{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://www.jacky.wtf//essays/2024/in-the-night",
  "description": "Some of the thoughts and experiences I had during Hurricane Milton.\n",
  "path": "/essays/2024/in-the-night",
  "publishedAt": "2024-10-14T15:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "at://did:plc:e2ctbutx6kya6si4if5ngjmm/site.standard.publication/3mniussyp2d2g",
  "tags": "essay",
  "textContent": "This wasn't my first hurricane in Florida. It was the first one that caused enough damage for folks\nto be concerned about in the region I live at. I live in Sarasota County, a mix of _very_ wealthy\npeople and a community of folks whose grandparents weren't allowed to use the beach that nature\nprovided up [until the 1960s][1]. Those who had more money, be it the closet millionaires to other\ntech folks like me who moved here, had it a lot better; experiencing something akin to a tropical\nstorm. Not all of us were that fortunate. I grew up during [the blackouts in Brooklyn][2] which was\nfun for the youth and horrifying for the adults. I also remember breaking _all of the rules_ and\nplaying out in the snow [during a blizzard][3]. I have a different understanding now of what it means to be in danger.\n\nSince moving to Florida, the closest sense of community I have lives in Tampa, nearly 50 miles away.\nI normally travel there by charter bus when [I'm working with the Party][4]. It's a big state,\neasily taking twelve hours to drive from its closest end to Alabama to the view to Cuba. This made\nthe events of Helene and Milton extremely concerning for me. I had resources to hold me over,\nfortunately from my own preparedness when living in California. The experiences above also taught me\nwhat to expect when the government fails to acknowledge your presence and delegates responsibility to\ncompanies. However, despite the misinformation, first responders were quick to help people.\n\nThe moment that fear began to take over was when the power went out. I had banks here and extra\ndevices I could siphon power from. My (obsessive) knowledge of networking had me immediately grab my\nlaptop to check what was broadcasting with my USB SDR adapter. That drained a lot of power\nquickly nor did it help because I was getting a lot of interference &mdash; I didn't realize that\nthere was a downed power line not too far from me that could have contributed to this.\n\nIt was dark. The sun was already down and no artificial light was shining _anywhere_. Stella wasn't\nin her normal spot and was nestled in a corner, furthest from the window. She wasn't quiet; I could\nhear her whimpering. I tried to console her but even I was freaking out. There's a still from a\nvideo I shared of [the storm's path][6] that I was using to determine when and if it'd end. Until it\ndid, nothing but the roaring winds and the shaking of my windows. The halls in the building were\nhowling, presumably because a door was opening and closing due to the magnetic locks failing. For\nnearly three hours, I felt a sense of dread. I sat in the bathroom with my dog for some time until\nwe entered the eye.\n\nNeighbors pooled into the street to see what happened. For all of the howling, trees were the\nceiling of damage that folks saw; sans some patio furniture that could have seen a longer life. A\nlot of dogs were happy to be outside, some howling out windows in jealously.\n\nThe Next Day\nCleanup was (and still is) slow. Folks were anxious about what could be done. As mentioned before, I\nlive in a county that either is from a level of old money (or new money) or from a background that\nthings don't happen only because you say so. Older women were picking up common space furniture to\ngive people a sense of normalcy. I helped clear out some space for folks to congregate as we began\nto share what we had &mdash; power banks, Internet from our phones and the like. There were kids\nthat had no sense of direction since electricity was being focused on communication. I brought out\na bunch of board games &mdash; Life, Monopoly (for Millennials, Lord of the Rings and My Hero\nAcademia - very popular) &mdash; and they got to work. This gave some of the parents a chance to go\nforage for gas. I know that there's still very long lines for gas at locations as I write this,\nmaking these trips and pockets of care even more important; leaving young children in the dark for\nhours at a time isn't safe.\n\nA local bar and grill managed to open up the next day. I went in for something to eat and check on\nthe staff. There was a conversation that I won't reproduce in full but it had parts that I struggled\nto relate to. Two women were speaking about what they missed the most in the last two days. As it\ndeveloped, one mentioned that _power_ was more important to them than water; that they'd much rather\nhave no water than it. I was reading a book as I was eating at the bar as this exchange went\ndown. It made me think of those times in New York &mdash; without the power and the snow. If there\nwas one thing I was grateful during this time, it was that _I had water_. You can go some time\nwithout food, we have gone _longer_ as a species without power than with, but we absolutely need\nwater. The angle the pro-power woman was coming from began clear as it was more that she didn't want\nto lean on her family over in Lido Park for aid. I couldn't help but smirk at this.\n\n---\n\nI'm thankful for the Party for helping me out when I needed it. The group at [Streets at\nParadise][5] did work that many needed: they distributed power to whomever needed it, they gave food\naround the clock and are still working to keep this going. It's something that they've done prior to\nthe events, which makes me more qualified than most. I'll be volunteering with them more and joining\nas a donor. I hope you can too: <https://streetsofparadise.org/>.\n\nIn the age-old adage of people on the ground, \"we take care of us\".\n\n[1]: https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2022/09/25/teens-mark-movement-helped-integrate-sarasota-beaches-newtown-lido-beach-desegregation/8093302001/\n[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003\n[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_blizzard_of_2006\n[4]: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9BNgh8sgb4/\n[5]: https://streetsofparadise.org/\n[6]: https://todon.eu/@jalcine/113285432333834965",
  "title": "In the Dark of the Night"
}