Six Months After Sandy

      Six months later, the iconic image of the terribly fierce storm, Hurricane Sandy, is finally being brought down. The Jersey Shore roller coaster that was beaten up during the storm at last is being demolished. Hurricane Sandy gave a whopping to America's upper east coast. New Jersey, New York, including all of the Big Apple's five boroughs, Connecticut were heavily damaged by a once in a hundred years storm that ran through the country northeast region with fury. Many homes were completely flooded, businesses were forced to be start over from scratch, people were stranded from their homes for months, many residents still have yet to return. Some moved on, finding new homes elsewhere. Kids were out of school for weeks, some forced to attend new schools. Individuals, families, and businesses in the thousands are still waiting for FEMA. Soon after the storm hit, people were defiantly claiming in front of the cameras; "We will rebuild." Well, they are still rebuilding. Some parts of the area affected by Sandy, they stopped rebuilding. Areas where homes and businesses should never have been built in the first place, because of potential flooding by nearby creeks and rivers have wisely been abandoned after the eventual suddenly happened. Of course some are still building, rebuilding homes by the Jersey shore, stretching houses already on stilts to even greater lengths in hopes of defending themselves against potential new storms. Houses that previously were not on stilts are now being raised on stilts. Raising a house on stilts can be extremely costly. Some costs average $12000 depending upon the area and foundation of the home. Some people have paid $70,000, even $130,000 to raise a house on stilts. A person living in Atlanta can buy a decent sized family home for some of these prices. Such relentlessness to rebuild illustrates both the amount of money people living in these areas have to spend and the obsessive love some have for living at the beach.
       A few days ago constructive crews replaced the boom of the colossal crane more than six months after it was left warped and twisted, dangling next to a massive sky scraper located in the hurricane Sandy drenched area of  Manhattan. The crane's top was previously left hanging over the top of the streets of Manhattan. Such is a sight that can only come close to comparisons in New York to the aftermaths of the twin towers collapsing during 911.
       Now in 2013 as remnants of the damage is still very visible in both New York and New Jersey, our country is still pretty much in a daze over what to do. Much of America has forgotten about the storms, going about each individuals business of making money, taking care of each one's self and family, having a life but if one was to surf the web or better yet watch, take a visit to the Big Apple and Jersey Shore, he or she would be reminded of the terrible wreck Hurricane Sandy brought into this country. This hurricane was no joke. Is this writing doomsday report, news of gloom, no but a reminder that yes in America, people are struggling. While we are going about our everyday business, having a life, let's not forget our neighbors to the north or to the east of us, some at least are not faring too well. After Hurricane Sandy the number of homeless number in the thousands. 72 deaths were inflicted directly by the storm, 87 deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, accidents during clean up efforts, and hypothermia due to power outages. Show some love and grace to our American neighbors by donating, time, love, money, and encouragement. God Bless.