It's interesting -- that when a major storm, or disaster happens, especially if it's in a large city, like New York, or in the case of Hurricane Sandy, if it hits several states, people who live outside of the disaster area get a distorted view of what happened, and is still happening as the areas affected are trying to recover. Most of this distortion comes from the way the media covers and reports what has happened, and is happening, by showing the worst hit areas, again, and again until you think that --goodness! it is Armageddon there.
They have been showing on TV the worst of what happened in New York and New Jersey, so many times, all over the world, that we have had friends and relatives from other states and abroad call us to see if we are still alive! Yes, for a time there we had no phone service--land line or cell--and yes there are many neighborhoods still without electricity, but no...we are not all submerged in water, the places that were destroyed are mostly on the shores, and yes there was tragic loss of life. But if you see, that thanks to preventive measures taken before the storm, most people did not lose their life or homes the situation is not as grim as the news media is painting it.
The other thing that really annoys -- is how politicians, because of the presidential elections coming in just a few days, are trying to inject politics in the recovery efforts. This is really disgusting and angering a lot of people. I was one of those that applauded the governor of New Jersey when he put politics aside and invited the president of the United States to go to New Jersey and give it Federal assistance. Bravo! too bad that others are too caught up in their agendas to follow his lead.
It will take a while for us to get back to normal, schools probably will close for the whole week, as there is no public transportation. Lower Manhattan is still dark, they have to pump the water out of the subway tunnels, but hey...we have been through other major catastrophes and we have pulled through. New Yorkers love a challenge, and by next week we will all be joking about this and selling the "I Survived Sandy" t-shirts!
