Monday, November 5, 2012

Heaving a huge sigh of relief!


I let a huge sigh of relief today early morning at 3 and thanked god for all the emotional help, i was just waiting for the call. It was a great relief when i heard my hubby from Hyderabad airport.

I felt so restless  between oct 28- november 1st when  hubby was stranded in a hotel in NYC.  Frankenstorm Sandy had brought down the powerlines of NYC  and brought life to a standstill there where the  routine life of a common man was dependant on power. It cut off all communication lines betweeen my family and my husband .  I felt helpless  since none of our friends and relatives in the US could also reach him. His office too tried to reach him to reschedule his tickets. Everyone was worried for him.  It was so unsettling, i stopped watching any news related to Sandy. I did'nt want any negative reports to affect me.

Everytime i felt some negative thoughts crowding my mind, i  looked up to God. I had only faith in god, because when you have faith you know no fear. 

Luckily, the second day, some places like Dunkin donuts were restored power. An indian family near his hotel who had come to recharge his mobile went back home to get food like vada pav and khakras .

 The hotel had stocked  non veg food( we are veggies), fruits and bread. Moreover the  hotel depended on coldstorage for its food preservation. From the third day it could provide fruits and outsourced bread. 

 I was getting restless,  It was then i decided i will google to find out when power would be restored at his place. Guess,  who came to my aid?

 A FB page dedicated to Hurricane Sandy . It gave detailed account with a key mentioning where the power crew were working, where the power was restored, where there was massive outages etc. It also showed the hotel road with a blue dot( maximum outages). And all i did between those days was sit glued in front of the site and watch for the news out there. The news on the site  sounded more authentic than the press.

                ( a smaller version of the power outage map with legends which got updated every 15 minutes)

The site got many stinkers for its slow restoration work and bouquets too. But must appreciate the way, they worked through restoring power by first prioritizing hospitals and removing live wires and solving the root problem. The crew ( the yellow hard hats in the pic)  worked through day and night. The site kept updating the news every 15 minutes and cautioned people not to step on wires or do their own tree trimming work. They patiently addressed the stinker mails.  They gave priority to sms and requests where medical aid was important. The site also was updating news on the second day that the crews of the neighbouring states were sought for help.

Having said all that and appreciating their effort. It made me wonder, why an advanced country like theirs had such a disorganized disaster management. Having known in advance that Hurricane sandy was going to strike them and it was deadlier than the previous ones,  Should'nt an advanced country be well prepared to handle the crisis better. After all, they have even faced Irene last year.  The crews were hired from the neighbouring states only after two to three days.  Today, as i post this, many friends with independant homes have not been restored power. They are back to the olden days of warming up near fireplaces. Chilly winds have begun there.

Only today i am opening newspapers to read about Nilam and Sandy. How mother nature has made us 'powerless'. Perhaps, the reason why our elders worshipped nature and did'nt play with it.

Whatever said, those days were nightmarish for us, now though it can be dubbed as "life time experience".

17 comments:

  1. Well mother nature is telling us time and again to Stop taking it for granted and spoiling it with our selfish needs ..

    It is retaliating back now and we can see We can do nothing when it lashes at us ..


    Bikram's

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  2. Glad that despite the difficulty he was OK. Yes, mother nature can never be taken for granted. Once in a while she reminds us of that sharply.

    Interesting how the internet and the mobile phone has changed our ability to remain on top of things. Imagine if this had happened before that era, when you would have had no clue as to what is happening.

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    1. indeed, at times technology has made us its slave. I did imagine that too of those days. especially a tamil movie called indian where kamal goes for freedom struggle and his wife has no clue about him. Was wondering about all those days.
      The problem is we are used to comforts, when we are deprived of it we feel helpless. We were connected daily through skype and G-talk.so when communication failed, it became a bit scary.

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    2. Yeah - two generations ago, it was even more strange. My grandfather got stranded behind enemy lines during World War II. For 3 years or so, my grandmother did not even know if he was alive or not. How much we have moved on in this world; thankfully.

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    3. Oh god, your GM must have faced terrible times those days. Did you get to hear some stories of those times? Shudder to even think, we live in blessed times.

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  3. Glad that your husband is back and is fine too. Times like these can be very trying and can test a lot... our faith, patience, belief...
    The FB page about Sandy and the WIP is super cool! :)

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    1. absolutely, a trying time it was then. yeah, isn't the page cool, i loved it when the crew moved closer towards my husband's hotel.

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  4. i was checking my friends out..pesitay irukarapo connection cut aadichi..semma tension and for whole of next day avanga yaar kitenthum no message...only after seeing their mail felt relieved..unga situation can understand very well.

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    1. eppidi irukkum illa..... pesindrikkurappo cutaana? glad that many people were safe.

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  5. veetla unga samalikaravaruku sandyla oru mattera..apdinu yaaro ketaangalay?? yaarupa athu

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    1. amam pa. yaaro ungalatuum oruthar kettaru... anga dislike button kaanom adanala like button. Hmmmpf..

      Naangalum pakka porum innum konja naaalla andha madiri veetla maatindu avastha padaporada... waiting for those times :D

      ("the H" likee your comment)

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  6. I admire their pre warning system, so precise.
    I wonder what would have been the state if such a thing came on our shores....

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    1. yeah, their pre warning saved many coastal lives who were evacuated to hotels.

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  7. Glad that everything is okay with you people. It is natural to panic when all communication is lost.

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  8. All is well now :) thank you rama.

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