A superstorm hit the Jersey Shore four years ago. 24 states in America were affected. Rain fell and splattered. 776,000 displaced from their homes. Four years later some still have no place to go.
October of 2012, the calm before the storm whispered warnings of destruction, "Get out fast".
Duct-tape used to put X's on all windows. If the glass shattered it would be easier to pick up the pieces. The wind howled and the water became treacherous, invading the small towns along the coast.
Overnight houses were ruined, some gone. A small town by the name of Keansburg, a run-down beach town with a boardwalk. Arcade games were carried away with the tide leaving them in the streets, scattered.
There is a sadness left behind with a storm like this. No matter how much rebuilding goes on, the pain of loss lingers. "Stronger than the storm" is the slogan, but strength is not easy to maintain when all you once had is gone.
My family was lucky. We spent the night of the storm at my grandmas, safe and sound. We awoke to a world covered in leaves and muck. My parents are on the First Aid Team in our town, during that week while there were still rescues going on and volunteers were needed we stayed at a family friend's house.
I celebrated my 16th birthday without my parents, a generator gave power to the house and they surprised me with a birthday cake. My sister and I watched the Rocky Horror Picture Show that night, it was Halloween.
Once we were back at school, it was terribly different. My friends had lost their houses, people walked around like zombies, still shocked.
There was a lesson to be learned from this disaster, and that is that these things happen naturally. Fixing these things should come naturally. But the problem of money makes fixing these things an impossibility. Billions of dollars spent. Some still don't have the hope of returning home. Four years later my house has yet to be repaired. FEMA requires that houses in danger of being flooded must be lifted.
My parents bought a new house in a different town, I moved away to another country. I guess you could say we're leaving our broken pieces behind. No amount of duct tape could possibly pick them up.
