Sandy’s effect spreads further than her winds

While the threat of Hurricane Sandy has passed, the effects are still being felt across the East Coast and even here at Bethel College. Bethel is home to students from all different areas, including those affected by the storm. Elizabeth Platt is a junior majoring in ASL who hails from central New Jersey. “Friends of mine have lost their homes,” Platt said. “My family is still without power, water, etc. and will be for a week or two more minimum. My mom’s company is pretty much at a standstill because she works with schools. It’s very odd to be here in Indiana and see pictures of things that have been destroyed in my town.” Platt's mother frequently sends her updates and pictures of what life is now like for those living in areas affected by Sandy. “They are waiting in line for hours to get simply things like gas and bottled water,” Platt explains. Other Bethel students also weighed in. Heather Miller, also an ASL major, is from Lancaster County, PA, which she described as “country, farmland, Amish, all that.” Because her home is further in from the coast, the results of the hurricane weren’t as drastic. “I felt fine because I knew it was going to be hitting all of the East Coast and we were going to be getting the side [of it],” Miller said. However, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any impact. “[There are] really, really strong winds- I think 50-60 miles per hour,” said Miller. “They had a state advisory that no one could go out and since there was a state advisory no one could work… My parents were really afraid the power was going to go out. A lot of people around them lost power.” Clean up and restoration is a slow process. “They won’t have power back until thanksgiving,” Platt said of her family. “Our road and another road that intersects with our road- the damage is more like the effects of a tornado than a hurricane. [The power companies] can’t get to it.” For those that lost power, generators are a valuable asset, but it has a price. “They have a small generator and they go through two or three gallons of gas a day…They’ve already spent, like, $200 on gas.” It is in events such as these, however, when people come together. A telethon put on by Red Cross and NBC Universal was able to raise $23 million to help hurricane victims. Platt also talked about how citizens help each other out. Families that have power have put up signs so that others can come to charge their phones and other electronic devises. News vans drive around and share power as well. President Obama attended a briefing on recovery efforts in Washington Saturday at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters where he said that the situation is his “number one priority.” "We still have a long way to go to make sure that the people of New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and some of the surrounding areas get their basic needs taken care of and we get back to normalcy."