Washington, Oct. 31 -- As winds of up to 130 kmph whipped around his Manhattan building, author Salman Rushdie watched a big old tree battling it out in the back. "It can take it. Right, tree? Am I right?" he tweeted. He was without electricity for the rest of the night, as were millions of people in areas hit by Superstorm Sandy Monday night.
Akshat Gupta, a lower Manhattan resident, spent the night in the lobby with his family, and many others. "It got quite chilly there," he said Tuesday.
"We escaped the worst," said realtor Jaswant Lalwani, who lives in Manhattan. "My friends in lower Manhattan were not as lucky -they are having a tough time coping."
Adjoining New Jersey state was just as badly hit. The coast, called the Jersey Shore, was devastated. Deeper inland, the situation was only marginally better. Srini Vijay is stuck on the16th floor of his building in Jersey City with no word yet on when the power supply will resume.
Thankfully, their cooking range works on gas and they were able to cook. Less lucky were those with electric cooking ranges - who will have to make do with cold, canned food.
Vijay will have to return to work Wednesday. "Tomorrow's commute to work is going to be a nightmare, with tunnels full of water."
Published by HT Syndication with permission from Hindustan Times.
Jai Khanna
Hill Krishnan
Papa C J
