It is said that New England should have a hurricane every 10-12 years. As the last hurricane that hit New Hampshire was in 1983, it was clear that we were quite overdue.
October 29th, 2012. The news reports were everywhere, warning the East Coast of the incoming “Hurricane Sandy”. Telling homeowners to bring their belongings inside, be aware of flooding, and find a safe place to hang out while the storm passes.
I was 6 years old. My brother was 2. We sat in the TV room watching the news, not understanding what was going on. My parents explained that a hurricane was going to hit us. That meant nothing to me. What’s a hurricane? My mom attempts to explain that it is extremely fast wind and tons of rain. I looked out the window, watching as cars raced home. The trees were shaking as I could hear the wind through the window. We weren’t allowed outside, for obvious reasons, so my brother and I tried to find other things to keep up occupied while our parents were busy checking if the generator works, filling the tub with water, and staring at the tree that's leaning right over my brother's room.
As the day passes, the wind continues to pick up speed, and the rain begins. We sit eating dinner as my dad continues to refresh the news reports. I move to the door, standing facing a dark cloud. I begin to yell, “Sandy, leave us alone, go back to where you came from”. My hands are pressed against the glass window of the door. The wind made my fingers cold. I watched as our neighbors' trash bins went flying everywhere and tree branches crashed into the side of my house.
We moved to the living room to watch our nightly TV. I continued to watch the storm through the window, occasionally yelling as if the storm could hear me. All of a sudden, the power went out. The TV shut off. My dad ran and grabbed a flashlight to go turn the generator on. I turned to the window and saw the power lines swinging loose. Half the poll was lying in the street. The roads were quiet.
I couldn’t sleep at all that night. My brother slept with my parents in case the tree fell into his room. Eventually, after some eerie visions, I was able to fall asleep. I woke up the next morning, Halloween, ready to where my cat costume, completely unaware of the damage outside my window. I go downstairs and look out the door. The world is silent. No birds in sight. Just tree branches scattered, half a tree grazed my neighbor's house, and trash was everywhere. I went outside, picked up the trash in the yard, moved my neighbors' bins back to their driveway, and came inside to have breakfast. An hour later, the road was filled with men in hard hats cutting up the tree. I went for a walk with my mom around the block to get outside. We were lucky; the neighbors across the street had their car crushed by a tree, and others had broken windows. Down the road along the beach, people's homes had been almost completely submerged under water.
From that night on, Hurricane Sandy became my enemy, and I hated her. I was only 6, so hating a storm seemed very normal to me. I have yet to experience another hurricane. However, New England is overdue.
Sources:
https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/exeter-news-letter/2012/10/29/sandy-jolts-seacoast-with-power/49317987007/
https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-sandy-vs-hurricane-of-1938-2012-10#:~:text=Follow%20Henry%20Blodget,alert%20straight%20to%20your%20inbox!&text=In%20an%20effort%20to%20get,Jersey%20Shore%2C%20not%20New%20England.
https://www.wmur.com/article/images-remembering-hurricane-sandy-in-new-hampshire/5133492
https://medium.com/@tbbates16/superstorm-sandy-10th-anniversary-memories-and-images-e068a8ac27e9
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