It’s been a week since the violent storm hit the peninsula area of Virginia, and believe me, it’s been a long week! Even just days before the storm, the city was in an uproar. Stores were crawling with crazed people scrambling for canned foods, flashlights, batteries, and any other hurricane necessity. I played it cool, hoping that the storm wouldn’t be so bad in my part of town. The worst of the storm was supposed to be hitting the worst at a town an hour away, so I’d figured I’d be ok.
Once the storm started, I was confused… was it a hurricane, or just a typical Virginia rain storm? It was mediocre during the day; I even went to McDonald’s to get breakfast! Irene stayed at a Category 1 storm all day and she still did major damage. I caught up with the news for the majority of the day (before my power went off) and the stories were crazy and beyond belief, almost like a movie.
There was a story about a man crawling from a crumbling building less than a block from my house!
That’s when I officially went nuts! I was by myself, it was so dark that I couldn’t see outside, and there was no possibility of escaping from Irene! I was over it, and watching the news wasn’t helping anything. A friend even sent me a picture message saying that she almost hit a tree because it fell over WHILE she was driving. I’m even convinced that the infamous Irene brainwashed our community: there were streakers on The Weather Channel, and a woman got stabbed to death while the storm was taking its toll.
More than a handful of people dubbed the storm as overrated, as it was, but the fact of the matter is that the storm was a tragedy for some. Forty-four deaths were confirmed while Irene was in an uproar on the East Coast. Through the storm, I learned a few things about myself. I wish my family was closer to me, just for support. I’m a young college grad who works her tail off, and family would’ve been great during Irene.
I found out that I’m extremely happy that I was born in 1987 and not in 1800 because using a candle and a keychain flashlight is not a stellar substitute for electricity. By the way, I was livid when my power kicked off and my laptop died. It was so hot in my house that I contemplated sleeping in my car just so I could have air conditioning. Nonetheless, Irene has passed and most of us are back to our normal lives. Our hearts go out to those whose lives were forever changed by Irene and please let us know if GalTime can assist those who are dealing with the cleanup, destruction and aftermath.
On a final note, did anyone see "Spider-Man takes Hurricane Irene head on"?
