The storm is one thing. Dealing with the aftermath is another. You just hope people will pull together and get it done. That has always been the idea of America to me. We are kind of a "can do," country. And a curious and enterprising species.
Sometimes this gets us into major mischief, especially when we decide that we can dictate to other countries how they should act. When it goes wrong, this attitude can go very, very wrong. Think: Iraq, Vietnam.
But when it goes right it can be amazingly great. I am a life-long Chicagoan, but I am a big fan of the great social experiment we call New York City. An amazing place. It's fast-paced, it's a monster of a city with people of all kinds who have learned to live together. New Yorkers are a special kind. Maybe living in such a tightly packed place just creates a special energy and synergy. What a vibe! The best and sometimes the worst too. But always more. Always surprising and vital.
You just know that New Yorkers will make it happen. They will pull themselves out of the jaws of disaster. They will recover. This would be a great time for a massive stimulus program to remake the infrastructure. That's the kind of thing America used to do just as a matter of course. That was before our cripplingly stupid politics (I blame the small-minded, right-wing madness of the GOP).
We should be throwing money at the problem. We should rebuild, remake! We should look forward to all we can be. Damn the torpedoes. New York!