Sunday, November 11, 2012

Sandy

Hi, everyone!  I'm going to start by saying I'm really proud of myself for actually writing an update a couple of weeks after my previous post.  Maybe I'm getting better at this.  Haha.

I don't really have something in particular I want to say or focus on; so, this may just be a stream of consciousness.

I guess the thing at the forefront of my mind is Sandy and how to explain to all of you what it was like.  I've uploaded a picture of a tree that was completely uprooted and laying across the sidewalk.  This was just a few blocks from my apartment.

Sandy was very bad for a lot of people, but I'll be honest.  I was soooo lucky.  I had power the whole time and went to the store prior to Sandy to get food ($2 Ramen Noodles y'all!).  I was definitely prepared.  My mom's friend is from Miami and made sure I knew what I needed to do beforehand.

I will say it was definitely scary.  I was at my friends' apartment, and the wind was so loud.  We heard a large crash and ran to look out of the window.  The awning for the deli below their apartment had blown off and hit a cop car, which was parked on the street.

For the next few days, you'd go outside and things were just crazy looking.  Because of where we live, I could see the blackout in one direction and lights in the other.

Tuesday morning (the day after Sandy) everyone from downtown who didn't have power walked uptown.  Literally, every restaurant was packed.  The line was so long at Subway, it was outside.  Little delis that seem to never have people in them were full of people.  We went to lunch and had to wait for 1.5 hours because people weren't getting up after they were done eating.  There was literally nothing else to do.

I didn't go downtown, but my friends who live there said cops were checking id's to see if you actually lived down there before letting you go.  There were a lot of looters.  I saw pictures of Abercrombie and Ann Taylor's storefronts where the doors/windows were all smashed; so, people could raid them.

A lot of the bars were still open. They were cash only, and they had candles to light the inside.

I will tell you one of the strangest things was a few days later just remembering I couldn't go downtown.  My nail salon was inside the blackout area, and I would have to remind myself that part of the city was closed.  Essentially, it was shutdown.  You could see where the line started, like where the city just stopped.

The city is pretty much back to normal now, but the surrounding areas aren't.  People in Jersey, Staten Island, Rockaway, etc. are still very much feeling the effects.  Not to get preachy on you, but some people's lives have been changed completely from this. 

I guess this blog post was about Sandy and not just random thoughts.  Haha. 

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