Hurricane Reaction #1

I’ve emerged totally unscathed while the whole city is in shambles. I don’t know why but I've decided to write about it. I’ve been trying to find volunteer opportunities all week but it’s been so chaotic that even finding a place to volunteer with relief efforts took a week. I guess the storm came last Sunday night Oct 28^th. It is now Friday Nov 2^nd and I’ve finally found somewhere to go help out. It’s in Red Hook. It’s already 3:30 in the afternoon so I’m planning on going down there tomorrow morning around 10. I guess it’s about a 30-minute bike ride, so I’ll leave at 930.

The storm was so bad that even the extensive preparations were not enough to avoid disaster. Most of Staten Island is destroyed. So is Long Island and parts of New Jersey. I tried to sign on as a volunteer to help out at the Red Cross but they are so under-prepared that they did not even have the capacity to put me to work. The phone operator could not even help me fill out the appropriate form necessary in order to be deployed as an emergency volunteer. So I’m feeling useless right now.

I haven’t heard from my bosses in a week, nor have I been to work myself, or to class. There are no subway trains running between Manhattan and Brooklyn so people are forced to take a shuttle bus from Barclay’s Center. Last I heard the lines were 1000 people long and there was lots of arguing.

The worst arguing I’ve been hearing about is over gasoline. Since the ports have been shut down no gas deliveries have been being made. It’s especially bad in NJ. In many parts the gas stations are without power so even if they have gas delivery they still can’t use their pumps. I’ve heard that the average wait is two and a half hours. I guess gas trucks are starting to make deliveries again, but this is not stopping people from fighting. The police have had to be brought in the control the people and stop anyone from cutting the line. In some part of NJ when a guy called out another guy for cutting the line, the line cutter pulled a gun.

What does this mean for me? I have no idea. I guess I’m waiting to see if I am needed at work before I go down there. I’m supposed to start school again Tuesday. If there is decent transit I will go, otherwise I have no idea.