I was living in New York City when Hurricane Sandy hit New York City. After the explosion of at Con Edison plant. The whole lower Manhattan area went black.

Cellphones stopped working after backup generators ran out of fuel. Credit card machines weren’t working. I couldn’t even get cash from ATM as they also run on electricity.

After two days without power, food and water. Gas stations ran out of gas as oil refinery in New Jersey were also damaged during hurricane. Everything was cash only. I even heard people got shot at gas station for cutting the line, but I have never been able to confirm that. There was no reliable communication except radio. Going to work was not even in the top concerns in my mind when everyone was in survival mode.

We decided to leave the city and clearly everyone was thinking about the same.

After hearing my story and your mini project, what are your key takeaways? What are the expected and unexpected? And why it is important to keep your BCP flexible.

Recommendation: finish this week’s mini project first before discussion.

Bonus: can you find the GPS location (geotagging) in the pictures I posted?