Galina Mogurova

Galina Mogurova – Sandy was on October 29th 2011 [2012]. We were warned to leave before the storm, but those that could not, who had nowhere to go, stayed. I stayed as well. There was strong wind from the east. My windows face the west and there was no wind pushing on them. I kept my windows open. From the east this would have been impossible: the wind was so strong it could break glass. The first floodwater appeared at 6:30 PM. I went down to the lobby. The electricity was turned off—no, it wasn’t turned off: the elevators weren’t working. I went down the stairs to see where the water was coming from. By the time I was down, the water was already going down the street. The security guard was there and we could hear a kitten weeping. I ran out and wanted to open the door to get the kitten (it was so small, maybe month/month and a half old), but the wind kept the doors closed. The security guard helped me open the door. We opened it, and tried to reach for the kitten but he was wild. He quickly ran away and was picked up and washed away by the current. Meanwhile, the water was already reaching us at the door. I went home up the stairs and the security guard also went upstairs (he had people to stay with).

I went home. When I got there, the water was already rising everywhere [outside] and had even reached the parking lot. And I watch the water rise and rise until it reached the height of our fences (they are about a meter tall). Of the cars, only the tops could be seen. The cars that had alarm systems began to whine, scream and hoot. In the distance a car went ablaze, probably due to the wiring. There were strong bursts of lightning where there were short circuits. It was as though it were lightning because it was not lightning but an electric discharge. Well, I also called my friends from my phone (they live farther away). And the water was still rising. I looked out and saw that the cars were floating. One car was trying to drive on the street – an ambulance. But it was already hardly moving, and I think that it did not get anywhere. The water was too strong.

And the cars began to float on the streets, going this way and that way. At our parking lot, all the cars meshed together (they were blocked from leaving the lot): one scratching another, one hooting, and so on. And then I saw that the water was now reaching the windows of the first floor. It moved up along the windows and even a little above the windows. After around seven, the water leveled off at about one and a half meters, but the current kept moving until eleven PM.

The electricity went out at half past seven. At eleven o’clock—well maybe ten to eleven, my phone died. I was talking and it died – that was it.

Mark Markov – Was it a cellphone?

GM – A cellphone. And I stood and watched. Up to eleven o’clock the water was coming in big waves. They were this big [motions with hands] and of the same height. While the water came, I wondered where it was going. At eleven the water stopped. I looked out and saw it was neither advancing nor receding. That was how Sandy was. That was it. Then I looked out and saw the water was lower and lower and lower. Then I calmed down and went to sleep. [laughs]

When I woke up, the water was no longer there – just collapse, a complete collapse. I went out—no, I couldn’t go out at first because the doorway was covered in dirt up to the knee and it was impossible to leave. I went back upstairs. I went downstairs again at around lunchtime, when there was noise outside and the volunteers came out. They were bringing us water. But we had water and gas (in our building); we had water and gas. I went downstairs onto the street to look at the cars (some of them had reached the second floors of the nearby houses). Some cars blocked doors with their fronts, other with their rears. Others still lay across exits and people could not leave. If a car is lying across a door, it is difficult to move it. Right here we have a mailbox—not here, but a bit further, where we put our mail. A van was stuck to that mailbox. It must have been poking up through the water with the back on top and front submerged (because the motor is heavy). That was how it got stuck on the mailbox. [laughs] I didn’t have a camera at the time because my old one broke. I could not take a picture of it.

Later my friends came over. They came over to see if I was alive. It was hard for them to find me because the corridors were all dark but my friend finally found me and said, “Come to our place.”

I said, “No, I cannot come, because I have a cat.”

“Take the cat with you.”

“No, I cannot take the cat anywhere, because she cannot live in a strange house.”

“Well let’s go.”

I said, “I will come over to your place because I need to charge my phone – it is out of power.”

And we went into her car and rode along the streets. I went to her house and charged my phone. At that time my daughter called me from Russia: “Mom! What is happening?”

I said, “I am alive and well. Don’t worry; all is ok. I am not home right now but I am charging my phone at a friend’s house. The computer doesn’t work: there is no electricity.

MM – Were you talking over Skype at your friend’s house?

GM – No, she always calls from home.

MM – Did she call you on your cellphone?

GM – She called me on my cellphone because she could not reach me over Skype and was worried. And she called my cellphone and I answered, “Don’t worry; all is ok. There is no electricity.” My friend does not have my Skype on her computer. Only I have it. When that was over, they brought me back.

I went around the boardwalk here. There were a house, sofas, chairs, children’s beds. It was some sight because in Seagate, the houses were destroyed – the hurricane destroyed them. It [the hurricane] brought them here and left them here, these houses. It was really something. It was a great ruin. The boardwalk itself was broken and crooked. That is how Sandy was.

MM – Was it scary?

GM – It was. At first it was not, but when the lights went out and my phone died, it was scary. Later I was testing— I had matches, flashlights, candles (I was ready). I lit a candle. I tried the gas once. It didn’t go on – there was no electricity. I brought the match over and the gas lit up. Now I could live. But because the electricity was out, food in my refrigerator began to go bad. A day passed, two days. I collected what I could into my backpack and brought it to Kings Highway to my friend. I carried it, left it and went home.

On just the second day, the volunteers came. They carried water; they carried food. At twelve o’clock they would knock on the door: “Water, water. Take water.” The water was in bottles. In the morning after we came out [of the building]. There were so many volunteers on our street. They brought clothing, shoes, food: take as much you want. They rolled out big pots (with soups and stew). You come up and they pour you some. They were there from dawn till dusk. In the evening they would bring packaged food. Thank America. Thank God, we had everything. Of course it was scary – frightening to live through. After, there was so much sand everywhere. You know, along the road up to around a meter. In the building next to us, they could not open the lobby door. They cleaned everything from the sand. Cars moved the sand day and night. They removed it to where it came from.

MM – What organizations [helped you]?

GM – Church organizations, churches. They came from everywhere, even from Upstate, where there was no Sandy. They gave us business cards: “Come visit us, Church this or that.” Religious organizations were very helpful. Muslims also did a great deal. In general, Christian and other religious [organizations]. When we took business cards, they were all religious.

MM – How did the city services act?

GM – I cannot say that they acted badly. They got there right away and wrote everything down. I also wrote that I lost some food. They answered that it was ok.  I did not get anything. That was nothing. I was fed by the volunteers. Thank all those kind people.