Richard Palma Professor Hao Introduction to Sociology 20 November 2012
The Sandy Effect When Hurricane Sandy hit my area, many of us were affected by the storm. On the night of Monday, October 29, Sullivan Dr. adjacent to my street, Lembeck Ave. experienced a lot of flood. Vehicles ended up not working because of the flood. The first three houses in my street were being flooded up until it reached house and the water started to go away. At around 9:30 P.M. everyone had lost power. I thought it would come back after a few minutes but my thoughts were wrong. We ended up sleeping without power the whole entire night. The next morning my house was very cold, and we decided to go to my aunt’s house in Cranford where he did had power. On our way there, we saw many traffic lights without lights, endless lines for gas, and trees and signs fallen. When I got to my aunt’s house, we saw a tree branch that had fallen on top of her van. When I went inside her house I and watched the news I was in shock. I thought my area was affected by the storm the most because we lost power and the flood but I noticed that there were other people that were affected a lot worse. People lost their homes and even some, their lives. A lot of areas in New Jersey especially the East Coast of the state, were damaged. The Jersey shore is basically all gone including the boardwalks, the restaurants and clubs, the rides and arcades. In New York, there were areas where it would take a while to clean up the entire flood that was running through the streets. The hurricane has caused a major disaster in our area. It was very devastated to watch these things on TV. Many people were hurt whether physically mentally, or emotionally, they couldn’t bare the disaster this storm had come upon them. I never had imagined a huge storm like a hurricane hitting our area and causing massive damages. I wondered how nature can be in our side but at the same time, it can be against us, how it can help us and how it can harm us. Despite all of these issues, people came to the aids of others. I knew several people who went down to the shore to help those who lost their homes by proving them food and shelter. Several organizations such as the American Red, News Corporation, NBC, started to raise huge amounts of money to help those who were affected by the storm and to repair and rebuild roads, highways, buildings, etc. Many churches asked their community to give donations so that they can provide for those who lost their homes. The Mayor of Jersey City gave out boxes of free food that can be cooked in a bag and does not require power to those who did not have power yet in their homes. Many people were willing to give up their time to help those were in need. Every egoism every pride people had, were putted aside to help each other. Even though many people in the East Coast were affected by the storm, it didn’t stop them from voting in the Presidential Election to choose their leader for the next four years. Some of us ended up receiving power the next day after the storm, while others ended up receiving power within two days, three days, a week or even more. But even though without power, it did not stop citizens from helping others who had it worse from the storm. In American culture, many people here work hard and achieve the American dream. If you want to become a lawyer, doctor, entrepreneur, teacher, etc. no matter who you are in terms of race, gender, background, or nationality you can achieve anything you want here if you are willing and put your effort into it. People end up competing with one another and eventually creating an ego.