With Roaring Wind, Hurricane Sandy Hits Pelham Severely

By Emilia Privat, News Editor

PELHAMWOOD — With a roar of wind, hurricane Sandy hit Pelham severely on Oct. 29 around 6 p.m.  Suddenly the power went out on many streets. Some electricity came back; others are still spending their nights in dark houses, shining flashlights over board games and books.

Here’s my side of the story. My dad came downstairs and exclaimed, “We should start getting our flashlights before the electricity goes out.” Right as he said that, my family was trapped in the world of darkness.  We agreed to sleep downstairs to be safer. We brought mattresses and blankets down. We put a fire on and shined the flashlights on the ceilings to make it look like the moon and pretended we were camping.

After a shadowy dinner, I taped a flashlight to a wooden chair to show light on the floor where everyone would gather for what we called “game night extravaganza.”

“It was my first time sleeping downstairs in the living room and pretending to be camping,” said my eight-year-old sister Viviane (3D). “I slept wonderfully, and I fell asleep right away in my snuggly warm mattress.” On the other hand, I spent an uncomfortable night in a sleeping bag on the couch, listening to my sister snore.

The next day, my dad, sister and I went down our street to see what damage had been done.   Somebody had bought a new car on Thursday and a huge branch fell over the back window. Other branches and trees, of all sizes, collapsed all over town.

This spooky Frankenstorm freaked many people out. Most kids’ biggest worry was Halloween. My mom was concerned about the Trick or Treat for UNICEF campaign, since not all the boxes were distributed at school last Friday and school remains closed. My dad was upset because he didn’t think about bringing his bike inside the house. Our garage door can only be opened by electricity and, as most people in Pelham know, he depends on his bike for everything.

I know scary Sandy affected many people. I hope everyone gets power back soon (including us!).

This story also appears on the Colonial Times website.