I Survived Sandy!

Tell YOUR Hurricane Sandy story.  Some prompts to get you thinking: Did something interesting, scary, or unusual happen to you during or after the storm?  What was it like to experience hurricane weather?  Did you have any challenges in the days right after the storm?  Were any places damaged that are important to you, and how is the recovery for them going now?  Please write two well-worded, proofread paragraphs.

My husband and I went outside during Sandy to save our tree.  It's only a few years old, and still relatively small without a fully developed root system; the winds pushed it over at a 45-degree angle, and we were only halfway through the storm at that point.  I begged him to help me, so we collected two pieces of rebar and some rope from the garage and went outside to tie it up.

We pulled the tree upright, and then I leaned into it with my shoulders - and all my weight - to hold it up while he stuck the rebar into the ground and wrapped the rope around the trunk and steel, back and forth and back and forth.  While I was holding up the tree, I looked up at the electrical lines, which were snapping wildly in the wind.  Bright blue electricity arced from them as they stretched away from their connections, and I remember hoping they wouldn't come loose.  I suppose it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but as a meteorologist and environmentalist, I definitely enjoyed both experiencing a hurricane and saving a tree.

Post-Disaster Challenges

Most people automatically think of having nowhere to live as the biggest, most immediate challenge a tornado survivor will face.  What are some of the unexpected challenges?  Think about things in your daily life on which you depend, or read some survivor stories to better understand what it means to survive the disaster AFTER the disaster.

Storm Chasing

Why are some people drawn to severe weather?  What do you find fascinating or interesting about thunderstorms?  What would get you to go outside and watch one?