Writing in Disaster’s Wake

In January 2013, less than three months after Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast, an audience of volunteers studied the diagram on the screen. Titled “Emotional Phases of a Disaster,” the figure resembled a tremulous, lopsided W, each point labeled with a stage in a community’s typical reaction to catastrophe: Pre-Disaster, Impact, Heroic, Honeymoon, Disillusionment and Reconstruction.

Sitting amongst the volunteers that day, I had no way of knowing that this diagram would serve as the blueprint for my second novel, AT WAVE’S END, a family drama inspired by the storm.

The speaker walked us through the cycle: Authorities’ ample “pre-disaster” warnings and preparations saved many lives but could not prevent the storm’s wrath. Sandy’s swift and violent “impact” claimed thousands of homes and recast the coastline. And in the storm’s wake, there was no shortage of “heroic” acts, as hundreds came forward to feed and shelter those impacted.

With initial resources plentiful and emotions high, a buoyant “we can get through this” mentality prevailed during the post-heroic “honeymoon” period and through the holidays.

But now, the “honeymoon” was nearly over for our coastal community, she told the group gathered to mobilize a long-term recovery plan.

Listening to her in the January bleakness, we absorbed the grim inventory of the storm’s toll. Reality set in, hastened by a dark cloud of “disillusionment.” It may have taken weeks to restore the power and shovel sand from residents’ homes, but a full “reconstruction” could take many years, according to experts who stepped up to address us. After Hurricane Katrina, it took nearly twenty-five years to raise homes to flood-proof heights, one construction specialist explained.

Looking back, this was the moment I realized the story I wanted to tell in my second book, a mother-daughter drama with a fictional storm as antagonist. Until then, AT WAVE’S END had been a handful of character sketches, composites of stories I’d experienced or heard since the storm struck. Though I was still polishing my first novel, DELIVER HER, during this period, I felt a strong desire to advocate for these storm survivors. My determination intensified as the months went on, and the television cameras and official envoys of presidents and princes to our region receded.

Blame it on my journalistic roots, but I also felt a fierce pride for my community, and wanted to provide a platform for their stories.

My family was fortunate. Aside from the inconvenience of losing power for nearly two weeks, our home suffered no damage. But as I look around, five years later, Sandy’s scars are still fresh. Our community is pockmarked with rubbled lots. The storm shuttered some businesses that never reopened. A handful of affected families still tread water financially, drowning in paperwork and red tape even as government aid dries up.

Despite these ongoing woes, a steely resilience abounds at the Jersey Shore—not the swagger of “The Situation” but the weathered optimism of the locals, an optimism I strove to capture in AT WAVE’S END—with a dysfunctional mother and daughter, two chefs and a little romance thrown in for good measure. The book is divided into six parts—named for the six phases of emotional recovery.

And because this story is by no means over for my town and countless others, I concluded the book with this “Afterword:”

This story is a work of fiction. However, in 2012, a storm of similar magnitude devastated the East Coast, killing thirty-seven people and destroying close to 350,000 homes. Although Hurricane Sandy forever altered the topography of countless neighborhoods, the destruction also triggered an extraordinary surge of community and compassion. With reconstruction ongoing at the superstorm’s five-year mark, this story is intended to honor Sandy’s survivors for their resilience and determination to rise above disaster.

—

Patricia Perry Donovan is a journalist and author of two novels, DELIVER HER and  AT WAVE’S END ( August 15, 2017). Her fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals. The mother of two grown daughters, Patricia lives at the Jersey Shore with her husband and Yorkie, Diesel.

Connect with Patricia:

Website: www.patriciaperrydonovan.com

Twitter: @PatPDonovan

Facebook: PatriciaPerryDonovanBooks

About AT WAVE’S END

After a childhood as unpredictable as the flip of a coin, Faith Sterling has finally found her comfort zone in the kitchen of an upscale Manhattan restaurant. A workaholic chef, at least there she’s in control. So when her free-spirited and often-gullible mother, Connie, calls to announce that she’s won a bed-and-breakfast on the Jersey Shore, Faith’s patience boils over. Convinced the contest is a scam, she rushes to Wave’s End to stop Connie from trading her steady job for an uncertain future.

When a hurricane ravages the coast, Faith is torn between supporting the shore rescue and bailing out her beleaguered boss. But the storm dredges up deceptions and emotional debris that threaten to destroy the inn’s future and her fragile bonds with her mother.

As the women struggle to salvage both the inn and their relationship, Faith begins to see herself and Connie in a new light—and to realize that some moments are better left to chance.

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