Joshua Sloan
Haven’t not seen my grandparents in a long time, and due to her perpetual insistence that I come visit, I went to Woodmere, New York this past Sunday. Woodmere is one of the towns in the 5 towns that was terribly affected by Super Storm Sandy. As time progressed since the super storm and the Macaulay dorms were restored, hurricane Sandy began to recede into the back of my mind. When I went to see my grandparents on Sunday, I saw that the house across from theirs has yet to be restored to its original condition. The house was completely boarded up with absolutely no clues that someone was living there. I finished up at my grandparents, ate the necessary food she insists I eat, and went to my car outside. About to pull away, I saw a resident of the seemingly uninhabitable house exit the home. I was reminded of the terrible tragedies Super Storm Sandy brought with it, and resolved to not let this dismal memory recede to the back of my mind like last time.
Joshua Sloan
Nice post Joshua. This is a constant problem in disaster relief situations: a flood of media attention brings the disaster to the forefront of everyone’s minds, eliciting donations and drawing political pressure for governmental relief. But people are quick to forget once the news cycle moves on to new issues and events, leaving disaster relief efforts stuck in the mud. (no pun intended)