During the last week of October and the first week of November, the East Coast was hit by Hurricane Sandy, which is considered one of the worst hurricanes since Katrina. It started in the Caribbean, where it resulted in many casualties, then moved up the East Coast, hitting New York and New Jersey.
“I think that New York was hit the hardest because it had the largest population,” AVID teacher Allison Venuto said.
Superstorm Sandy devastated many homes and left many powerless in multiple states. Sandy was recorded as the second worst hurricane in U.S. history, following Hurricane Katrina.
“I think Katrina was worse because it took longer for people to recover and it caused more damage and deaths,” junior Tyler Obenshain said.
Scientists are saying that damage from the hurricane was partially caused by the climate change and the rising sea levels that occurred during the hurricane. Many scientists are trying to figure out more information since the initial damaged occurred.
“I think that hurricanes are just natural events that happen and since the East Coast is densely populated, it would be more difficult to prepare when the hurricane was coming,” Venuto said.
Damage from Hurricane Sandy was bad news for homeowners, but helpful for business people, including plumbers and carpenters, who have to clean up the damage and are now at the peak of their demand.
“I think the construction workers had the most damage to rebuild during the hurricane, because they have to rebuild everything and it takes a lot of work,” junior Yasmin Mohammad said.
One of the worst parts about hurricanes is that many people are left helpless with nothing to do while their homes are hit and they are left devastated. Citizens all over the country are pitching in to help with the recovery. Organizations such as Red Cross and The American Society for the Prevention of Animals have helped out with the recovery of lost children or animals and providing shelter and food for the homeless.
“I am going on a mission trip with my church to help rebuild parts of New York,” Obenshain said.
It is a hard time for many people in the areas that got hit, but over the past few days most of the cities have been cleared of debris and garbage. People are outside every day trying to fix what they can and having businesses repair their homes.
“When I heard on Facebook about my friend that was in New York during the hurricane, I was very scared for her,” Venuto said. “She has been doing a lot of volunteer work to help rebuild the city and around her house.”
Hurricane Sandy has resulted in cancellations of many flights and sporting events. The famous New York Marathon was called off because of the hurricane, causing many people to become upset.
“I think the cancellation of the New York Marathon was bad, because it affected the people who had been training for a while,” Obenshain said.
Many people have family who were involved in the hurricane and people are still trying to find out if they are well or not. Overall, it was an unfortunate few weeks for the East Coast and will take a couple of years to get back to normal.
“I think the hurricane could have been prevented if people would have learned about it earlier, to give them a chance to evacuate faster,”Obenshain said.
