Pushing Thirtyy

Surviving Sandy

It has been just over a week since Hurricane Sandy rocked the Northeast, with a huge bullseye on my beloved New York City.  It would be remiss to not take this opportunity to reflect on this horrific natural disaster that has literally changed the landscape of my home.  Last week, I was still in the thick of it, confined to a cold, dark home waiting for light and news of better days.  Without the knowledge of how bad this really was, I wondered what would happen to my favorite holiday parade and one of my favorite events — the NYC marathon.  I continued to blog without mention of this tragedy because I was still learning.  I couldn’t step back and look at what my region was really dealing with.

And now that I’m back on the grid, I know I am one of the lucky ones.  It is strange to me to be watching my people suffer on tv, feeling a sharp pain in my chest when I think of those still without power and heat, and those who have lost so much more.  Many are still in need of help and I hope that they know that help is on the way, that they have not been forgotten.  Like many times in the past in my lifetime, I am seeing mostly the best in people.  People are mostly coming together, but like the rest of the way society runs, there are a few bad apples taking advantage of a bad situation.

So many feelings have been going around.  Mass confusion, frustration, heartache, anger, even hysteria.  So many stories of heroism and tragedy will come out in the days and weeks to come.  We have a lot of rebuilding to do, but we will rebuild.

I personally feel our emergency response system was spot on.  Never has our area seen a storm quite like this, and we received fair warning.  You can’t stop a storm from coming, but you can be prepared.  The public was properly educated, but it’s just too colossal for a 24 hour turnaround.  Our fixers — electric companies, first responders, police, hospitals, fire people and more, are working long days to help everyone in need.  And that’s what needs to be the focus right now.

But it begs the question, what can we do better for next time?  We must continue to improve.  How can we protect people from the dangers of a natural disaster? What can we learn from other regions that are more accustomed to these kinds of natural disasters?

We need to improve, just to be one step ahead of the next great storm.  Survival is not about remaining status quo.  Survival is about thinking smart, taking strategic risks, and doing whatever we can to protect the land we love so much.

Sandy survivors, we are the lucky ones.  To those still reeling, you are not alone.  We will come back, you will come back.  Together, we will give mother nature a good fight.