On October 29, Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast. Millions of people experienced power outages, numerous casualties, an approximated $50 billion in damages and unprecedented flooding and snow that brought many cities close to a standstill last week.

This storm is one of the worst that the east coast has ever seen, and caused evacuations in many areas. The floods and power outages have affected millions of people who all had difficulty returning to their normal lives this week. But the experience for college students who previously attended Mountain View High School and lived in a tame climate is intriguing as well.

Neil Mallinar, a freshman at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore was concerned by the storm but was not in a position of immediate danger. He was told by his administration to make sure to have non-perishable food and water to get through a storm lasting as long as three days. Mallinar felt excited when he first heard about the storm, which was an emotion echoed by other students as well.

Naomi Cohen, a MVHS grad at Columbia University in New York also experienced the hurricane first hand.

“Judging from the exaggerated response to Hurricane Irene, which unnecessarily delayed the start of my orientation and canceled convocation, was just expecting to laugh it all over after Monday,” she said in an email on Thursday. “I felt very safe, thanks to the hard work of the staff. We were also very lucky and emerged with no damage more serious than a few broken windows and fallen trees.”

Layla Kovacevic, on the other side of Manhattan at NYU, had a slightly different experience. She was evacuated from her dorm after multiple days without power and then went to stay with Cohen at Columbia. The other students were evacuated into a hall for a few days, but all has now returned to normal, except that she still has no heat.

The Oracle wishes it’s best to all those who are currently rebuilding after the storm.

[fb-share]

[tweetbutton]