But it's far worse than that. I'm complaining because I can't flush a toilet, take a shower, or charge my phone, but physically I'm ok, and I still made it to work today. Breezy Point practically burned to the ground, hundreds of houses were completely leveled. The Rockaways are devastated as well, and the streets of Long Beach are buried in sand. Fire Island looks like a wave crashed over it's entirety. Parts of NYC are completely flooded, my friends building in Battery Park was nine feet under water, and 14th street and avenue C looked like a swimming pool with stop lights. Ground Zero was flooded with water, creating mini-waterfalls across the area. Residential Hoboken looks like New Orleans post Katrina, the streets are still completely underwater. My co-worker says it's a ghost town, and there are many people still trapped in their apartments because of the standing water. As many as 20,000 in Hoboken alone. The Atlantic City and Jersey Shore boardwalks are no longer, and though I'm glad it stunts Snooki's antics for a spell, I do feel for all the people who lost their livelihoods.
Though the death toll is only 26 in NYC (56 region wide), that rising figure doesn't represent the devastation. Peoples lives have been upended, and so many are now homeless. There's no way to tally the emotional damage, but there is a way to tally the monetary end of it. There is 20 billion dollars of damage in NYC alone and that figure is rising. To put it into perspective, Hurricane Irene costs $4.3 Billion across multiple sates, and Katrina, the most costly Hurricane in U.S. history, cost $46.59 billion when all was said and done. That already makes Sandy sure to be the second most costly Hurricane in U.S. history, and as the figures really start coming in, we make a run at the title. The financial markets finally opened again today after being closed for two full days. Honestly, when was the last time that happened and it wasn't a holiday? Seriously.
Another problem is travel. It is limited both locally and otherwise. La Guardia is still closed, though Newark and JFK are opening today with limited capcity. The subways are down, the PATH trains are down, as is Metro North and the LIRR. The tunnels going east of the city are also still closed. The Brooklyn-Battery tunnel is 12 feet underwater, so that's certainly going to take some time. Gas is in short supply as well. You can't get any in the city, the closest place is in Brooklyn if you're downtown. If you didn't have food and water saved up and you're in any of the heavily effected areas, you've got a problem. People are turning to red cross and shelters in high numbers. Entire neighborhoods were wiped out, and that means many of these people will be in shelters for weeks if not more. Volunteers are obviously needed, but there's only so much they can do. Fortunately it seems that the response to this crisis has been solid. Nothing like the abandonment New Orleans felt after Katrina.
Then there's always the secondary concerns. I'm wondering about sewage overflow and chances of the bubonic plague rearing it's head again. But seriously, NYC suspended garbage collection and recycling, which put plainly, sucks. There's still over 4 million without power in New York, and no clear determination when we'll get it back. From 39th street down, it's apocalyptic looking at night, pitch black almost everywhere you go. They tell us 3-4 more days until we get power back, best case. In Long Island, that same figure is 7-10 days. And yes, houses burned or washed away, we know that. But in all the footage I've seen (which has been limited), the devastation to vehicles has been massive as well. I've never seen so many cars underwater, under sand, or overturned. Boats too. Granted, these vehicle losses are a distant third to lives and homes, but it's still something to take into consideration. If I lost my home, I'd hope I could jump in the car and drive to a relatives. Especially if I had kids.
Though it's a pain in the ass to descend, and then unfortunately ascend 21 flights when I need to come and go from my apartment, it's nothing compared to the work our maintenance guys have been going through in my building. I feel the need to give them a shout out because they've got families, they've got lives, and yet they work 18 and even 24-hour shifts to make sure that we are taken care of as best as possible. It looks like we're even getting our generator up and running so at least we'll get some water (albiet cold water) in the apartments.
There's still an extreme amount of water that needs to be removed from New York and New Jersey. And that must happen before power can be restored to many areas. And once the power is on, many of us can get back to our day to day lives, but so many others will only then be able to truly assess the damage that has been brought upon them. I am truly lucky that I'm ok, and my family and friends all seem to be alright as well. But all you have to do is turn on the news (if you have power), to see how bad others have it. I only hope that the government can help them quickly, and obviously does a better job than they have in the past (ahem, Katrina). But that's another story altogether. But this is New York, and protecting this state and city is a much higher priority for the government, as wrong as that is. And shame on us for letting that be ok. It's a different administration at the helm as well.
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