September 2021 - Post-Hurricane Ida post
Hurricane Ida was not my first experience with a hurricane, having had to deal with the fallout of Sandy hitting the northeast back in 2012. As such, I went into Ida weekend with a nonchalant attitude of overconfidence - "If I had no issues with 5th worst hurricane in US history," I thought, "I'll probably walk out of this one like it's no big deal." Ida taught me the strange feeling of being aware of what I've come to refer to as my "altitude privilege." Edison, NJ is, all things considered, a weather haven. We're situated on a hill for the most part, meaning we're too high above sea level to have to deal with the strongest of winds or the worst of the flooding from the tropical storms that, from time to time, meander our way, but we're not high enough to be effected by things like the jet stream or the extreme snow and cold that gets thrown the way of mountains. Sure, we used to get some pretty bad blizzards and nor'e