We have seen on television and newspapers the devastation that hit New York and New Jersey as a result of TS Sandy that hit these states on October 29. The damage to property alone is estimated to run to US$21 billion but the cost to people in terms of trauma, personal losses and lost opportunities and work time is beyond estimation.
We gazed with wonder why New York’s crowded Queens was razed to the ground with only the statute of the Blessed Mother left standing, while concrete and steel structures around her crumbled into pieces. This picture was flashed all over the world and, indeed, we wondered and try to find meaning in this difficult to explain phenomenon.
We (at least in Luzon and Mindanao) have suffered similar if not worse fates of water and flood but the destruction wrought by TS Sandy, the total damage material and human affliction can never be truly quantified.
I wrote earlier that we escaped Tropical Storm Sandy by the skin of our teeth but, as we left, we kept on thinking of those who hosted us whom we have to leave behind. We could only watch and pray and trusted all things in God’s hands. We are grateful that our families there are unharmed, though not spared the inconveniences of the aftermath.
Nevertheless when power was restored they sent me their emails and I would like to share excerpts of it with our readers so they, too, would be able to see the human face of that devastation that hit us close to heart. I am certain that many have relatives there as well and must have already reported their experiences while the storm raged and the aftermath.
After the storm, my sister Ruth went to church. She described the scene:
“I felt like in the catacombs this evening at church. There is the Sanctuary Lamp, an Easter candle in the center aisle, six pillar candles on the communion rails, a parishioner holding a flashlight for the priest who is celebrating Mass! The church is so dark. The priest continued celebrating the anticipated Mass in spite of the darkness.
“This is still the situation in New Jersey and the Hudson County. Many more are without electric power. We are still not so sure what would be next as many businesses are closed, schools have not opened and hospitals are without electric power, transportation is limited, and the places you have left in New York looked like a sea/river.
“Jersey City is a mess. I have not ventured around yet but friends living in various places told me how they are doing … rotten.â€
Indeed people had, in the words of a CNN reporter, to cope with the situation in the best way they could.
Ten days later, I received an answer on how the families cope with the unprecedented aftermath. My nephew, Wilfred and his wife Jeanette and their four children with one coming probably this month, had to huddle in one room to keep warm. At daytime, they went to Cabella’s in Pennsylvania, 91 kilometers away to spend the day.
This is the state’s most popular sports provider – fishing, hunting, etc. It is a huge building and at a high elevation. Hundreds from various states go there for their outdoor sports gear so that it has all the amenities of a good life and children love to stay there. At the end of the day, they would fill up their tank and head home where long lines of motorists waited for the rationed fuel.
Now that electricity has been restored in their area, Wil went to his children’s school to help clear it of debris and fallen trees. From what I learned of this private school, parents do volunteer work each week to help teach so that I imagine other parents were there as well.
My other nephew, Andrew and his wife Wendy and their children Agnes and Natalia were trapped by the fallen electric posts and trees. The roads were blocked so that, for days, they could not leave the house.
Drew was prepared. While we were there, he already stocked on food, checked the performance of his electric generator at the basement and saw to it that he had sufficient fuel. Thus while the neighborhood was in the dark, he had electricity and he and Wendy were able to continue their work via computers. Wendy works in New York and that was off and closed while Drew’s office was in New Jersey but he serves a worldwide clientele of their bank.
Nature seems to have not finished with these two states. After Sandy came the snow storm and that means freezing temperature for thousands until electricity was restored.
Against nature arrogant humans are helpless.*
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=57674.0
