The Sociological Imagination and Hurricane Sandy

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The Sociological Imagination and Hurricane Sandy: Was Hurricane Sandy a Personal Trouble or Public Issue? Hurricane Sandy hit the United States on October 29, 2012, destroying the Northeast. Soon after landfall, media started calling this perfect storm “Superstorm Sandy” and “Frankenstorm.” Killing over one hundred people, this thirteen-day storm, affected twenty-four states, including the entire eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine and west across the Appalachian Mountains to Michigan and Wisconsin. The most severe damage was in New Jersey and New York. Sandy left tens of thousands homeless, crippled mass transit, triggered paralyzing gas shortages, inflicted billions of dollars in infrastructure damage and cut power to more than 8million homes. In New Jersey alone, Sandy caused at least $29.4 billion, including costs of personal property, businesses, infrastructure and utility damage. However, in New York City, the storm was costing about $200 million a day in lost economic activity. Not only did Sandy affect the geography, it affected communities. The lack of food, power, and heat affected absolutely everyone emotionally and physically, causing the sociology of disaster. It changed everyone’s daily routines and everyday life, including mine. Living in the United States for the first time in my life was probably the biggest adjustment I’ve ever had to undergo. I’ve lived on the small island of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands my entire life. It was hard enough moving thousands of miles away from my home, but being a part of a place that was completely destroyed by a hurricane was beyond my wildest predictions of being here. Growing up in the Caribbean, I went through dozens of hurricanes throughout my lifetime, but never had I been through a storm situation quite like Sandy. Being stuck at Saint Peter’s University, without being able to go home, like
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