Effects of Hurricane Sandy: What You Can Do To Help

After the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, many people across Long Island and many other parts of the east coast are now homeless, powerless, and suffering from the losses of personal property.  As Long Islanders, it is our duty to help those desperately in need in our area. There are many efforts in our area to aid these people as best as possible that Hills West students can get involved in.

While Long Islanders attempt to return to their normal lives, some are still unable to do so. There are approximately 1,200 LIPA customers in the town of Huntington that are still in the dark and even more customers in other areas of Long Island.  One Melville attorney is filing a class action law suit against LIPA and National Grid for their negligence and recklessness during this time of need in Long Island.  The cleanup efforts are still evident as there are many areas in our community with downed trees and stray wires, even present on Wolf Hill Road.  However, the gas rationing efforts are still in effect and they have been very effective. Gas lines have greatly reduced since the odd-even gas days were implemented.

Since there are many Long Islanders struggling in cold and powerless homes, there are many relief opportunities set up all over Long Island. Some of these organizations accepting donations include: Long Beach Rec Center, Long Island Cares, Ace Hardware Stores, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Lindenhurst, the West Babylon Lions Club, North Merrick Fire Department, and the Red Cross.  All of these organizations will take clothing, money, perishable food items, or any other donations that you can provide to help the Hurricane victims.

Junior Josh Bainnson shared his experiences from the storm, “During the hurricane, we lost power for a week, and went to stay with my grandparents. Then when the nor’easter hit, our home was the place to go for anyone that needed heat, a bed, food, or power.” Many people like Bainnson opened up their homes to their family and friends who needed a place to stay after the storm.  Junior Swasti Mehta also commented on how the hurricane affected her, “We were without power for a few days and our friends allowed us to stay over. When we got our power back we returned the favor to them by lending our house because we had WiFi while they still didn’t.”

While most students at Hills West may not be feeling the effects of Hurricane Sandy any longer, there are still many on Long Island who are.  For more information on what you can do to help the victims of the hurricane and where to donate, follow @SandyVolunteer on Twitter.