Living in the Lower East Side meant that when Hurricane Sandy hit, I felt the immediate effects of the storm. There was little to no damage done to my neighborhood, so all I remember was being out of electricity for a week. The power grid was down for the city below 30th Street, and both subway and buses were out of service. Although we had our phones, we had no power source to keep them alive; I remember filling with dread each time my battery’s percentage dropped. Communication was limited, and we had to pull out a battery-operated radio to keep up with the news. All activities had to be done during the day, where the only light source was the sun; since we didn’t know when the power would return, we had to ration our candles carefully. I remember eating dinner in the dark, huddled around a few candles with my parents as we ate food we could barely even see.
For the most part, my parents encouraged me to stay at home; since the stairwells in our building were windowless and steep, it was of utmost importance to bring a large, bright flashlight to light our way as we went down. I ended up going outside at some point for whatever reason and heading into the outskirts of Chinatown. A few restaurants were still open, running on their backup generators. Here and there, we could see lines where people paid to charge their phones and other electronics. In several parts of the neighborhood, there were people who came by to give out water and food to people who had not prepared well enough for the aftermaths of the storm.
I didn’t really feel the effects of Sandy until after the MTA allowed buses and trains to run once again. I recall that we could get on the buses free of charge, and I seized the opportunity to visit a Barnes and Noble further up in midtown to charge my devices. I realized that for most of New York City, life went on. People were just sitting around in the bookstore, just living as they normally did. Meanwhile, I was finally connected to the Internet and saw the devastation in surrounding areas. For some of us, the week that school was cancelled for Hurricane Sandy was just another break. For others, including me, that week was an inconvenience. For even others, Hurricane Sandy was a disaster whose effects are still felt today.
