{"id":1636,"date":"2012-11-15T13:23:37","date_gmt":"2012-11-15T18:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marioninnyc.com\/?p=1636"},"modified":"2013-03-06T16:20:34","modified_gmt":"2013-03-06T21:20:34","slug":"about-a-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marioninnyc.com\/?p=1636","title":{"rendered":"About a Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was in Reading, PA, a full-time campaign volunteer, when the storm hit.\u00a0 When I first heard about its coming, it didn’t sink in.\u00a0 Too many exaggerated weather warnings to believe this would really be the big one<\/em>.\u00a0 My biggest concern was whether or not they’d cancel Le Nozzi di Figaro<\/a> at the Met, for which I had tickets on Monday, October 29th.\u00a0 My plan had been to drive home on Monday — since the weekend was prime “get-out-the-vote” time, and return to Reading on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Sunday evening reality set in.\u00a0 This would be bad, and at some point the better-half and I decided that even if the show did go on, I wouldn’t be coming home to see it.\u00a0 Then I went through about half an hour of insanity thinking I could still make it home before the storm hit and at least spend the hurricane with my better-half.\u00a0\u00a0 Craig already knew he wouldn’t be going to the office on Monday and Tuesday.\u00a0 The campaign headquarters would be closed at least on Monday.\u00a0 I knew our home would be safe facing west and on high ground, but I wanted to be there — with my life-partner and our animal companions. It was only lightly raining at that point, and the storm wouldn’t hit till Monday.\u00a0 However, after thinking it through I realized that driving even in light rain for three hours on dark roads after a day spent canvassing would not be a great idea, especially when the weather would only get worse and if anything happened — a fender bender, a flat — I would be in a world of trouble.<\/p>\n

As it turned out Reading was not hard hit.\u00a0 Out in the suburb of Wyomissing where I was staying, we never lost power or the Internet.\u00a0 Up in upper-Manhattan where I live, we didn’t do much worse.\u00a0 Outside some boards fell from the scaffolding which surrounds our complex because of ongoing work.\u00a0 Fortunately, no one was hurt.\u00a0 A few trees were knocked down, but on the whole it looks like the damage you might get after any bad storm.<\/p>\n

Craig went out into the worst of it.\u00a0 He wanted to know if the Dunkin Donuts on 125th street was open.\u00a0 It was!\u00a0 A few cops and a few hipster types were there.\u00a0 The wind was so bad that a worker opened and closed the door.\u00a0 My weather-geek better-half also went to check on West Harlem Piers Park<\/a>.\u00a0 The wind was swelling but the water wasn’t flooding over.\u00a0 A passing patrol car slowed and while they didn’t stop and tell him to get the hell to shelter, he knew he should head home before something hit him.<\/p>\n

We talked a lot over the phone and Skype.\u00a0 He lost the Internet for a few hours on Tuesday, but that was the worst of it in our neighborhood.\u00a0\u00a0 He works in mid-town, north of the disaster area.\u00a0 Some co-workers were hit hard — losing their homes altogether or with massive property damage.\u00a0 He reported a weird sense of survivor’s guilt and a frustration that what he could do was so limited.<\/p>\n

When I saw The Daily Show<\/em><\/a> a couple of nights later, the talented writers had captured the weirdness of this tale of two cities.<\/p>\n

As for what anybody can do, a co-worker of Craig’s has been doing what she can in hard hit areas, and will be sheltering pets and possibly people in her Queens apartment.\u00a0 There are groups that have sprung up, and donations to groups like\u00a0 the United Way<\/a> and the Red Cross<\/a> are always needed.\u00a0 For people who want to actively help, the best “clearing house” site I’ve seen for volunteer opportunities is\u00a0 at http:\/\/www.nycservice.org\/#s.<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s a look at some of the reality on the ground:
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