The Aftermath of Sandy

The Aftermath of Sandy

By: Brandi Jorden, ENGL 336.001

Bowery Street October 29th, 2012

The super storm hit Frostburg, Md October 29, 2012 with relentless furry. Hurricane Sandy tore through the small mountain town that terrified and entranced community. The wind roared, the rain, hail, and snow poured relentlessly from the sky. Lighting struck for hours, and thunder shook people and their homes. The storm its self demonstrated the Sandy’s vast destructive path. Sandy reached 900 miles wide and reached wind speeds of more than 90 mph. In Frostburg the total amount of snowfall was 5.7 inches. There was about 6 inches of rain within the first day the Hurricane Sandy struck Frostburg. Luckily Frostburg did not receive the worst wrath of Sandy who caused over a billion dollars in damage on the New Jersey shore.

However, Sandy’s impact was felt my all citizens in the Frostburg community. Many local businesses were unable to open for almost a week because they did not have power. One businessman, Bill Spencer, owner of Bill’s Grub Hub, stated “I didn’t have power until this past Sunday, and I was lucky to get that. Most of my friends in the area are still without power. You know you just don’t mess with Mother Nature, she’s a powerful lady!" After the storm hit Potomac Edison, the main power corporation providing for Western Maryland, reported a 43% outage rate in Frostburg, Md. Frostburg State University issued a state of emergency and urged students to stay indoors until the storm passed. The University closed for three days due to the terrible weather conditions. JJ Maloney, a senior at Frostburg State University, stated, “I’ve never seen a storm like this. It’s snowing, raining, lighting, thundering, hailing, and big drops almost like snowballs are just falling from the sky. It’s pretty tubular!"

Many students have felt the aftermath of the Hurricane Sandy. There have been drastic changes in student’s class schedules. Many teachers planned for their students to take an exam or present a major presentation the week of the storm. Now with almost of week behind professors and students are trying to cram as much as possible before Thanksgiving break which is right around the corner. Rebecca Neal, a senior at Frostburg State University, argued that her paper should be given an extension because she did not have an Internet connection until two days after school reopened. Rebecca stated, “My professor just came in the first day classes resumed and expected all of us to have our papers for him. I told him I am very sorry but I am still without cable, and Internet, and was unable to do anything during the storm. I am lucky to have power back, man! During the storm I felt like I was living in a igloo."

Luckily no one was severally harmed by the storm. The community is starting to look like it did before the storm. There is only a little bit of snow left on the ground. Students and community members are venturing out of the house and getting back in the grove of things at Frostburg.