Although Hurricane Sandy was one of the costliest hurricanes in U.S history, second only to Hurricane Katrina, I was fortunate to have lived in a neighborhood that did not suffer any extensive damage. I remember that the first night the storm arrived in New York, it felt like a normal weekday, save for the fact that school was canceled the next day. My friends and I were chatting on Skype, aware of the howling winds and heavy rain but oblivious to the damage it was causing in other parts of the city. At one point, we even facetiously complained that our Internet had become slow and unreliable because of the storm.

The next morning, my parents’ friends and our relatives called to see if we were okay. My mom raved about how glad she was to be living in Flushing; we still had our electricity, heat, and water, and not a single tree had fallen down, although a few big branches did. As we watched the news coverage of all the damage that had been done in the more coastal areas, we realized how extremely lucky we had been. In the Rockaways, people’s houses were on fire; the subway tunnels were horribly flooded; the stock market was closed for the day. I later found out that many of my friends who lived in Bayside/Little Neck area had lost electricity, and that my high school’s basement had flooded (we were right by the Hudson River in Tribeca).

Though we, the students, were ecstatic that school was canceled for the week, it was a difficult time for many more New Yorkers who had been uprooted from their homes. In retrospect, I don’t think I fully understood how dire the situation was at the time, especially because my neighborhood was not impacted as heavily as many others. Looking back at the news stories from four years ago, I’m reminded of how damaging natural disasters can be, even when you try your best to prepare for them. The next time a hurricane hits, I’ll definitely think twice before complaining about the WiFi again.