My Personal Reflection After Sandy Hits

Hurricane Sandy made it's way up thru our area and left a lot of people digging out. Some people are still brushing off debris, if they are lucky. A lot of people lost their homes and some did not survive the storm. This has made me very grateful for my family's and friends safety.

My experience during the storm was a rather lucky one. My wife and I stocked up on food and ice, plus candles. We figured being on high ground of Brooklyn, we'd be pretty safe against the storm surges and coastal floods. I now have a new found respect for all those hills I climb on my bike rides around this city. For they have been a protecting agent for me.

After the storm passed thru, I was anxious to get outside and see what had happened. Upon looking out the window, I saw a small pumpkin left in the street. After talking with some neighbors in the building, we decided to stay tucked away in our apartment.

With the storm taking the turns it did, NYC was still in Sandy's clutches and we were still at risk for high winds. Power outages and flying debris was my biggest worry for what could affect us. However, I did leave the house a couple of times, but that was for a job interview (crossing fingers) I had on Wednesday and for work on Friday.

While I was riding my bike to both, I saw a lot of the damage to Bed Stuy. I did not see much on Wednesday riding along Lewis Ave to West Bushwich. However, on Friday, on my trip down MacDonough Street, I was amazed at the amount of large downed trees that crushed cars. One could only hope that no one was seriously injured by these uprooted trees.

One thing that has disturbed me a bit was the notion that natural disasters do not affect Americans like other places. True indeed, my neighbors have some great grit and will rise to a many challenges. However, These types of occurrences grant immunity to no one. They can and do happen, all of the time.

We must remember that recovery is not some sort of restart button that fixes things immediately. These are the times we need to band together to help those in need. We also need to be patient as the recovery process will take a lot of coordinated efforts. This, however, does not act as an excuse to the failings the Red Cross. And Bloomburg finally realized the slap in the face it was to try and have the marathon amidst all the devastation. Then again, he should have done it much sooner.

Finally, I would like to take a moment to thank Lydia Callis. To me, she went a bit beyond her call of duty and helped to put a smile on many worried peoples faces. Her charming, over-emoting while signing for Mayor Bloomburg has become a viral hit.



It added a bit of laughter in my home at a much needed time. And not at her expense. No, it was her exaggeration of the mayors tone that had us busting a gut and forgetting our worries, even if only for a few seconds.