Hurricane Sandy - Lip-Smacking Food

People line up for coffee in the East Village

Hurricane Sandy has severely affected parts of the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic and the North-Eastern United States. The storm hit New York on Sunday night. The MTA halted all train and bus services at 7pm that night. I was staying at my friend’s apartment in the East Village, where there was a very low chance of evacuation as it’s inland. We really felt the force of the winds on Monday, where the building was shaking and the lights were flickering. The electricity went out Monday night, right when my friend was cooking dinner. Luckily she was cooking on a gas stove, so I held a flashlight over her so she could finish. In New Zealand, I’m used to power cuts only lasting a few hours. So when the power still wasn’t on the following day it was surprising. We spent the whole of Monday inside and stayed dry. Then on Tuesday we took a walk around the village, where the streets were littered with tree branches and trash. None of the traffic lights were working. Nothing was open. It was like a totally different place. The following day the buses were working so we jumped on one and headed uptown, where everything was working and coffee shops were filled with people. Everyone was charging their phones where they could, even on the street.

It’s now the fifth night without electricity. I decided to go back to my apartment in Brooklyn this afternoon so I could have a hot shower. I’m lucky I have that option. Other people don’t, and it was really shocking watching the news on TV when I got home. The whole of lower Manhattan is without power, and when you’re there you really have no idea of the degree of destruction the storm has caused. Word is the power will be restored to lower Manhattan by midnight tonight. Let’s hope it is. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people who were hit hardest by the storm, especially those who lost their homes.