The document summarizes the experiences and impacts of Hurricane Sandy through quotes and photos from residents of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. In three sentences: Hurricane Sandy caused widespread power outages and property damage across New Jersey and New York in October 2012, as illustrated through photos of downed trees, flooded homes, and a trapped car. Students describe riding out the storm in their basement and being without power for over a week, while others remark on the devastation seen in neighboring communities and their frustration with the slow response to restore electricity. Despite escaping physical damage, one student acknowledges that the storm had serious consequences for many residents across the affected region.

1. The Storm: Living in the Aftermath of
Hurricane Sandy
Slideshow By: Jeremy Mahr

2. Clean-up from the debris left by Hurricane Sandy.

3. A toppled tree upon the house of an unsuspecting resident.

4. “The power went off in the middle of the storm and our generator didn't
go off, so my dad decided to go check on it….meanwhile transformers
were going all around my neighborhood so there were green flashes, and
we kept yelling at him to come back inside. Once he realized he couldn't
fix it tonight we all went to sleep in the basement and my sister and I sang
songs about water and flooding. The next morning as I woke up at around
10 the generator just went on. Turns out that he had called the generator
people, figured out what was wrong with the generator and gone out to
get a big enough battery. The only battery that would work was a car
one…. and [he] hooked up the car battery so it would work.”
-Kayla Pierle, senior

5. "I did go outside during the storm, just to see what it was like.
The wind went uncontrollably insane, the rain even worse.
The ground itself creaked. It was like being in the middle of a
movie.”
-Alex Eng, freshman

6. A Whitehouse Station resident’s car trapped underneath a
pile of toppled trees.

7. " My family was without power since the storm hit, until
November the 9th. We have a generator so the power was
more annoying than anything. What was really devastating,
though, was the cabin fever that the power outage caused.“
-Justin Bean, sophomore

8. "Being without power is frustrating, but I kind of like it so I don't
have to rely too much on the internet. I do want running hot
water though.“
-Jenn Payenski, senior

9. “I lost power Monday night when the storm hit and I didn't get it
back until yesterday. The workers of JCP&L were moving
slower than a snail in a tub of super glue!”
-Stephen Nicol, senior

10. As the storm continued to gather strength, personal property-
including this trampoline- were left to the mercy of the high winds

11. The force of the storm was able to uproot this tree, along with
thousands of others on the eastern seaboard.

12. At its peak, Hurricane Sandy left millions of Americans without power, with the
states of New Jersey and New York bearing most of the brunt.

13. “We were without power for about ten days, when my neighbor
decided to take matters into his own hands. Frustrated by the lack
of information and/or action by JCP&L, he decided to create a sign
to attract attention. He drove to the front of our street and drilled it
into the telephone pole. It read, "Free Warm Beer to the 1st
Company to Restore Power!”. Eight hours later, our power was back
on. I'm not sure if the workers ever got their beer.”
-James Vorwick, sophomore

15. “Even though I wasn't affected by it physically (I still had power...go ahead
you guys can hate me for it), I have to say, and I think I said this before,
that we are the lucky ones…. I have seen pictures on the news of so much
rubble, so much destruction, so many houses reduced to nothing. I try to
think to myself that this didn't really happen in New Jersey or the tri-state.
but it did, and it's just unbelievable that something like this could happen
to a state like New Jersey. When people say it was the worst storm we
experienced, I think they really mean it.”
-Anna Tsatsos, sophomore

16. A local resident surveys the damage left behind by the storm near Sergeatsville

17. Many homes- such as this one in Flemington- suffered severe damage
from the debris left by the storm.

18. "Hurricane Sandy..... is that s*** I don't like.”
-Nicholas Pellitta, sophomore

19. Photo Credits
• Adam Zeloof
• Anthony Amato
• Brenna Gostylo
• James Vorwick
• Kaitlin Paciullo
• Lauren Nazzaro