Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Morgan-Hurricane Sandy


Hurricane Sandy
From a victim

           
            Having something brought down from generation to generation is having a peace of the past that will be used for the future.  It’s an almost like a gift. For me, living in Ortley Beach NJ was all I knew. I’ve lived in this home for 50 years and its been standing for nearly 112 years.  My grand kids would have received this house if we didn’t face an unpredictable force. Hurricane Sandy not only took away my home but a piece of my family’s fortune.
            Hurricane Irene occurred about a year and a half before Hurricane Sandy. People prepared themselves for Hurricane Irene. By the time it hit there was minimal damage and people seemed to recover quickly. The problem was that people felt over confident after this storm, almost an unstoppable feeling. We would soon underestimate this next storm. 
            First the news reports start coming out as the radar starts tracking the hurricane. Warnings are sent out as the days go on. Beach front owners start boarding up their windows, the boardwalk games are covered and local business owners bring in any displays, furniture, etc. in their building. Something was different. Governor Christie told people to not take this lightly and to stoke up on basic necessities. Not long after the President of the United States came on the television warning the nation. This storm was not going to be like Irene.
            Luckily for me, a friend from the fire squad that lives closer inland asked me to stay with them for the night. I’m on my own to begin with so it was nice having someone looking out for me. I packed a few belongings, locked the front door and started walking away without even looking back. 
            My friend and I ate dinner on the front porch watching the storm come in. The rain was extremely heavy.  The sky turned dark gray within minutes. Suddenly we both shot each other a look and we knew we should go inside. We went into the living room to listen to storm updates on the news. The report states “Hurricane Sandy has taken over the east coast listen to your local authorities.” With that the power went out. It was time for bed. There was nothing we could but wait for it to pass.
            The next morning there was silent. I couldn’t hear the normalcy of my mornings. I couldn’t hear the waves crash or the seagulls crying. I thanked my friend for the letting me stay then I went on my way home. As I was walking along the boardwalk I noticed I just saw barren land. The boardwalk was gone, telephone wires were blowing in the wind and homes were missing.
As I get closer to my property I check my surroundings to see if I’m in the right place.  I see nothing. I don’t even see the foundation of my home. I walked around the block to make sure this really happened. Once I came around the block I looked at my property line and saw a pile of sand. My reaction was sheer confusion. I saw that I wasn’t the only one. People started creeping out from their homes and stood their in silence staring at the beautiful sunrise that was rising over the demolition of our of livelihoods.
            Months later, I’m still staying with my friend. You wouldn’t believe the process I’ve had to go through for the reconstruction of my home. To this day, my property is still a sand pile. Instead of having a constant reminder of the storm I made a small garden and brick path around my property. It was the little light of hope when I visit. For some reason it helps me relive the memories I once had in that home.  I can’t ever get my possessions back but I can rebuild my life from this patch of hope.  

1 comment:

  1. This is a beautiful post. I feel that there is a real lesson to learn from reading it, evident in the sunrise over the destruction, and in the care of the narrator to build a garden and path on the destroyed house site, and that is: to pay homage, even to storms. The real humble acceptance of what happens is perhaps what nature teaches us with her wrath. But how might this narrator feel should he or she learn that human overpopulation and lack of pollution regulation actually upped the intensity of this storm? Would the narrator feel guilty? Stop driving? Or simply continue to plant things in his or her garden?
    Spring

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