By: Shalom Montero

Sandy woke up around the equator and decided she had missed land for far too long. She left Spongebob and came to the USA’s East coast, becoming a Category One hurricane in the process. As funny as naming a hurricane Sandy sounds, bringing back the memory of our childhood TV show Spongebob, this hurricane was no laughing matter. Sandy wasn’t the cute squirrel that we all know and love from Texas, but the Sandy that Spongebob woke during her hibernation. She terrorized us, kept us out of school, took people out of their houses and into shelters, and took lives throughout this process.
Remember how people say home is where the heart is? Well, Sandy hit America’s heart, destroying homes in the process. Tuscarora is multi-cultural, and its students are from all over the world. This is why it’s not too shocking that students had family members who were deeply hurt by the hurricane. One of the students that has family members impacted by Sandy is senior Kyle O’Connor. “My mom’s family lives in Long Island. [They’re] staying with grandparents because they have power,” he explains. Another senior, Jordan Stevens, says, “My aunt lives in New Jersey, and the whole area was out of power for a few days. They’re staying with another aunt right now.”
Trains had been stopped, and parents who worked downtown had no way of getting to work. This hurricane caused the governor of New Jersey to change Halloween to the Monday after. In Union Beach, New Jersey, some schools had re-opened by November 6th; however, challenges were still there since schools had no lunch and, above all, no boiler to keep the whole school warm. Although the kids were surely happy about that small detail, the big picture was yet to reveal itself to them. Normal day-to-day people found themselves in the streets when their homes were burned down by fire or destroyed by the hurricane.
The good thing is that the trains have been restored thus far, but some of the damage made was too much. The Huffington Post explains, “The tunnel which connects Brooklyn with downtown Manhattan flooded with an estimated 43 million gallons of water that damaged electrical, lighting, communications, surveillance, and ventilation systems, authorities said.” This has been a devastating hit, and while some people just got time off school and a little bit of thunder, others suffered through the eye of the storm and were lucky enough to live through it. Now that things are going back to normal, schools are being opened and students are complaining about grades and school in general. Your own life is probably back to normal, but have you ever thought about the ways that you could help those affected by the storm?
Info: If you know people that were affected by it, or you just want to help, please visit the website for the Red Cross Hurricane Aid. You might not know the people, but they will greatly appreciate your help. A little help can go a long way.