Our Sandy Experience

First of all I want to say how lucky I feel to be spared from the awful situation that most of downtown Manhattan had to deal with. Danny had mentioned to me about a week before Sandy came that there was a hurricane brewing and it looked like it was coming for New York. I didn't think another hurricane would make it all the way up here again. What are the chances of it happening two years in a row? Danny's mom, sister and niece were also coming to visit that week and it just seemed like it couldn't happen. On Sunday we got the orders to evacuate because we live in Zone A. Last year we had to evacuate too and it ended up being for no reason. We decided for our family (with a newborn and 3 visitors) that it would be best to stay in our apartment even though we live right next to the Hudson River. We figured we had enough provisions to last us a while and we would be most comfortable, even without power, in our own place. Plus we didn't think our 4th floor apartment would be flooded. So...we stayed. I was a little nervous about it because I am such a rule follower- you can ask my mom- but after talking with several other people in our building that were staying, we felt confident that it would be ok. Monday morning we took a walk outside before "she" arrived. It was a bit windy and rainy but nothing extreme. The waves in the river were pretty strong but were still below the sidewalk.

BEFORE

DURING

Chea took these pictures from our neighbors apartment that looks out over the river. You can see the water coming all the way into the plants right below our building and completely covering the sidewalks and benches.

AFTER

This tunnel leads to the FDR highway and goes under the tip of Manhattan. Its pretty eerie to see it full of water especially since its a pretty long tunnel. 

This is the exit to the Battery Tunnel that connects Manhattan and Brooklyn full of water. Chea took this picture too.

Just the night before water was almost covering these benches. You can see them in the pictures above.

The famous white BMW. The driver's window was down and water rushed inside and obviously moved it up on the sidewalk. The back window ledge inside had so much junk (coffee cups, McDonald's wrappers, bottles, branches and leaves). Its sad that this happened to a lot of other cars too.

In the end we never lost power even though almost all of lower Manhattan was in the dark. The basement in our building flooded but they were able to pump out the water fast enough to keep everything running. Our cable did go out and our cell phones didn't work for a day and that alone made me feel so isolated and out of contact with the world. I can't imagine going days or even a week without any of it. I am so grateful that we were spared from most of Sandy's wrath. I honestly don't know how we lucked out but it sure did make surviving the aftermath so much easier with a baby.