My NYC hurricane nightmare - Sale man recalls surviving Sandy (From Messenger Newspapers)

My NYC hurricane nightmare - Sale man recalls surviving Sandy

2:04pm Thursday 22nd November 2012 in News Exclusive By Rick Bowen

A TRAFFORD resident who lived through the devastating Hurricane Sandy feels "lucky" to have survived unhurt.

James O'Driscoll, was in the United States coaching football when the storm struck on October 29.

The 22-year-old, from Sale's Old Hall Road, a 30-minute drive from New York and said winds reached 70mph when Sandy arrived.

He said: "When a tree hit the house at 6pm I started to worry a bit because the news on the TV was saying the storm hadn't properly hit yet and wasn't due to hit for another couple of hours.

"I was thinking if trees are falling down now what will it be like later. We were lucky."

The storm hit New York and the surrounding area and James, who was sharing a house with his sister Kirsty, said they were left without power for a week.

He said: "A tree fell on to a car outside the house, the winds were strong and the sky was flashing with luminous green colours. I think it was to do with the power supplies going bust."

James said it was like "being back in the dark ages" when he was able to visit the city centre and see for himself the widespread destruction Sandy had caused.

He said: "Lower Manhattan was like a ghost town -- it was very surreal.

"Incidents like Sandy do bring people together and people power is always good.

"It's good to see people helping each other out, providing food, water and shelter for the less fortunate."