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Jenn Pincher Professor Lago November 26, 2013 College Writing Essay Four: Draft Three Hurricane Sandy: Ignorance is not bliss We are the survivors of the storm. We have overcome the devastation, the tragedy of what is known to have forever altered the Jersey shore. Hurricane Sandy is one of the most iconic storms that has hit the northeast. Showing no mercy, it put millions of people without power for weeks and destroyed thousands of homes, leaving residents stranded and in desperate need of help. The northeast has never really been known to be a place built to withstand the constant abuse of hurricane season. Judging by the way our houses are built on the Jersey shoreline, it seems as though the occurrence of a destructive storm, like Katrina, is nothing to worry about. This mindset that people have in the northeast is dangerous. Storms of this caliber should not be taken lightly; ignorance is what caused us to get in this situation. Although the damage and number of casualties that Sandy caused was significantly lower than the amount Katrina caused, the northeast needs to learn to take these storm warnings seriously and consider taking even more safety measures to prevent further unnecessary damage from occurring; even if it means preparing for every storm. Taking my two feet out of the car onto the rocky driveway and smelling the saltwater in the air was always one of my favorite experiences. It would symbolize relaxation and all of the exciting activities that come along with being on the beach during a warm summer day. It also represented family, and the enjoyment of being around one another; cooking burgers on the

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porch, but of course I was always more of a hotdog person. It was my home during the summer; I loved being there. But now its gone. The last time I felt that way was late September; about a month before Sandy hit. When first going down there to check on the house, we were not optimistic. Buildings upon buildings were torn off their foundations, some were even completely destroyed; but I know my house could not be completely destroyed. That just couldnt happen to me right? There are still a few houses standing! Taking my two feet out of the car onto the rocky, now sandy, driveway, I looked up at what used to be my house. It was caved in, the lower level supports gave out. There was debris everywhere; I recognized things that used to be on top of my dresser in my room, a block down my street. I have never seen something so devastating; having something so familiar, something that contained so many memories and childhood belongings, get completely demolished. I was burning up inside. It was the most heart wrenching experience I have ever had. Looking around, I notice that not only is my house unsalvageable, my favorite bakery and ice cream shop got washed away. How can a place that I once knew so well, be completely and utterly foreign to me. Reality hit me. Im no longer going to spend time with friends and family in the comfort of my beach house. No longer am I going to have those delicious sticky buns my parents would always pick up for me in the morning. But looking back before the storm hit, I remember just how unaware almost everyone in my neighborhood was about this storm. No one seemed to have any concern that there was a storm on the way. How bad can it be? It is just another over exaggerated storm coming to hit the North east. Nothing major will happen. Were fine. This was my attitude before the storm. As a resident of New Jersey, I was just expecting maybe a couple of inches of rain with a slight breeze; as many other people were. Being foreign to ever experiencing a strong hurricane, much of my neighborhood went and took extreme precautions like getting bottled water and a few gallons

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of milk. Never have we thought that we were going to be without power for weeks, be in desperate need of gas, and have something so special, like the beach house, be taken away from us. Before Hurricane Sandy landed it was considered to be a joke; no one took it seriously. We undermined the potential that this storm had, and caught us all off guard. The news is most peoples primary source of information when it comes to the weather. It also has a tendency to over sensationalize many of the stories it covers. This is a problem when it comes to dealing with serious matters like big storms. Because they have a history of making small storms sound like they are going to be apocalyptic events, it becomes easier for people to brush off what they say. When there actually is a big storm we need to worry about, we do not take the reports as seriously as we should because the news was playing the boy who cried wolf. Had the news been more responsible when it came to reporting smaller events, we would have been more inclined to listen about an impending catastrophic event. Since people cannot differentiate the severity of small storms and big storms from the news, people do not know when to prepare and when not to and usually default to not doing anything. The news needs to understand its responsibility to give out accurate information to the people. The better information the news can provide the better people will know how much they need to prepare. Our ignorance and mistrust within the media not only affects individuals, it scales all the way up to government infrastructure. Organizations like New Jersey Transit fell into the same mindset as the people listening to the news. They disregarded the warning as false information and realized too late that they were wrong. Making last minute decisions before Sandy arrived, they attempted to protect millions of dollars worth of train equipment by moving them into higher regions; however a third of the train fleet was still left below. According to Karen Rose, she reports that over four hundred NJ Transit railroad cars and locomotives were left in low lying

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yards, which resulted in over a hundred and twenty million in damages (Herald News). If they took the proper safety measures before the storm arrived, they would have been able to move the train fleet to a different location and millions of dollars worth in damages would have been preserved. We have to learn to take the time and effort to sufficiently prepare, and learn to get out of the ignorant state of mind we all seem to be trapped in. When getting ready for a storm it is important to remember that a community comes together during tragic times. We have each others backs and support one another. As a community, we need to acknowledge the flaws within the media and how sometimes it is not the best source to use when it comes to finding out information about a massive storm. As many people may know, the news tends to over exaggerate events just to get a large amount of viewers, but as a resident of New Jersey there comes a point when people will just stop listening. How many times can they tell us that a storm of the century, is coming to slam the northeast with the outcome being only an inch of rain and some fog? We deserve news that will accurately tell us information, so we can plan accordingly. Although some think the news does provide them with the information they need, and the data given is not always wrong, it is always better to receive material that is not under the influence of the media, and focuses on accuracy. In order to get this accurate information it is essential to utilize government services like the National Weather Service and encourage others to use them as well. Not only will this offer proper information without the constant embellishment of weak storms, it will help people become be prepared for the next storm to come. It is the responsibility of the community to be well prepared in the event of a natural disaster. While news may make it harder to weed out non serious threats, we should try to take the bigger ones more seriously and realize that the unexpected can happen. We have to plan for

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the worst. When people are unprepared it is the community as a whole that will suffer as a result. My personal experience during Sandy serves as a reminder for why it is important to make better preparations for when disaster strikes. It will only be when we learn to make plans and understand how and when to execute them that we will be able to be ready to brace the impact of events like Sandy.

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Works Cited
Roulston, M. S., L. A. Smith, 2004: The Boy Who Cried Wolf Revisited: The Impact of False Alarm Intolerance on CostLoss Scenarios. Wea. Forecasting, 19, 391397. Rouse, Karen. "Rail Storm Plan By NJ Transit Still Incomplete." Herald News November 14. 2012: AE. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.