The past week has been very surreal. Yes, now we are back to mostly business as
usual, except for transportation, and some very hard hit areas still flooded
and without power. But over the course
of the week since Sandy
came to town, I have had many moments that seemed to come out of a
post-apocalyptic movie. I should really
start stockpiling fuel and weapons.
I live in the lower half of Manhattan , so while everyone on the East
Coast spent the weekend before the storm buying out the stores of non-perishable
foods, flashlights, batteries, and candles, I was somewhat surprised when I
actually had to use them. On Sunday I
bought food, took out cash, went out in search of a second flashlight and more
candles, and had to visit several stores to find anything in stock.
I spent Monday mostly on my couch, gathering my flashlight
and hurricane lamp and lighter nearby, just in case. I ate all the cheese in my fridge, lest it go
to waste. I also ate about half of the
storm food I bought. Online, I was able
to keep up with the progress of the storm, watching videos from weather.com,
tracking Facebook feeds, chatting with everyone else waiting to see if anything
would happen. It barely rained, on
occasion the wind would howl by outside, but for the most part, the storm
seemed very tame from inside. I heard
about the controlled shutdown of power in lower
But I had my flashlight handy, and I lit my lamp and my
candles, and then realized that it was only about 9:30pm and I had nothing to
do. I read for a little bit, I knitted
for a little bit, I paced around my apartment for a bit. I picked up my free weights and lifted for a
little bit. I went through my closet
with my flashlight, dug out my box of old photos, and started organizing
them. Eventually I gave up and went to
bed.
Fortunately I put aside water ahead of time, because the
pressure was gone, I couldn't use my sinks, etc. I brushed my teeth by candle light with
bottled water.
On Tuesday, I slept late, because why not? The power was still out, and the storm was
passed. I decided to get dressed and
take a walk around to see what was what.
I thought I’d text a friend nearby, and found that overnight my phone
was down to about 70% power, and my signal was very weak. Maybe I could get a text message to send,
maybe not for 10 minutes. Phone call,
forget it, not to mention getting any apps to load. That’s when I began to feel pretty cut
off. But I got a hold of my friend and
we went walking over to the East River, saw the closed off FDR Drive, with
vending machines blown into the road.
The water was filled with debris, but receded back from land. And the wind was still whipping, chilling us
through. We walked through 
When I was able to get a text out, I invited myself uptown
to a friend’s apartment, where power, hot water, and internet were still
available. By this point, my phone was
down to about 40% power. I went back to
my apartment in the meantime, and found myself still completely bored without
my computer or TV, which feels pathetic, but you can’t play a board or card
game by yourself. I read some, of
course, and then got antsy. I packed an
overnight bag. I heated up leftovers
before they went bad using a make shift double boiler. Having a gas stove is an advantage. Finally, I began the long trek uptown, a
little over 40 blocks. Buses were
supposedly running, but I didn't see any the whole way up, and every cab was
already full. The sidewalks were full of
people dragging their roller bags uptown, fleeing, and again it seemed like one
a movie, people trying to get out of the city with whatever possessions they
can carry. I myself had a backpack.
So I got my workout and arrived even more in need of a
shower. My hosts graciously took me in,
fed me, let me get clean, gave me internet access, outlets for charging (phone
down to 20%), and a bed. All I brought
them was a bottle of wine, but we did enjoy that.
On Wednesday my hosts and I ventured outside to check things
out, see what was open, try and get a pastry somewhere. By this point, the Upper
East side was packed with people, every open food establishment
had a line to the door, and Starbucks were crammed with people charging their
electronics. After surveying the total
lack of damage, the traffic pileup, and the crowds, we returned to their
apartment. I had decided I needed to go
back to my place for clothes and to check things out, and once again walked the
40+ blocks down, the sidewalks packed with people, all irritable and ready to
snap at anyone who gave them an excuse.
The roads were barely crawling, and the promised buses were present, but
useless in the gridlock. But by 38th street ,
the crowds on the sidewalks had thinned, and soon there was a bare trickle of
pedestrians, all looking bedraggled. On
occasion, a store would have their door open, offering bottled water or batteries
for cash. It felt like the last days of
the Roanoke
colony.
Back at my apartment, I braved the pitch black hallway to my
door, expecting something like a zombie to jump out at me and start eating my
brain. Everything was very quiet. I cleaned out my fridge and freezer, sadly
trashing everything, and packed up supplies for the next few days. I know I was very lucky to have somewhere to
go.
On Friday, I took a Metro North train out to Connecticut (they were
running, at least on some lines, and not charging a fare, which was nice). I went to my parents’ house, weaving through
the long lines at the gas stations to get home from the train station. My dad had gone earlier and gotten enough
fuel for the generator and car. Their
power is still out, as I write, including electric heat. So we huddled together in the family room by
the fire place much of the weekend, running the generator at intervals to keep
the fridge from getting to warm, and to give us some light. We read and did crossword puzzles and went
out to dinner and took the dog for long walks.
At night, we layered up, took our kerosene lamps to our bedrooms, and
tried to keep away the cold. I almost
let the dog sleep in bed with me for warmth, but then she would think it was ok
to get on the furniture, so I put her training ahead of my comfort.
I found out that a couple of hours after I got to CT, the
power came back on in my apartment. So I didn't really have to spend a weekend in the dark and cold, but that’s how
family works.
So now I have lights, internet, hot water, cold food, and it
is all wonderful. However, I feel like I
should be making plans for when the end of the world comes and I need the tools
to survive on hand. I may buy battery powered radio (how do I not have one of those
anymore?). And a samurai sword.
Good luck to anyone still working their way back to normal!
