Sandy, aka here we go again...

[WindingRoad]

Nice article and shows people new ways of looking at all of this. I don't know about everyone else but all of the destruction, misery and loss incurred in the last few days has really made me depressed. I keep hearing of everyone struggling to get back to some kind of normal and it is so easy to get sucked in to the negative side of it all. Articles like the one Trek put up make me feel better to see people turning a bad situation into a much more palatable one :-)

[rocknrollgirl]

Greetings from the Jersey Shore, or what is left of it. I am in Manahawkin, the mainland to Long Beach Island. About a mile from the beach as the crow flies. Needless to say we got pounded. The Island is still closed. Many of my friends and my students do not know if they have a home to return to. We had huge trees down all over the place, but my house is still standing. No school for the rest of the week and we had off for fall break next week anyway, so that will be a blessing.

I do not scare easily and I was scared. I would never ride out any storm stronger than that. Yikes.

We did not have power for a few days and it was shocking to finally get the news and see the aftermath. It is breaking my heart.

[OakLeaf]

Thanks for checking in, all. Keeping the good thoughts flowing to the region....

[Serendipity]

Watched the television coverage last night, particularly of the evacuation of Bellevue Hospital. So hard to fathom the massive devastation. I get that (as they say) people will get through this but in the meantime, my heart goes out to everyone trying to cope with it all and get their 'normal' back. Beyond comprehension!

[Trek420]

It's horrifying. I can't imagine. How can we help?

Here are more cyclists pitching in: http://grist.org/news/post-sandy-bik...kXlpx5Y.reddit

[PamNY]

We just got power back -- ironically I'm at my friend's house in Brooklyn to charge various devices and take a shower. We won't have heat or hot water for a while I'm told, but internet service is working.

It wasn't pleasant -- I hated ignoring the dog's pleas to go outside, but he is very old and I feared he would get injured going down 26 floors. We could have gone to stay with friends, but I felt keeping him safe was more important.

I've only had radio for news, so like everyone else I'm slowly absorbing the scale of destruction brought by Sandy.

I saw a lot of cyclists in Manhattan and Brooklyn -- clearly bikes saved the day for some commuters. Alas, I couldn't get my bike down all those stairs, but I do have my Xootr.

[OakLeaf]

How can we help?

Since no one in the affected region has chimed in on that ...

my general feeling is that the organizations in the best position to do disaster relief are the ones who were on the ground before it happened. Here's New York Magazine's annual list of best charities in the city. I couldn't find anything similar for New Jersey, but as always, when considering giving to a charity you're not familiar with, research it on Charity Navigator, Guidestar, and if it's a smaller organization, on their state regulatory agency's website.

And don't forget the devastation in the Caribbean islands, either. The usual suspects are at work there: Mercy Corps, Doctors without Borders, International Red Cross, Partners in Health are among the organizations at the top of my list.

[Fredwina]

Sandy was bust here in Albany.
Professionally , however....
I'm a computer programmer for NYS' Office of Temporary and Disablity Assitance. I work excuslivey with NYC's Human Resources Authority(HRA),
Things have been a mess. Right now, we going to issue emergency Food Stamp money to 350,000 folks, with more to come. Since I did the emergency money for Irene, I've gotten tasked with this again. We're alsi supposed to sending some money out, and I'm writining some code for that, which should be ready for Tuesday. Needless to say, not much bike riding this weekend. Probably will head to work as soon as I read the Times Union.