9.30.2010

i survived the new york tornado - 2010

ok so...back to new york, aka, my home away from home


i happened to be meeting up with a good friend of mine in bed stuy as she finished the work day doing "god's work" (i.e. social work). i was excited to be taking the train, came in from her spot in astoria and took the c in to brooklyn. i felt so metropolitan, self-sufficient, worldly and independent. unfortunately, my cali self forgot which stop my friend told me to get off at, forgot i couldn't get a signal underground (duh) and went a few stops too far. (hey, it happens.)

so i came out, made a call and proceeded to back track to bed stuy. dare i say, lucky i did? i noticed as i was going back underground, it warm and humid outside, the sky was dark and ominous and the wind had a slight kick to it. of course, i also remembered, "oh, yeah, it's supposed to rain today." silly me. when i got to my stop and came from underground, i was greeted by torrential rain (not exaggerating) and stunned faces.

people were running, some were borderline hysterical and all i heard were mutterings of a tornado. as i stood next to this cat ear hustling, i heard him tell the person, "yeah, son..tornado." wait, what?

i knew there was a rain alert yet i didn't know what the fuck kind of weather this was. being from cali, i know some weather but what i really know is earthquakes. i even know the different kinds of earthquakes which we have our own mythology about in order to "predict" them. hell, i've even experienced a tolerable hurricane in jamaica, but this?...what the fuck was this?

after i called my friend to let her know i made it, she was kind enough to meet me at the corner and brought a substantial umbrella with her (thanks, dirty d...owwwwww!). sure enough, folks weren't kidding, there was a tornado and yet i still couldn't comprehend it because i hadn't seen much damage. hm.

enter exhibit a (my pics would've been better if i had a proper camera and not my cell phone with me, ugh):
yeah, completely uprooted. and i saw this shit, everywhere. trees (not just limbs of trees, trees) blocking roads, trees inside the roofs of people's cars, inside their windows...
and this shit doesn't even give a fair depiction of what the streets really looked like. trees everywhere, people standing out in amazement and here i was with a dinky cell phone camera. i can only say to myself, "c'mon son. gtfohwtb."

anyway, we drove around bk for a bit, had dinner at sugarcane (and my first ever lychee martini...yum) then on our way back to the crib, drove around forest hills. i really had nothing to offer outside of, "daaaaaammnnn" every time we turned a corner. this tornado was not playin'. more ny stories next post.

2 comments:

  1. More then anything I love your writing. Please keep at it. It's so vivid and funny and smart. Seriously. Seriously!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is fricka-frackin' crazy! And I agree with P.J.!

    ReplyDelete