My Life-changing Experience with Sandy

By NOA FARRINGTON

My week with Hurricane Sandy has been full of surprises, and some of them weren’t necessarily good. When Hurricane Sandy came about, my village of Manorhaven was told to evacuate as soon as possible, mostly because the whole area is right by Manhasset Bay. Although my mom did not want to leave, on Monday late in the afternoon my father insisted we evacuate. For the next week, I would be staying in a boiling hot room, on an uncomfortable bed in Queens with my grandparents (whom I love very much). I would soon find out Sandy’s biggest joke on my family was going to be life changing.

On Tuesday morning we were told by our neighbor that the basement got flooded and my parents decided to go back home to see the damage. After my mother and father and I arrived home and saw the basement, with all of the wedding pictures destroyed, we were so sad. When we looked out the window, we saw an amazing rainbow against the misty gray sky.

My mom and I went to Village Hall to see how the village was doing and also to help. When we got there, we saw that it was run by a generator, and that the mayor and other trustees were getting calls from the whole village complaining about having no power, and asking when everyone will get their power back. There were other kids there. We played and drew and talked to each other and also talked politics with a guy named Gary. My mom went around with the mayor to check the roads and fallen trees. That night we went back to my grandparents since we had no electricity or heat.

“Two boys found dead in a swamp” read the headline the next day. “See what bad things can happen when you don’t make the right decision?” my mom told me after I watched the devastating story about a mother who evacuated too late, and as giant waves washed over her car, was forced to put her two boys on the roof of her SUV. Then, as a humongous wave washed over her car, she desperately watched the two boys get washed away while being drowned to death.

My father came into the room soon after, his face flushed, and his expression scared. He looked around nervously. My mom rose. “What happened? Does it have to do with the boat?” she said, referring to a large charter yacht named The Star of America, my family’s yacht, which is used to rent out parties and weddings. This is what gets bread on the table and a roof over our heads. He then showed us the tragic photo of the sunken boat, lying on its side in the shipyard.

My mom was shocked, and I started crying. I ran into my room. For the rest of the week, our family was silent. Nothing much happened. Even though everyone in the house was quiet, I knew that everyone’s minds were racing. Then, we got the call. The Mayor of Manorhaven called my mom, and told her that our electricity was back on. We soon went home, got our WiFi back, and everything was back to normal.

Although the crazy rollercoaster Sandy is over, I will always have the memory of this wild ride and the day we lost our beautiful boat.

Noa Farrington is the daughter of Manorhaven Trustee Dorit Farrington. Patch welcomes opinions from all members of the community. If you are interested please contact Adina Genn.