Yesteryear's Hurricane Stories

The following are true stories heard following last year's Hurricane Irene. I pray we have less damage, and more stories of neighbors helping neighbors as Storm Sandy tackles the eastern seaboard this year.

While there was damage, and thousands of people were without electrical power on Long Island (NY), neighbor came out and helped neighbor. In other parts of the country, this may be the norm, but not as much in and around NYC. The news had the reporter in awe and he added, "We have not seen such neighborly acts of people reaching out to one another in this area since 9/11."

The day following the hurricane, in Richmond VA, no one in the neighborhood could get out of the driveway, let alone down the street. So many trees had fallen, but 15 neighbors in the area got together and spent the day cutting and moving the fallen trees. One jokingly added they were all stocked up with firewood for the winter.

In Connecticut, the local news reported what areas were out of power. Those few who had power opened their homes for others to come over for a meal, a hot shower, or even just to charge their electronic devices, such as cell phones, laptops and children's video games. Local high schools acquired generators so they could offer the same. Each night, people in darkened homes would go outside and share with their neighbors the news they heard, report where there was food to buy, power to charge items, and where one may get some ice... 

Within 24-hours there was a shortage on ice. However, untold numbers of water bottles were packed in working freezers as well as ice cubes bagged to go for friends and neighbors who had no power. Room was made in freezers and refrigerators to help keep what little food could be saved. 

In some parts of this small state, there was no gas available; a combination of high demand for all the independent generators and vehicles, plus inaccessibility to get fuel trucks into areas and the stations not having power to pump the fuel. Many grabbed gas cans when power came back in their town and drove some fuel to others who lived in the more remote parts of the state, keeping them going a bit further. For those who may not realize this, unless one lives in a city or some of the "downtowns" that have public water, when you loose power, you loose water too.

In our apartment complex, a community dinner was organized on the third day without power. Anything that people had been able to keep with ice in melting freezers was cooked up, and we collectively sat outside on that beautiful evening to a feast that would rival many Thanksgiving dinners.

Other nights, a neighbor gathered fallen tree branches around the area and had a make-shift campfire in her bar-b-que. Kids spent the time chasing each other with flashlights and the light from their phones and video games, playing hide-and-seek in the vast darkness where we usually have many security lights. 

From Vermont came a remarkable story. In the communities that were completely cut off from the rest of the State because roads were washed away, neighbor came out to help neighbor "just as we did in the old days." There was a daily gathering in the town greens, where people asked what was needed and collectively determined how those needs would be met that day. They could not depend on supplies from outside, as roads were gone. So, they would go out into the fields and harvest what was ripe - by hand. Then they would gather again on the green and cook the food, sharing it so all could eat. 

There are sad stories, which the media loves to cover, much of which is already forgotten in the wake of other hurricanes, wildfires and other news. But there are also happy stories too. We were blessed with unseasonably beautiful weather for almost a week after the hurricane - perfect days where we did not need heat nor air-conditioning. The outages were scattered so that some power was found in driving distance. People had many opportunities to help others near and far. 

When other disasters come in its day,
May neighbor help neighbor in this way.  

~ ESA