I grew up
in Tarrytown, a lovely little town on the Hudson River, about a thirty-minute
train ride north of Manhattan. In all the years I lived there, I cannot
remember this type of storm occurring. Yes, there were intense storms, with resultant
minor flooding here and there. I can remember the Saw Mill River and Bronx
River Parkways being flooded and becoming impassable. Once I tried to drive
through one of those parkway floods with my car, but had to back out of it as I
could not steer my way through it. Luckily I managed to back out of it; not
everyone was so fortunate. I was together with a friend of mine; we were
commuting home from college that day. Water seeped into my car through the
doors, and we had to bail out pails of water from the car afterward. It was a
stupid decision on my part to attempt to drive through the rising water, and I
learned an important lesson that day for the future about not taking unnecessary
risks. But in Tarrytown (and other Hudson River towns) yesterday, there was unprecedented
flooding. The Hudson River rose higher and higher due to the storm surge
further south. Boats floated inland, having broken free of their moorings. In
the town of Ossining, a few miles north of Tarrytown, a boat floated onto the
railroad tracks, blocking passage in both directions. The pictures tell the
story—proof that the unbelievable happened. I am including two links to online storm
photos here. I am sad to see the destruction and flooding, and only hope that
most people have come through the storm safely. http://www.businessinsider.com/at-least-16-dead-75-million-without-power--heres-what-hurricane-sandys-destruction-looks-like-photos-2012-10?0=bi
and