The Impact of a Storm

On Thursday evening, the streets of Flushing were rampaged by a storm, the likes of which most Queens residents had not seen before. As I returned to Queens from school, I felt as though as I had just stepped into a war-torn battlefield. Light poles and trees were knocked down, and cars and houses were damaged all over. Normally I would take the bus back home, but due to the immense traffic, caused by the blocked streets, I was forced to walk. What would have been a grueling 40-minute trudge became a walk to remember. The damage of the storm had brought all of Main Street out onto the streets, as everyone was contributing to the clean up effort. As I approached Jewel Avenue (a predominantly Jewish community) I saw how the Jewish community in that area was extremely prepared and organized for these situations. They had what appeared to be their own little community patrol force, and their private ambulances hard at work making sure everyone was okay. As I walked further down Main Street, snapping photographs left and right, I approached my neighborhood (a predominantly Asian neighborhood). Our clean up effort was also well under way as neighborhood residents were outside clearing streets and sidewalks of all the fallen trees. I decided to stop and help my Chinese neighbors, as a fallen tree blocked their driveway. They thanked me with a nice, warm cup of tea. The storm had united all of the communities in Queens, as we all strived to overcome the devastation, and return to our normal daily routines.