From New York to Virginia and farther up the East Coast, Hurricane Sandy hit land with violent winds and rain, leaving behind destruction worse than has been seen in many years.

"Since our house is surrounded by trees and the wind was blowing so hard, our biggest concern was tree limbs falling on the house," sophomore Adriana Facchiano said. "I looked out the window and saw large branches had fallen and several pieces of siding had come off."

Due to the strong winds and rain, many students and staff at Parkland High School lost power to their homes from a few days to more than a week.

"We lost power in the night, so we had to use candles and we were scared there would be no water," senior Aditya Misra said. "Luckily, my mom had three buckets filled and we used that to boil water.

"We had to use a portable propane grill to heat parts of our home and cook our food."

In the days leading up to the storm, many were rushing to gather food, water and other essentials needed to survive the storm.

Some families, on the other hand, had amenities in and around their house readily available.

"We have an outhouse and a creek in the backyard as well as a generator in the garage," senior Yelena Gulkewicz said. "My dad hooked it up to the bathroom, so we could take showers, and to the lights and TV in the living room. We didn't have cable, but we watched a lot of movies."

For those who did not have generators, they needed to find some way to eat, keep clean and stay warm until the power came back.

"When we lost power, I had to take showers, eat, charge my phone and do everything at other people's houses," senior Chelsea Wyant said.

Despite not having power, a few families decided not to leave their homes. Instead they gathered candles, flashlights, camping lights, blankets and warm clothes to help them through the days ahead.

"We lit all the candles in the house. It was like living in the dark ages, senior Kiana Lozano said. "We also had to take really cold showers."