In 2012, the Sandy Super-Storm hit five states of the east coast of USA – It was a bad one and I knew we had to get there right away. For years Third Wave volunteers and friends in New York had written to me about their passions of joining our volunteer adventures and serving others but they couldn’t leave the country due to work or children or other reasons. It was now happening in their own backyard and in the first 8 months over 10,000 Third wave volunteers and their friends came out to lend a hand at our base at the St Francis church in the Rockaway’s. We all worked together with other small aid groups including Humanity Rd and Disaster Tech Lab who set up our communications; to other great volunteers like Floridian Allison Rodgers, who responded and returned many times with other Floridian volunteers – to Mike Taylor and Luanne Corriente, a NYC couple who not only worked their hearts out daily to help improve conditions but also brought out their whole families out to help too!. The Rockaway region was run by 1000’s of volunteers- who knew they were needed and stepped forward.
MY BLOG From my first week in Rockaways. “How do I begin to share my experience with you of the first days that followed the ‘Sandy Super-storm disaster.’ Three warships sat just offshore my location in the Rockaway’s and Chinook helicopters buzzed above me as 20 blocks to my south gangs walked the streets in the dark searching for gas and food and trouble. Blinds were drawn as shaky locals locked their doors by 5pm. I slept in a ‘Humanity Rd’ donated RV in a parking lot with my big knife readily available. I felt myself walking back through the gates of the hell of Sept 11th 2001 and back to NY into the ‘Sandy Super-Storm disaster ’ whose streets were now filled with discarded life-long possessions and mothers begged me for insulin for their children.
Over 100,000 people lived along this ten-mile area and all electricity grids were destroyed but unlike Sept 11th there were many people alive who needed help. Many houses and businesses were burned to the ground with steps leading to nowhere. I was not overseas but standing in the United States of America in Rockaway, Queens, in one of the largest most complicated logistics disasters I’d ever seen. Communications were down and at night I was the only medic on the site until back up arrived over the next few days. I joined forces with the National Guard, and started helping save the elderly people who were left stranded on the 16th floor. Those people had thought that the power would come back on soon but I knew it wouldn’t be!
Does the world know how bad it is here?”- we are at St Francis church on 129th st, working alongside Third Wave volunteers and the wonderful priest of St Francis church Monsignor John Brown—we have a good flow of food and water now and we are sharing it out to many miles around us who have nothing. Yesterday we served over 4000 tired, freezing, distressed people and today we are expecting around 6000 more- Today I met a kind mother with six children, who were living with no heat, food, water, or power and she is concerned with taking too much aid in case others may need it. Eager volunteers arrive daily fresh with huge smiles and great attitudes. This disaster is too big for the Government, rescue, and aid groups to do it alone- it’s just way too big. Everyone is needed to help. Do not sit and watch it unravel like we did helplessly with Katrina- do something! Rise up U.S.A Citizens and join us- its right here in your backyard!” love Alison
Everyone worked together to get the mission done- from Monsignor John Brown who ran the St Francis church to hero returning home James Brennan, NY Resilience System, Team Rubicon, Navillus construction and Steve Major, NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and his office workers, NY cares, East End Cares, Disaster Lab Tech, Occupy Sandy Volunteers, National Guard, DSNY sanitation, NYPD, Global Dirt, Local Boy Scouts, AFYA, Albert Gomez, Michael McDonald, Brett Scudder, Melissa Berman, John, Marybeth and family, Tara, Walter Myer, Micah, Anne, Cat, Janice, two Laura’s, Mike and Carolyn, Luanne and sisters, Brian, Evert, Adam, Dennis, 2 Eric’s and Eric W, Lisa, Suzanne, Charlotte, Cory, Terri, Jack, Stephen, Christi, Oscar, David, Sheila, Rachel, Whitney, Jason, Aaron, Annika, Jill, Jen, Lisa, Marybeth, Amanda, Doug, Vincent, Gad, Glyman family, Mark, Peter, Michelle M and 2 other Michelle’s, Evert, Babita, 4 Michael’s, Santa, Valerie, Sandi, Veronica, Jeannine, Marni, Wyatt gallery and so many other great individual volunteers who are now part of our loving family ( sorry I couldn’t mention everyone).
