2 The day before hurricane Sandy hit, I was working in a restaurant four blocks from my apartment as a server. I first heard from customers that there will be a hurricane and there were reports that the subways will be shut down. I felt I didn’t have any other place to go, so I just stayed. Also, I was living with one person who owns a cat which, at that time, I had to look after. On the day hurricane Sandy hit our place, I was in my apartment, despite the notice to evacuate. I could not leave the apartment because I had to work and take care of my roommate’s cat. I took the risk because I could not afford to leave work before transportation stopped running. So, evacuating was not an option. I charged my phone and I just waited inside my room. It was just me and one person in the building as everyone else evacuated. There were two apartments and one storefront in my building. In another apartment, there was a family, but the husband decided to stay as he was manning the storefront. I was staying on the 3 floor, I felt safe at least since I was quite elevated. rd It was raining the day before and all throughout the day. My bedroom is on the third floor of my building on the corner of Van Brunt Street and Visitation Place. There are two windows where I can see the outline of lower Manhattan and the water as far as the Statue of Liberty. I was sitting near the windows to see what is happening outside. Q5: What did you see? A5: When it was flooding, I thought it would come from the southern end of Van Brunt Street, but I was surprised when it came from the other direction. The water was coming from the east and west side, and at some point all sides. It got really dark. I also saw cars trying to drive in the flash floods that rose very quickly. Cars were stuck on the streets and people have to get of out their cars and leave their cars there. Around 9pm, I saw a bright green flash over the Manhattan skyline, which I found out later was the ConEd substation transformer explosion that caused the blackout south of 34th Street. Directly across the street from my window, I also saw the electricity wires and transformers spark, then, blow out. So, the power went out and everything went dark. The Manhattan skyline was dark, the street lights were out and my apartment had no power. The only lights were the headlights from the cars stuck in the flooded street. Q6: What did you next, if any? A6: I texted my family telling them I was okay. My parents were living in the south of Detroit and one sister in Michigan. I was not able to contact my other sister in London. I also was texting all day with my friend Candice Sering, a fellow Gabriela member and my co-worker who also lived in the neighborhood to make sure we were both safe. I