Surviving Sandy

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Over a week ago, I wrote about what a nice "No Subway Weekend" I had, not knowing that New York would shortly thereafter experience what it would be like to have absolutely no subway service for days on end as Superstorm Sandy delivered her promised wrath.
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.

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6 comments

  1. Glad you're safe, Celine! Living in a flood-prone city does help, no? :) My family in NH are all calm through Hurricane Sandy, too.

    Hope all is well and that NYC will be back on its feet soon!

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    1. Thanks Teeyah! Yup, all those years of braving typhoons was good training (my fridge is stocked with enough adobo to last me til Thanksgiving). But I was also ridiculously lucky where many others were not. Hopefully things will go back to normal for all of us soon ...

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  2. It's amazing how resilient Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn are. I wandered out for coffee and stood on a pretty long line at GameStop for the new Assassins Creed game. My only complaint was that Garden of Eden and Gristides were the only grocery stores open. But compared to everyone else that's pretty good.

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    1. The more I hear about what others have had to endure, the more I realize how lucky we truly were!

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  3. I love your blog. I will be in NY next week and can't wait though I feel a little guilty about enjoying myself after all of this....

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    1. Thank you so much! Please do enjoy yourself fully while you're in New York, and do it without guilt. The restaurants, the bars, and the people took a big hit and your business will help the city get back on its feet. Have a great time!

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