Pulled: A Parody about Hurricane Sandy’s Effect on Long Island
Melville, NY
2024, Senior, Performing Arts
Pulled: Hurricane Sandy’s Effect on Long Island
Parody written and performed by AnnaBelle Deaner
Original song: Pulled from The Addams Family Musical, written by Andrew Lippa
The TV news warns of impending danger.
A storm approaching that we can’t ignore.
The name on every mind is all the same now.
Sandy’s here, at our door.
Suddenly, the sky begins to darken.
Bunny rabbits run away and hide.
Rain starts falling, wind picks up it’s starting,
And I think I know why.
The climate’s pulled in a new direction.
And I don’t like it.
No, I don’t like it.
The climate’s pulled in a new direction.
Warming temperatures spawn
Rising seas, stronger storms
And the world that I know can’t withstand this new norm.
God! What do we do?
Pulled, Pulled, Pulled
Mother nature now seems like a stranger.
Thrashing every structure in her path.
Storm surge is a clear and present danger.
Once quiet streets feel her wrath.
The climate’s pulled in a new direction.
And I don’t like it,
No, I don’t like it.
It’s being pulled in a new direction.
Never thought I would see storms like this come to me.
I see things that before I’d just seen on TV.
It’s frighteningly true.
Pulled, pulled, pulled
Neighborhoods in total darkness.
Trees are down and blocking streets.
Boats replacing cars to access areas left undersea.
School is closed another day.
Cars lined up at gas stations.
New York Harbor’s closed to ships, so limited supplies get in.
Family moving in with us.
They don’t have electricity.
Halloween’s a day away
And it’s not safe to trick or treat!
The climate’s pulled in a new direction.
If we don’t make changes, we’ll be endangered.
The climate’s pulled in a new direction.
We can’t stay in the dark
And ignore every spark.
It’s our problem right here on Long Island, New York.
So, we must raise our voice.
Inaction can’t be our choice.
The climate’s pulled in a new direction.
Reflection
Reflection
In the fall of 2012, when I was in elementary school, Superstorm Sandy struck my home, Long Island, New York. Our cooler ocean temperatures usually protected us by weakening storms before they made landfall, so actual hurricanes were a rare occurrence. Long Island has been in the crosshairs of hurricanes before. My parents tell stories of Hurricane Gloria in the 1980s when they were kids. Sandy, was my first hurricane experience. According the the National Weather Service, Sandy was the second costliest Atlantic Hurricane on record, second only to Hurricane Katrina. When I wrote this parody, I included my perceptions as an elementary school child. The parts about school being closed, streets being too unsafe for trick or treating, the rabbits seeking shelter, were what I noticed at the time. After the storm, 90% of Long Island was without electricity. We were among the lucky 10% with power, and lots of family moved in with us for the coming days and weeks until their power was restored. Also in this parody, I included some recollections of my parents that were not obvious to me as a young child. They remember gas shortages due to New York Harbor being closed, only being able to buy gas on odd and even days and waiting on line at gas stations only to be told they ran out. They also recall the devastating images on television of entire neighborhoods washed away and the neighborhood of Breezy Point that entirely burned to the ground because the roads were too flooded for fire trucks to arrive. I was shielded from these images. Now that I am older, the most striking realization I have had about Hurricane Sandy is that this type of catastrophic weather event could happen here. I have seen footage of devastating storms in other places and while tragic, I lived with a sense of security that it doesn’t happen where I live. Hurricanes rarely strike Long Island and if they do, the damage is relatively minimal. Now, with rising seas, storm surge is regular threat when a tropical storm or even a Nor’Easter crosses our path. With our warmer ocean temperatures, stronger storms are making landfall more often and with devastating effects as our aging infrastructure was not built to withstand this new normal. I love to sing and perform and recently played Wednesday Addams in my school's production of The Addams Family, where I sang the song, "Pulled". I started writing parodies during the COVID-19 quarantine. For me it is more of an engaging way to express myself than a typical essay.