Post Sandy Post

I definitely have never experienced a more intense two weeks than what we just went through. A hurricane, flood, power outage, nail biting election, and a blizzard to top it all off. I hope we can all now take a big, long collective inhale and exhale, and get back to as normal as possible. My heart goes out to all who have lost so much in the wake of Sandy.

I went to the Hudson River as Sandy was just hitting NYC and shot these pictures of the water already coming over the walkways. By the storm’s end the water rose another 11 feet and devastated homes and businesses up and down lower Manhattan.

The power went out and remained out for five days where I live. We did go uptown a couple of times to my in-laws where life was normal to bathe and charge up phones, computers, etc. While I don’t want to live without electricity for an extended amount of time, I will admit that there was quite a bit to enjoy in the quiet of a disconnected world. We did have gas and cold running water, which made life completely bearable.  

Here are a couple of nighttime views from my building:

I’m sure you read about the damaged crane that hung over 57th St.:

One positive outcome of the storm is that I discovered some products that really enhanced life in the dark that you may want to check out and put in your own emergency kit. I found that a good headlamp was infinitely better than a hand-held flashlight; it threw much more light than the average flashlight and left my hands free. The little Gorilla lamps also worked amazingly well to keep the dark at bay. Both of these great illuminating devices are available at BandH (the photography supply store) for very reasonable prices. Another thing I’m thinking of investing in is a small camp stove in case next time (hopefully there wont be a next time) the gas lines are down and I wouldn’t be able to cook. Any suggestions?

Despite the Sandy devastation in NY and NJ, the political wheels kept turning. I love how Rockefeller Plaza posts election results in the ice skating rink:

I think I’d better get a new pair of snow boots if this is any kind of warning about the winter to come. I discovered in this storm that my old ones are no longer waterproof!

Whew! I really hope the next two weeks are completely boring.