Rachel and I were lucky. We had power, heat, water – we were really, really lucky. So many weren’t, and it’s terribly sad..
The resilience – some would call it cynicism – of the people in this city amazes me, but I think that this event will have longer-lasting effects than people might think. We’ve basically gotten a teaser trailer of what’s going to happen when these storms start becoming more and more frequent. As someone (I forget who) so eloquently wrote: “I can’t believe New York has a hurricane season now.” It’s clear that this city is unable to handle it, and I hope the powers that be are paying attention.
It does make you realize that a city is only as good as its infrastructure. Getting from point A to point B or making electricity flow is completely taken for granted sometimes, and we forget the importance of infrastructure at our own peril. This is an especially important point these days, when the whole idea of any kind of social cooperation that involves pooling funds to create infrastructure is decried as Godless Muslim Socialism.
The bottom line is this: take away our electricity for a few days, and we’re pretty much crippled. It really should make people think about just how fragile our modern ecosystem has become, and just how much we need to change our thinking to guard against future catastrophes.