Hurricane Sandy Worries Community Members

By Jordan Figueredo '13

Hurricane Sandy may have spared South Florida, but it’s about to hammer the upper East Coast with life-threatening conditions, the likes of which have rarely been seen.  

The dangerous 900-mile wide system, which experts have dubbed “Frankenstorm,” will put around 60 million people directly in its eye around 3:00 p.m. today.

“Many have compared Sandy to ‘the Perfect Storm’ of 1991, and experts have warned it may be even worse,” Jason Samenow of Capital Weather Gang told The Washington Post earlier today.

Multiple governors have already declared a state of emergency, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has made evacuation orders for certain zones.

“This storm is a killer storm that will likely take more lives as she makes landfall,” Marlyand Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) told reporters at a press conference late last night.   

Carl Rachelson spoke to his stepbrother in New York, who is worried about power outages and falling trees.

Eighth-grader Albert Fernandez told his sister, Diana Fernandez ’12, who attends Emerson College in Boston, to purchase extra batteries.

Rebecca Verde '13 has a sister who attends college in Norton, MA.

"I'm concerned that the state isn't prepared because big hurricanes so rarely pass that region of the country," Verde said. "I'm also concerned that the buildings up north cannot sustain hurricane-force winds and tremendous amounts of water."

Eighth-grader Gaston Garcia, who also has family in New York, said he was concerned about his loved ones having sufficient water and supplies.