other way around, I know she would do the same thing and then some.

I worry about those who have no one but themselves to rely on, and limited resources.

Still, this is New York. While things are bad, they could have been even worse by all standards. Times like these always bring out the best in most people. Facebook and Twitter are spreading the word about free food, water and gasoline giveaways throughout the 5 boroughs. People are donating money, clothing, food, blood, whatever they can. The clean up process for certain areas of NYC is going to take weeks for some, months for others, and sadly, even years for others. But it will happen.

I am blessed beyond measure that I only lost power for about five minutes. I was slightly inconvenienced in having to sit in line for 2 hours to get gas so I can get to work next week. My family and friends are all alive--some displaced, some with only the clothing on their back, but we are all alive. Blessed. Just blessed. I keep thanking God, and will never stop thanking Him.

I love New York. I am proud to call myself a New Yorker. We endure, we survive, and then, we come out even stronger than before.

"New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There's nothin' you can't do
Now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let's hear it for New York, New York,
New York..." ~ Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys, Empire State of Mind

================================
I'm taking part in National Blog Posting Month! Join me!