What a year.

ASTORIA, NYC- Admittedly, it didn’t seem like much. For 60 seconds the wind and and rain blew like wild and then it was over. But when I went outside the carnage revealed itself. Trees had blown down across streets, trees had blown down on top of homes, and trees had blown down on top of cars. A few blocks away a steel traffic signal pole had been severed from its base and laid dead across the street, it’s lights smashed into a thousand shards of red, yellow, and green. For the second time in a month, my neighborhood Astoria trended on Twitter.
When you live in a city you sometimes forget that nature exists. You feel comforted by your man-made bubble of concrete and steel. Then, in a matter of a minute, you are shaken awake by the reality that the mighty city that nurtures and protects you is but a floppy rag doll to nature.
First the Sars-Cov-2 lockdown, then the riots, and now a hurricane. What a year.


rip to my car. #HurricaneIsaias #Astoria pic.twitter.com/6njSAskJyU
— saveeeno (@saveeeno) August 5, 2020
You may be having a bad day but whomever's car this is in #Astoria Maybe having a worse one #NYC #HurricaneIsaias #Isaias pic.twitter.com/DUhzMI7RlN
— MeRk (@Merk256) August 4, 2020
Hey #Astoria there are many trees down on Ditmars, Crescent, and on 21st Avenue. Be careful if walking or driving today.
If you see or have a tree that needs taken care of, report it here asap- https://t.co/4Ja1BS063p pic.twitter.com/xEMluLj1cF
— District Leader Zachariah Boyer (@ZachariahBoyer) August 4, 2020
36th street in #Astoria at least 4 trees down, 3 on 1 block btwn 30th and 31st. #1010WINS pic.twitter.com/bhkTV1w52D
— Samantha Liebman (@SamiLiebman) August 4, 2020
#astoria #storm photos- not my pics but #Astoria nonetheless #TropicalStormIsaias #newyork pic.twitter.com/EoZeiseXzN
— Linda Rohe (@coastalent1) August 4, 2020
About the Author: VBJ
I am the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. I’ve been traveling the world since 1999, through 90 countries. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China and have written for The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. VBJ has written 3682 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.
VBJ is currently in: Papa Bay, Hawaii
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August 7, 2020, 11:27 pm
Obviously Mother Nature is voting NO on de Blasio’s checkpoints at the portals of the city.