Sandy From A Different Perspective

     Coming from California I don't really know how severe a hurricane is, let alone what a lot of rain looks like. Rest assured that I found out the week of Hurricane Sandy. Before hand, the only idea that I really had of a hurricane was Katrina, and as soon as that came to mind I panicked. I called my parents frantically all day Sunday, begging them to fly me home and trying to guilt trip them by asking them if they would be able to live with themselves if something happened to me.

On a more serious note, Hurricane Sandy was extremely devastating to the Northeast. Maybe not as much as Katrina was to New Orleans, but millions of people were still affected and the damages were shocking. I spent Monday and Tuesday on Lehigh's campus just hanging out indoors with all my friends, trying to live without electricity (I don't know how people did it). Needless to say I know A LOT of card games now. Come Tuesday, our dorm generators failed so me and three other buddies decided to brave the storm and drive to Darien, CT. Now you may be saying Darien was in worse condition than Lehigh Valley, and that was true. But in Darien we had moral support (more friends), comfort food (we used a ton of propane) and generators (at least we could watch DVD's and play music). We luckily made it there in one piece and survived the rest of the week there.

     Driving through Darien was a whole different story. Roads were closed, trees and power lines were down, lines for gas stations congested the road, and to me, it literally looked like a zombie apocalypse. We drove by one house and my friend who lives in Darien told me that a 90 year old man lived in the house. It was surrounded by three of the biggest trees I have ever seen, and was trapped inside his house until the storm was over and emergency services could come.

     The things that I saw along my journey were incredible, but not in a good way. So when power came back and I saw what was happening to the Jersey Shore I was devastated. I never believed rain and wind could do so much damage and now, after the fact, I still can't believe that it happened.

     There are a lot of people out there who need your help, whether it be $5 or $50, every cent counts. So please find it in your heart to reach out and help those in need. Please click here to donate to the people that need it the most, and to help us reach our goal of raising $5000.

#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.