Sandy blew through the tristate area on Monday and was every bit as powerful as promised, causing devastating flooding throughout downtown Manhattan and Hoboken, and heartbreaking destruction throughout the Jersey Shore. Lower Manhattan, where I lived less than a year ago, is still without power, and a lot of people I know from the area have had to evacuate from their homes.

I am among the fortunate ones who live on higher ground and experienced, at worst, a short loss of cable TV and Internet. As someone who has lived through my share of extreme flooding and days of blackouts and water shortage in Manila, I know that I was extremely lucky to be minimally affected by this storm, and for that I am truly grateful.

Brooklyn Heights pulled through Sandy relatively unscathed, save for a fallen tree here and there. Over here, it's business as usual. While waiting for a friend outside an apartment with a downed tree in front, I was shocked to see one resident duck under the tree to go out for a jog and another pull out a bike to go for a ride. Restaurants and bars were open and packed with people last night, and I woke up to the sound of kids in my building laughing and playing tag. Knowing that the situation is dire elsewhere in the city, I am thanking my lucky stars.

Since my friends who needed to evacuate could not be enticed to Brooklyn even with offers of hot caramel macchiatos, I've had to look for other ways to help! This really helpful post on the Wall Street Journal lists a few different ways, if you would like to help in whatever way you can. The quickest way, for now, is to make a donation to the Red Cross by texting REDCROSS to 90999. You can also send an email to nycservice@cityhall.nyc.gov to enlist as a volunteer.

I hope, with all my heart, that everything goes back to normal soon. In the meantime, I pray that all of you are warm and safe, wherever you are.