Friday, November 2, 2012

Hurricane Sandy's Victims Get Cookies and Hot Chocolates from Red Cross


New York's Staten Islanders are furious.

From CBS New York (11/2/2012):

Staten Islanders On Sandy Response: We’ve Been Left FAR Behind

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Staten Island residents are furious. They feel that in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy they’ve been ignored and left to fend for themselves.

CBS 2′s Jessica Schneider toured the borough on Thursday night and saw one home on Cedar Grove Avenue that looks like it was torn to shreds by a tornado.

However, it was surging ocean waters that tore the house apart, and filled others with more than 10 feet of water.

It’s that type of apparent neglect that has left residents saying they haven’t received the attention or help they so desperately need.

Red Cross is here with hot chocolate and cookies. We need blankets, we need pillows, we need clothing. We can get hot chocolate and cookies, we need help!” resident Jodi Hannula said.

It was almost too much for Hannula to bear. She said she had 30 years of memories washed away by flood waters.

And with no flood insurance, she said she’s been pleading for help, but finding little.

“You hope that the government does the right thing and steps in and helps us out. We have been looking for FEMA, [but] FEMA has not been here,” Hannula said.

People on Staten Island argued that they’ve been neglected while other parts of New York City, and the Jersey Shore, have been showered with attention.

“We are far from fine, and the fact that the mayor wants to have a marathon this weekend, when we’ve had people who have lost their lives or house, everything they’ve worked for their whole lives … I mean, its unbelievable to me,” Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis said.

Amid the damage there was also death. Of the 37 known fatalities from the storm in the city, 17 were killed on Staten Island.

...Residents were organizing a huge cleanup day on Saturday. They said if no one else is going to help them restore their community — Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano was to visit Staten Island Friday in response to the community’s complaints — they’re going to do it on their own.

(Full article at the link)


New York Marathon is on, this Sunday. It starts on Staten Island.

I'm sure it's Mayor Bloomberg's way to appeal the recovery and strength of New York City to the world, and cheer the local residents recovering from the disaster by hosting the annual international event with huge generators in Central Park for the media covering the event.

If you feel this sounds all too familiar, just substitute New York City with either Japan, Tokyo, or Fukushima. All of them work.

Luckily for the mayor, he doesn't have any radioactive cesium to deal with.

(In Japan, even that didn't stop the government from sticking to the schedule. Soon after March 11, 2011, the government decided to hold local election nationwide, as scheduled, partly to appeal to its citizens and people outside that in Japan, an accident, no matter how big, could not and would not derail a set schedule. People dutifully went outside, in the spring rain, to listen to candidates as radioactive materials quietly descended on them.)

7 comments:

NYUltraBuddha said...

WCBS just reported marathon is cancelled and lights are back on in lower Manhattan.

VyseLegendaire said...

Red Cross is a pathetic and corrupt organization, they are not capable of serious disaster relief...what else is new. Might as well donate money to Disney in the hopes that Mickey Mouse will wave his magic wand and revive the effected areas.

NYultrabuddha said...

Glad Mayor Bloomberg finally came to his senses, but only after having been banged over the head with a citywide outcry. Having the marathon in the middle of all this is just plain idiotic. We're still in full crisis mode (everywhere but the Goldman Sachs building apparently) They are still pulling bodies out of homes in Staten Island, not far from where the marathon was scheduled to start, where people are in desperate need of generators, port a potties and all those other resources that would have been used for the marathon. On top of that CBS 2 just reported that utility workers and others given temporary housing in hotels were about to be kicked out of the hotels to make room for people coming in for the marathon!

On a normal day the marathon, frankly, has always been a pain in the ass for we New Yorkers with horrible traffic congestion because of rerouting. Some roads are still damaged, others are clogged by people scavenging for gas, which is very hard to find all around the tri-state area. Many side streets are impassable because of fallen trees and downed live power lines (like mine out here in Bklyn.) Subways and trains are not running. We've got an aircraft carrier off the coast of Queens and two more on their way to ferry in trucks to deliver supplies, as well as caravans of food, generators and other vitally needed supplies heading into the city from all over, and the Mayor wanted to actually cut off surviving roads, bridges and highways that are a major part of our damaged transportation network?

This mayor has always been really out of touch with the "commoners" who live in the outer boroughs. In Upper Manhattan, the wealthiest real estate in NYC, not much happened to disrupt daily life. Other areas are a very different story. The areas that were most devastated - Breezy, southern Brooklyn, the lower East Side of Manhattan. the low shore areas of SI are mostly working class and middle class areas where our city's police, firefighters, Con Ed workers, and many others live. Many of these areas are being cared for by FEMA, the National Guard, the Red Cross and local groups, while others, like Broad Channel in Queens have seen little and in some cases no assistance yet. Taking care of people's basic needs has to be the priority, nothing else.

NYultrabuddha said...

Actually saw CBS 2 themselves handing out blankets on TV. Wondering what happened to the thousand or so blankets the Red Cross distributes every year to the marathon runners? To be fair, I'm not really sure what or where they have been deploying around the area. But most of what I see on the news and via reports from friends around the city are efforts by either the National Guard or local grass roots organizations such as City Harvest, which "rescued" thousands of pounds of fresh food from Hunts Point Market and distributed it to the needy, or CAAAV in Chinatown, which apparently is still without power. Or even individuals who are buying food and supplies themselves and giving it out in hard-hit areas.

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Jewish fundraisers said...

Getting any help from any organization is a big help to the community especially the victims of the storm sandy, RED CROSS have share they part for giving help like cookies and hot chocolates but it is important to give priority like the medicines,shelter,cloths and etc.

Must see Senior Housing Seattle said...

What a nice move from Red Cross. Truly they have helped a lot of victims of Hurricane Sandy.

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