A monstrous storm terrorized the east coast from Oct. 22-31, scaring and scarring millions of residents, some of whom barely escaped with their lives. The storm’s name was Sandy, a category 1 hurricane that flooded houses, caused massive power outages, knocked down trees, killed a few civilians and closed schools.

To prepare for the storm, residents gathered materials needed to survive such as water and non-perishable food. Sophomore Michelle Sodee explained how she prepared for Sandy.

“We made sure we were prepared,” she said. “We got gas for the [power] generator and three cases of water.”

Sophomore Stephen Baugh also took measures to prepare. He said he had multiple flashlights and 12 gallons of water, as well as stored military rations.

Government teacher Nico Atencio had a young son to take care of, so he had to prepare in a different way.

“If we lost electricity, it would be really hard, since he’s only 16 months [old],” he said. “We went to my parents’ house in Annapolis because they have a generator.”

A hurricane is placed in category one when it becomes more lethal and the hurricane’s wind patterns change from those of a tropical storm. A tropical storm has wind speeds from 39-73 MPH. It becomes a hurricane when the center wind speed reaches 74 MPH. According to the Louisiana Homeland Security website and Virginia Storm Photo, the storm surge must be four to five feet above normal and its average wind speed ranges from 74-95 MPH. Sandy is one of many hurricanes during the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season.

So far this season, there have been 10 hurricanes, including Sandy, and nine tropical storms. Out of them all, Sandy is the largest Atlantic hurricane on record. When it arrived in the Caribbean, Sandy was only classified as a tropical storm. On Oct. 24, as Sandy neared the East Coast of the U.S., NASA upgraded it to a, “marginal category 1 hurricane.” After it arrived in New York and New Jersey, it was downgraded to a super storm after the wind patterns changed. Even though her status was downgraded, Sandy still made a huge impact.

In New York, the death toll was 45 and 2.2 million power outages were reported. The military is working with the state to pump the flood waters out of tunnels. In New Jersey, the death toll was 14 and 2.7 million power outages were reported. President Barack Obama took an aerial tour of the state and the National Guard is delivering food and water to cities and people devastated by the storm.

Although Sandy had disastrous effects, WJ and Montgomery County residents weren’t hit as hard. Trees fell in some areas, 10,000 Pepco customers lost power and one person died in MoCo and three Marylanders in all people died. The effects of the hurricane here were not even close to the catastrophic events in New York and New Jersey. Though MoCo was spared Sodee said she was a little annoyed that there wasn’t a storm.

“It was disappointing,” she said. “Everyone said there was going to be [one]. But, in the end, I’m glad there wasn’t a storm after all.”

Atencio disagreed, saying he was relieved it wasn’t that strong.

“I didn’t even know what to expect,” he said. “There is always a level of uncertainty because you don’t know where [the hurricane] is going. I’m glad [the hurricane] left no real negative effect here.”