Getting Back On Track

After the hurricane we lost power for a few days, but thankfully nothing much worse occurred here in our little corner of Connecticut. During that time I began my new job as a marine biologist at an environmental consulting firm in Rhode Island. Between both of those things (and our usual lack of TV/radio), I've just now had the chance to look at stories regarding the effects of Hurricane Sandy and it's all just so, so sad. New York City and the south shore of Long Island, where I grew up, were particularly hard hit. In one sense, it's natural: storms happen and with such high density populations living near the coast, a lot of people are going to be affected. However, the fact that storms like this are just going to continue to become worse and more frequent due to climate change, which a good portion of our country doesn't understand and refuses to even acknowledge, is what is really scary. We can't handle or prepare for a problem that we refuse to take steps to address (drastically reducing fossil fuel consumption). Scary! But I'm not here to lecture. I'm here to send warm wishes to those who lost their homes or businesses to the winds and flooding and to suggest sending a small donation to the Red Cross for hurricane relief if you can spare it. Every little bit counts when there are so many people whose lives have been completely changed.

I also have some pictures to share of a small, local beach in the area. All but the first of these were taken on Tuesday 10/30, after the worst of the storm occurred:

Monday night after things calmed down. That full moon is pretty but also responsible for the extra  high lunar tides.

Debris under the railroad bridge leading to the beach.

Huge driftwood and pieces of uplifted pavement.

Bench buried in sand.

The wave action completely changed this beach. Those were all dunes and the path used to be a very steep climb.

I don't even know where this piece of boardwalk used to be.

Fallen limbs.

Seawalls in action and another destroyed beach in the background.

The wrack line, which indicates the uppermost limit of the tide, way back into the park.

Trying to give a sense of how far from the water the wrack line was.

More ripped up dunes/hill.

This used to be a parking lot!

Broken seawall.

Broken street.

This is all just minor damage and it still really reminds you of the strength of the sea, how little control we have, and how long it's going to take to fix everything. I'm hoping that you and your loved ones are safe, wherever you may be, and that everyone can get back to their regular lives sooner than later.