“Who ever reads this I’m DIEING [dying]– I’m 28 yrs old my name is Mike. I had to break in to your house. I took blankets off the couch. I have hypothermia. I didn’t take any thing. A wave thru me out of my house down the block. I don’t think I’m going to make it. The water outside is 10ft deep at least. There’s no res[c]ue. Tell my dad I love him and I tryed get[t]ing out. His number is ###-###-#### his name is Tony. I hope u can read this I’m in the dark. I took a black jacket too. Goodbye. God all mighty help me.”
Despite the foreshadowing in this note, Mike was rescued by an unidentified waverunner. It is human nature to become enthralled by captivating stories like his. As Midwesterners we safely witnessed Sandy’s destruction and stories like Mike’s on all media outlets for at least a week after the storm hit. Pictures of destruction and debris filled the homepages of every internet site, and celebrities made avid pleas for donations to the American Red Cross.
But where is the news coverage now three weeks after the storm? We are forgetting that Sandy’s victims need saving even after the storm has subsided.
Just eight days after Sandy hit the U.S. on Tuesday, Nov. 6, another storm ravaged our shores. The final battle between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney commenced. Many worried that the power outages, floods and snowstorms would delay voting on Election Day. The people living through the nightmare of Hurricane Sandy were merely seen as a
red or blue vote. We became lost in the politics of the epic presidential race and forgot about those who needed us most.
As the campaign commercials exited the airwaves so did much of the focus on Hurricane Sandy. Instead, Kristen Stewart’s latest revealing dress and “Breaking Dawn Part 2” advertisements take up two of the top five news spots on yahoo.com. The Petraeus scandal is the dominant story on cnn.com.
The news stories that are no longer on the web or television coverage are our only connection to the Frankenstorm. We cannot relate to those affected in the east because the worst thing that Sandy brought us was a blast of cold weather. We don’t know what it’s like to see our homes washed away one day and buried in snow the next. So how do we remember Sandy’s victims a month after the storm?
We should seek updates about the recovery efforts for Hurricane Sandy. We should visit credible websites like redcross.org to donate and see where help is most needed. Most importantly, we cannot forget how many the storm really affected. Like Mike, many people survived the storm but have no home to go back to. It is up to people like us to keep Sandy’s victims at the forefronts of our minds instead of letting it slip away into the abyss of past media coverage.