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Superstorm Sandy Hits Coast Hard Fortunately, Sandy's damage to Delaware was less severe than that in New York and New Jersey. Tree clowns , floods , and power outages for tens of thousands were noted On October 31, 2012, news came that Hurricane as the most profound impacts. Grayton Downing ' 14, Sandy would be gifting Wilmington Friends students notes that, luckily, her neighborhood at the beach was not a short fall break. Sandy graciously left less severe hit badly: "A tree limb fell down near my house, but the impacts on Wilmington, but inflicted more catastrophic boardwalk looked fairly normal, aside from washed-up consequences specifically in New York and New Jersey. sand." Power outages were significant throughout the state. Hurricane Sandy wreaked pure havoc on numerous Izzy Martelli-Raben '15, a resident of Alapocas, notes beaches up and down the East Coast. The eye of the storm neighborhood power outages: "We first lost power because crossed beaches on New Jersey's coast. Winds of ninety of the tree limb that fell on our power line; it caught on miles-per-hour and mass flooding from both the bay and fire and the whole house shook with an electric shock." ocean left many streets completely submerged. Debris Martelli-Raben says Delmarva Power was able to restore from the boardwalk floated powerthenextevening.With cooperation from regional in the streets, leaving mass barriers, and waves at high power suppliers, power tides reached a shocking outages were kept minimal in Delaware. twenty feet near the shore Despite the damaging and a stunning forty feet effects of Superstorm Sandy, at sea. Some seaside roller the region is beginning to coasters were even uplifted from their foundations and return to nomal. Governor drawn into the sea. Chris Christie of New Sandy hit New York Jersey happily announced in mid-November the end City brutally. A fourteenfoot storm surge struck of gas rationing. Similarly, southern Manhattan, in New York City, everyone seventy mile-per-hour is working hard to rebuild
Shanhon Skibjcki '15
News Writer
Winds caused structural
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the city. On a November 15th
damage to cranes and buildings, and a total of 750,000 visit to Staten Island, President Obama stressed , "We have NYC residents lost power. Perhaps the most dramatic to make sure that everybody's focused on doing the job, effect to the city was flooding in the subway system. as opposed to wonying about who's getting the credit or Almost three levels of flooding penetrated the system, who 's getting the contracts , or all that stuff that sometimes and the work to repair the system will be costly. Friends goes into the rebuilding process ." Ultimately, even though alumna Gwen Baraniecki-Zwil ' 12, currently attending Sandy left New York and New Jersey trouble stricken , the New York University, reflects on challenges posed to the morale of residents has been remarkable, and President NYU community, ``1 had no power, heat, or hot water in Obama has exhibited great confidence in the recovery. my dom and only two dining halls were open for the Despite Sandy's horrific effects placed on the US, entire student population, which, as you can imagine, ran the cooperation of government officials, residents, and out of food some nights." Baraniecki-Zwil also notes that neighbors to work through the adversity of this natural students lost a week of classes and had to reschedule their disaster demonstrates the strength of our region's midterm exams. community. ®
Ece9cphsse4quences°fcat?esbloLTte9qupobn9hLc!Hussdyarri!v?g News Writer Since March 201 I , the Syrian civil war has displaced an estimated 2.5 million people: more than double the entire population of Delaware. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) predicts that more than 700,000 refugees will have left Syria by the end of
seems to be unrecognized by UN Security Council members, who have made minimal attempts at assisting relief efforts , and by the European Union , whose member nations have played a minor role in housing Syrian refugees. On October 24th, Nicholas Beger, Director of Amnesty International 's European Institution Office , said, "As a recent Nobel peace prize recipient, the EU is honor-
bound to take decisive action to ensure refugees fleeing UNICEF estimates the total casualties to be around from Syria are protected. At present only a fraction of 40,000 , but some sources have reported more than 60,000 Syrian refugees have sought protection in Europe, while fatalities since the conflict erupted in March of 2011. many times their number are being hosted by Syria's Even more horrific are the reports claiming that 90% of immediate neighbors." Amnesty International urges EU deaths are civilian casualties. Although the publication AI member nations to ensure access to protection and asylum Jazeera says armed rebels are often counted as civilians, procedures, to lift visa requirements, and to donate to the the numbers coming out of Syria continue to rise. UN's Response Plan. As a result of the endless violence, refugees are Horrifying violence, innumerable human rights fleeing Syria by the thousands. Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, violations , and widespread terror are now commonplace in and Iraq have generally accepted the influx of refugees, Syria, and there is no immediate solution. Syrian President but the economic and social burdens for these countries Bashar al-Assad has refused all peace agreements saying "I'm not a puppet, and I was not made by the West to go to are beginning to arise. In Lebanon , UN-provided relief kits rarely make it out the West or to any other country. I am Syrian. I was made of Beirut, where government officials continue to withhold in Syria and to live and die in Syria." With no end in sight, much needed medicines, food, and hygienic supplies. the situation looks increasingly grim. "The seriousness Many refugees can find food and shelter with the help of the crisis is deepening every day and this trend has UN distributed vouchers, but a lack of security has made been unintemipted since the summer," said Peter Maurer, 20 1 2 .
delivery especially difficult.
presidentofthelntemationalCommitteeoftheRedCross, Turkish government officials have expressed in Geneva this past November. frustration with the inaction of the Security Council in For now, the UN and numerous non-govemmentalresponse to the Syrian crisis . Turkey is now responsible for organizations will continue to alleviate the growing hundreds of thousands of refugees , but there is inadequate humanitarian crisis day by day. As Maurer says: "we try funding, shelter, and food to provide for everyone, and to fill the cracks which open, and whenever we have an winter is quickly approaching. opportunity to deliver aid, we go ahead." I