The gusting winds were surrounding my aunt’s house as my whole family stood inside, unsure of what was going to come later that night. The anticipated evening slowly crept upon us, and our fear of the storm built up. We made sure to keep every television on to keep informed and in touch with what was going on in surrounding areas. We played old card games and watched movies together to keep our wondering minds off of what could potentially be going on in our home back in Massapequa. All I thought about were my friends at home. As I looked through my phone in disbelief, I looked through the pictures my friends had uploaded of what back in Massapequa had looked like. My eyes were glued to the screen in awe because the storm was not scheduled to have even hit our homes yet. From that point on I knew whatever this storm had under its belt would leave a lasting impression on the whole east coast—including my home—and that things were going to drastically change.
The morning after the storm had hit I opened my eyes and hoped that it had all been a bad dream. Unfortunately, it hadn’t. My aunt’s house runs on a natural gas generator so we were still with power. I flipped through news channels and saw that channel after channel had devastating stories to tell and even worse pictures to show than the last. All I kept thinking about was my grandparents’ house back home. They refused to evacuate with us and it frightened me that they had to stay home alone and fend for themselves through this treacherous storm at such an old and withered age. They live five blocks away from me but even that distance could have been a big deciding factor on how badly you were hit by the storm. Trying to get in touch with them was impossible. We were able to contact neighbors who had said some houses were flooded completely on our very own block. Luckily my house was bone-dry. How could this be? So many houses were burnt down to the ground, and others were left with just the tall walls they were built with. I almost felt guilty knowing what so many families were going through and feeling and my house was perfect.
Finally we got in touch with my grandparents. Then and there we were hit with the bad news. Their two-story warm and welcoming home was ruined. The first floor was wiped out from top to bottom. The first floor consisted of the kitchen, living room, one bathroom, dining room, and master bedroom. This turned out to be the majority of their living space. We were devastated. What were we going to do? This is where my father grew up, where I ate my Wednesday and Sunday night dinners every week, where I reunite with my out-of-state cousins every once in a while. From then on I knew that both our lives and my grandparents’ lives were going to be very different.
The drive home from my aunt’s felt like it was taking forever. The one hour drive felt like a long, upsetting day that was never going to end. The look in my grandmother’s eyes when we arrived at her house said it all. It couldn’t have been good. Walking through each step of the house caused tears to build up in my eyes as I saw more and more devastation. The smell of mold and water was unbearable, and left my grandfather ill because of his asthma. We all tried our hardest to clean up the house to the best of our ability. Just by the look of things I knew they couldn’t stay there. We decided as a family we had to work together to be strong for each other.
Even though this horrific storm caused much more bad news than good, lessons were learned. People were made to open their eyes and be appreciative for what they have. An increasing amount of change was created all over Massapequa, but also in surroundings areas and states as well. For some people change may seem scary, but sometimes a little change could be for the better.