Nygel Shelby, Floral Park

“My Journey through Hurricane Sandy” This past week was an experience that was really awful but I learned a few things about what to do when in complete darkness. I went about a week straight without power. I will admit it was very stressful but I knew I could get through it. When I first heard of Hurricane Sandy, I honestly didn’t think much of it. We have been in the same predicament before, last year when it was hurricane Irene. Nothing really happened and we still had power. I figured it wasn’t going to be that big of a deal and enjoy a few days off from college. But I was so wrong when I thought it was going to be nothing. Around noon the day of the hurricane before it started, my power went out. I wasn’t that upset because at the time I thought my power would come back on later on. So would I really did was listen to my iPod and went on with my day. But that night was a little frightening to me but more to my mother. While the hurricane was going on, I heard banging outside which really scared my mother. It turns out the banging was due to the fact that some type of metal was stuck to my house and was the cause of the ruckus. The next day my stepdad came home from work since he had no choice but to stay at the job the night before. I knew that would quickly spark an argument between him and my mother. I had a feeling this would happen. But I think the whole time they were arguing was out of stress. I had to sleep wearing a t-shirt followed by a long sleeve shirt then a hoodie for the past couple of days since it was really cold at the time. It wasn’t all to bad since there is a village hall about three houses down from where I live right next to the fire department. They had power so I was usually in there charging my iPod and phone. Every time I rode with my mother just to get out of the house, I always saw cars lining up just to get gas. Some gas stations had no gas while others have a little amount. I never thought something like this would ever happen. People have to wait for hours just to get gas. Some others have to travel outside of New York just to get gas. Also some people have gotten into disputes about who was next to get gas. But the question through out the whole thing is how long this crisis for gas will last? One Sunday afternoon while I was at work on break, I received a text from my step father with the text saying, “We have power”. I was happy and relieved how after about a week, I could go back to my house to power. Who would have thought that this whole thing would be such a horrifying thing? The worst to happen to us is that our fence is down while people lost their homes. Even though the experience was horrible, it did teach me what to do in a situation when you have no power such as buying a generator, buying lights and other things. It may me realize that I should be thankful for the things I have and to have a roof over my head.