How prepared could we have been for Hurricane Sandy? The last major hurricane we had was Irene and it was basically just a washout. It may have caused us to put our guard down. I toured around East Meadow and surrounding towns and could not believe the trail of destruction this hurricane left. Sandy was not even a direct hit or even close to the area, last estimate was it was 100 miles way at its eye. Long Island was one of the hardest hit areas from the effects of Hurricane Sandy.
Up to 90 percent of the island was put into the dark and almost as many
were without cable after the storm and this made we think how vulnerable we
became with all of the conveniences we become accustomed to.
How far have welcome from a basic, simple life where living without Internet, television,telephone and electric? In the few days since the storm passed us there have been so many complaints about nothing. We could have more prepared for the storm since meteorologists have been talking about Sandy and Tony since they were “born” over a week before their arrivals to the northeast.
Have we just become so passive in our daily lives that we expect things to always be there like spoiled children? Our parents lived with less and put up with more inconveniences in their days.
Remember when finding a phone number required getting the phone
book from closet and then lifting it onto the table, then flipping through the
endless amount of pages before you found the listing. They did this without thought and now to find the phone number is such a chore to click a mouse onto a website.
Sandy should teach us to think differently and be prepared for the worst case whenever possible. This is something that has guided more for the last ten years. I always keep an adequate supply of food in storage buy fresh milk every week, keep my vehicles as close to full of gas, and fresh supply of water in my refrigerator.
I never know when Sandy is going to come calling again. Of course I can’t be prepared for every major event but I am always thinking of the impossible when many of us think of the possible. Being a computer professional my basic
electronics are plugged into surge protectors and the major ones are plugged
into battery backups because the sudden surge in voltage could cause more
damage that a surge protector can’t protect. Our designs need to be updated and
revised to handle future disasters like this.
Only time will tell if construction is able to catch up and accommodate the new designs needed so events such as Hurricane Sandy can’t destroy our lives and livelihood.
Unfortunately, like the blackout of 2003, terrorist attack of 1993, and
Hurricane Irene of 2011, we have yet to fully grasp the effects these events had
on our lives. Don’t just get back to your normal life after this event becomes
a vision of our past without rethinking how you will live and be more prepared.
