I am writing this column as I sit and wait for Hurricane Irene to unleash its potential havoc on Long Island. It is an odd feeling as I watch the television and follow the storm’s course to see when and where it will hit Long Island. Like most of my neighbors, I have moved my outdoor furniture into the garage, cleared everything off the basement floor and moved anything of value from the lower level to the higher level of my home. Now the wait is on. This hurricane is coming just one week after the earthquake shook us last week. Unlike many, that was the first earthquake I have ever felt. When it happened, I was seeing a patient in my office. The exam room door started to shake and both the patient and I thought someone was trying to get into the room. I opened the door and found no one on the other side but did note that the building was shaking. Not really sure what was going on, we organized the office, led everyone down the steps and waited in the parking lot to get the all clear and learn that we had just felt the earthquake.
This hurricane is happening almost 19 years to the day from the last big hurricane I waited for. At that time, we lived in Florida on a small island named Key Biscayne. The day before the hurricane, the weather was gorgeous. The sun was shining, the skies were calm and people were enjoying the beach while they awaited the arrival of Hurricane Andrew. I was new to Florida so on my way home from the hospital, I picked up lots of bottled water and food. When I got home to my apartment, my family laughed at me for overreacting. Several hours later, with the storm rapidly approaching, I went back to the supermarket to find the shelves essentially bare. On the morning of the storm, with the weather still spectacular, we packed our car with food, water and important belongings and drove slowly off the island to begin our new adventure. We were lucky to get a room in a motel near Miami Airport where we hunkered down for the night. At about 3 a.m., we got up to watch the storm. Beautiful palm trees were blown so that they were parallel to the ground and debris was flying everywhere. By 8 a.m., the storm was over. We had made it through without a scratch although the motel lost its roof. Our food and water came in quite handy and luckily, a Miami Subs shop located across the street from the motel opened, without electricity, at noon and gave away its food. As we had no electricity, we had no idea the damage, which had occurred to our new city. The rest of the country watched it on television while we were clueless to the damage. One week later, they allowed us to return to Key Biscayne, after passing through an armed National Guard checkpoint. The main roadway was filled with boats that had washed up on land. Debris was everywhere and when we arrived at our building, much of it had blown out to sea. Luckily, no one was hurt and we learned a valuable lesson that most possessions are replaceable except the really valuable items such as photographs and mementos. Many weeks later, we were able to return to our island to live.
Although this will be published after the storm has passed, I hope that all in its path are safe and have made adequate preparations. Now is a time to all band together to help each other as the people in Miami did 15 years ago. Please help your neighbors if they need it, especially those who are elderly or disabled. As someone who has lived through this before, I applaud the actions taken by our elected leaders, police and fire services. The actions taken will hopefully ensure that we will all weather the storm.
Dr. Bernstein is the Director of Hepatology for the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. You may write to Dr. Bernstein, c/o Anton Newspapers, 132 E. Second Street, Mineola, NY 11501 or email: dbernste@nshs.edu
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions represented are those of the author and meant for informative purposes only. For your specific questions, consult your physician.)
