Raquel Smith, Hempstead

My Journey Through Hurricane Sandy For about a week before Hurricane Sandy occurred my family and I tried to gather the essentials you normally would before a storm like this. We got plenty of water, food, batteries, flashlights and candles. Before the storm hit my family and I did not think it was going to be a severe storm at all. After the little damage Irene did we thought for sure everyone would be good. Soon we saw the damage that it had done immediately after it hit. My journey through Hurricane Sandy gave me a different perspective and helped me be more appreciative. On Sunday evening before the storm my family made sure we had nothing in the backyard or that any of our cars parked next to trees. My mother is a nurse and had to work that day so before she went to work, my sister and I knew if the storm was bad enough she would have to stay overnight at work. Sunday evening my sister and I made sure we got last minute supplies such as water, snacks and candles to help us through the storm. We were as prepared as we could possibly be to get through whatever Sandy was going to bring. Come Sunday morning when I looked outside there were some strong winds and a little bit of rain. Knowing it wasn’t going to be that “calm” the entire day my sister and I who have been underestimating the storm knew we should definitely still stay in the house. It was important that we reached out to as many family members as we could to make sure they stayed in the house to be a safe as possible. We were able to call my Uncle, grand-parents etc to see if they were safe. As we watched the news we found out the storm was going to start hitting hard in the evening around 7 pm. After finding that out my sister and I remained upstairs trying not to be close to any windows. The storm started to hit hard but thankfully for my family the aftermath was not bad at all. We never lost our power and our cars were fine. For others they were not that lucky. Some of my family member’s homes are severely flooded. Because of the electricity problem we have a family member staying with us until things are up and running at their home. Even though it feels good to help those who are in need, it’s quite an adjustment having so many people in your home at one time. We had a total of 4 people including a 1 year old baby. I had to put a blow up bed in my room and my sisters’ room became somewhat of a nursery for the baby. It was hectic to have seven people in the house when you are only used to living with two other people. After staying with us for almost a week I got used to the adjustment. The aftermath of this hurricane was a big devastation to many people. If I learned anything from this experience it’s to always count your blessings and be thankful for what you have instead of complaining about what you don’t have. It could always be worse.