To Make a Difference

Westchester, New York was one of the many areas hit badly by Hurricane Sandy. On numerous streets there were power lines down, lots of flooding, and ruined houses. Within a 2-block radius from my house, there were numerous homes that were ruined because of fallen trees.

In my backyard we have a trampoline that is considered the neighborhood trampoline. Younger kids in the neighborhood would come with their families to jump on the trampoline in the afternoons all throughout the year. Luckily no one was hurt, but the trampoline did not survive the storm. A giant tree in my backyard landed on top of it just missing our house, and crushed the trampoline completely. My family was very fortunate that this was the only damage that was done to our property. Other houses had trees destroy their entire property

One house that was not so lucky was a family I have babysat for a number of times on Forest Avenue. A tree came down from behind the house, landing on the roof and destroying it, making the house temporary unlivable. The family who lives there were fortunate enough to have been staying in the basement and they all remained safe throughout the entire storm.

A second house on Palmer Avenue had a tree come through the house, entering from the living room and going through the kitchen on the other side of the house, destroying the home completely. The next morning following the storm all the neighbors came out to look and make sure that everyone was safe and everyone was there to help out in any way possible.

Almost all other houses in our town were without power for at least 48 hours with temperatures dipping below 40 degrees at night. In times like this it is crucial for everyone to look out for one another. It is important to stay safe and out of harms way. When power goes out and trees come crashing down things get chaotic. Just like the people in my town, us students here at Lehigh University are here to help those in need.

#COMM30Sandy is an online class project for the Media & Society class at Lehigh University, taught by professor Jeremy Littau. You can donate to our campaign at this link, and for more information you can email Prof. Littau at jeremy.littau@lehigh.edu.