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.
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?
ReplyDeleteSpring