Five years ago, on October 29th 2012, the power went out. My family and I lit candles and strummed our guitars to the sound of rain beating on the roof. For some, that was it. For others, it was just the beginning. Superstorm Sandy hit my town of East Rockaway harder than anyone could have expected. As the streets became rivers, the water filled our homes with as much as nine feet of water, and in some cases, sewage from the local plant. Lucky families only had flooding in their basements, losing furniture and personal items such as photo albums. The others lost their homes.
The morning after, the rain had stopped and the water was no longer flowing into our homes. My brothers and I walked around town—everything was quiet and gray. We waded through the streets to find traffic lights dangling in the middle of intersections, and even boats tipped over on the grass.
After relocating to my grandma’s house across town, I watched my small Long Island town completely change. I remember looking out the window on Halloween—it was as if the holiday was completely cancelled, and everyone knew it. I watched the color drain from this town. The trees were dying and the painstakingly green lawns were now covered in salt residue from the flooding. The firehouse provided families with clothing, blankets, food and cleaning supplies. There were constant lines at the gas station, and every day people would line the streets and wait for hours just to discover there’s no gas. If someone asked you how you were doing, you wouldn’t reply with the automatic “good.” Now, it was a real question that required a real answer. You would relay your current living situation and mental status.
My family fit eight people and two dogs in a home built for four, and spent the first few days collecting branches that pervaded the streets to fuel the fire. I remember sleeping on the floor next to the fireplace. Every time the fire would start to die, the drastic drop in temperature would wake me up, and I would have to restart it with the pile of kindling beside me. The first time I went back home, I sat in the backyard with the deteriorating drum set and used a toothbrush to clean my old childhood toys, frowning with mold. The sickening smell of rotting wood and floodwater still linger in my nose.
The days all started to morph into one—there wasn’t much to do. East Rockaway High School got flood damage, so they needed to find an alternative solution. November 16th was the day we all took a bus to Shubert Elementary School in Baldwin, and went to school again. That was the first sense of normalcy since the first drop of rain on October 29th.
Family members would visit and provide us with things we needed, such as winter jackets. I remember being taken out to dinner for the first time and feeling so strange being out in public, especially in a place that wasn’t affected by the storm. East Rockaway was dark and everyone understood why, and everyone was there for each other. It was unnerving to discover it wasn’t like that everywhere, and life goes on with you or without you.
It didn’t take long for the news to forget about us. It felt scary, like all the outside help we’ve been receiving would stop and the world would move on while we stood still, stuck in this gray aftermath. That fear of being forgotten made me realize how millions of people have felt before me during natural disasters. Just because the news stopped following the story, doesn’t mean everything is better.
Since then, there have been numerous hurricanes throughout the world, and I realized that we were so lucky. Although I can say my situation was better than most, I still know firsthand the intense emotions that come with experiencing something like this. That has prompted me to support those people in need.
We all prepared for the fury of Sandy, but didn’t expect this. Five years later and people still haven’t been able to return home. This happens all around the world at any given moment. Everyone has their Superstorm Sandy, or their Hurricane Harvey, or their great wildfires. Natural disasters cannot be stopped, but damage can be prevented and help can be provided, if everyone comes together to help. Donate to disaster relief organizations. Volunteer to aid in cleanup or fundraising. No matter who you are, you have the power to make change.