A New Yorker's Hurricane Experience, as Told Through Gifs

Everyone totally overreacted to Hurricane Irene last year, which ended up just being a really rainy evening. So when people started freaking out about Hurricane Sandy and essentially preparing for the apocalypse I was like:

But several days later, in Sandy’s aftermath I’m like:

On Sunday, it was bone dry in New York. Still, people were acting crazy in the stores, buying up everything, even the shitty stuff like Wise popcorn. Plain! My neighbor knocked on my door and asked if we were evacuating. I was like:

Then it was announced that schools would be closed the next day, as would all Broadway theaters and the New York Stock Exchange. How ridiculous! I was like:

After the MTA announced that the subway system would be shut down for 24 hours starting at 7 pm on Sunday, Louis CK cancelled his standup shows for that night. I’d bought tickets for it five months ago. I stopped laughing.

On Monday morning, the news was showing images of Sandy hitting Atlantic City. I was like:

People were losing power, it seemed kind of serious. Basically, I was like:

As the storm moved north up along the coast, it was reported that Seaside Heights was in grave danger. I was like:

But when I learned that the boardwalk had essentially collapsed into the ocean and the amusement park was gone I was like:

The winds began to pick up in Brooklyn. I stuck my head out the window and I was like:

It all finally seemed really real and I was like:

So I stayed inside and was just like:

I was glad I stocked up on snacks. The water levels in the river began to rise and I began seeing images from severely flooded city roads like FDR Drive, which looked like a river. I was like:

Everything seemed so uncertain. And it was getting really alarming outside. It was so loud and windy and scary and I was like:

So I did more of this:

And then my cable and Internet went out:

But I knew I shouldn’t panic, so I was like:

At first, I thought that not watching TV would be like this:

But it was more like this:

And living through an event like this without the Internet?

I was like:

Finally, I was like:

And then my neighbor was like:

And I was like:

And then I was like:

And I did more of this:

And some of this:

And then I tried checking in with Twitter on my phone to get some updates and saw that an explosion caused half of Manhattan to lose power. And there was no telling when it would be restored. I was like:

Water levels in Battery Park rose to nearly 14 feet! Cars were completely submerged on 23rd Street! About 90% of Long Island was without electricity! Trees were being uprooted! I was like:

On Tuesday, when the sun came up, the damage was much more evident. I was like:

Later in the day my Internet and cable came back and I was like:

When I learned that subways might not run for another three weeks I was like:

And did some more of this:

Mayor Bloomberg estimates that the hurricane took a $20 billion toll on the city.

On Wednesday, the weather was beautiful and I was like:

I was starting to go stir crazy, so despite claims that Halloween was cancelled, I went out. What are you gonna do?