Hurricane SANDY Relief in New York & New Jersey (30 Nov 2012)

We are overwhelmed by the generosity and support we have received from not only Rotarians but also from the general public. Today a group of dancing students is running a supplies drive, and will also be putting on a fund raising event. Hundreds of Rotary districts and clubs all over the world have called or e-mailed us to see how they could help.

In general, most of the flood waters in the area have subsided, but about 50% of us still have no power and may not get it back before the end of the week. Mass transit is slowly returning to the area, and roads are being cleared. Unfortunately, the U.S. Weather Service is forecasting another severe storm fir Wednesday, which may eradicate any progress. But many people, including Rotarians, lost their homes and businesses, and some even lost their lives. With the power still out, there is still danger from overexposure to carbon monoxide fumes from generators and propane tanks, and from freezing without heat.

Many Rotary districts and clubs , as well as other organizations, are already on their way with donated supplies. At least four trucks are already on their way.

Here are items needed NOW by people in shelters throughout the area:

By tomorrow, we will out on the website a warehouse where items may be delivered. We are putting together trucks and people to drive the supplies where they are needed throughout the six Districts. Non-food donations can be delivered to: 799 Route 17south in Paramus, just south of Linwood Avenue and the Capital One Bank. We will post more sites on the website.

Longer-term needs

Once people get out of shelters and resume their lives, they will need the following:

We are working in a multi- district grant to supply some of these.

Building needs

We will need help rebuilding many structures and will keep that updated on our website  at www.nynjrotary.org.

Among the sites we will need help rebuilding are:

We will need hands-on volunteers for these projects, as well as funds.

Here is a District by District (in numerical order) of what is happening in each District that was badly affected. I am also including the name and contact information for the District Governor in that area.

District 7230   (Manhattan, Bronx Staten Island and Westchester)
Greg Arcaro, DG, garcaro@aol.com, (c) 914-589-2090

Hundreds of people are homeless on the southern side of Staten Island. The restaurant (owned by a Rotarian) where the South Staten Island Rotary met was washed out to sea. The ferry has just started running to Staten Island again, but many roads are impassable. Power has been restored to about 50% of the people there. Lower Manhattan's Battery Park was flooded, and tunnels serving the city, the Holland and Brooklyn Tunnels, were inundated. Power has been restored to much of Manhattan. Westchester and the Bronx did not get much damage other than falling trees and downed power lines. We have not  heard from Bermuda, which is part of the District, and was also in Hurricane Sandy's path.

District 7250 (Queens, Brooklyn and Nassau Counties, NY),

DG Mario Moran, mmn119@aol.com, (c) 516-729-8164

This area was badly damaged. Many are homeless in the Rockaways, Long Beach, Fire Island,the Rockaways in Queens,  Coney Island and Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. In Breezy Point, a fire destroyed eighty homes. All of the areas in Nassau County south of Sunrise Highway were flooded. There is a shelter that  has been set up in Freeport, NY) one of our Youth Exchange students from Brazil who was staying in Long Beach lost the home where he is staying, although it looks like he will be adopted by District 7490. Trees are down throughout the area, but about 60% have had power restored at this point.

District 7260, Suffolk County, NY

Connie Gevinski, DG, cgevinski@optonline.net, (c) 631-255-6119

Hardest -hit areas are in Islip and in Huntington on the North Shore. Trees are down, but much power has been restored. The town of Lindenhurst had 100 homes lost to the Ocean. A large area of homes were flooded. They are in desperate need of cleaning supplies and physical help. They do not need any more clothing donations, but bedding would be useful. We still have many without power and heat because of downed lines and it may be some time before they receive it. There are also other Oceanside towns that I have not been able to get lists of needs from.

District 7490 ( Bergen, Passaic and Hudson Counties, NJ).

Bonnie Sirower, DG, botzie@aol.com, (c) 201-446-1814

 The towns if Moonachie and Little Ferry were washed away when a levee broke. Most buildings and homes were destroyed, although floodwaters have receded. No power restored yet. Hoboken was 90% underwater. Jersey City and Secaucus were somewhat flooded, too. There is a shelter run by the Elks in Hoboken and at Woodridge High School near Moonachie. Power is about 50% restored to the area (not here yet).

District 7500 (Monmouth, Ocean and Burlington Counties, NJ)

Joan Vas, DG, joanvas@optonline.net, (c) 732-241-3947

This  area was VERY badly damaged. In Sea Bright, there is still no access to the town. Many residents in Belmar were evacuated and are now in shelters. Seaside Heights was devastated and  its amusement area and boardwalk were washed out to sea. The National Guard is patrolling the area of Point Pleasant where people have been evacuated. Mantolokin is still considered unsafe. There is very little electricity throughout the area. The DGE's home is uninhabitable. The town Union Beach had over 200 homes washed away and between 15 and 30 residents are unaccounted for at this point in time. Long Beach Island was devastated with about 4-5 feet of beach sand on the main road through the island."

District 7640 (Atlantic, Cape May, Camden and Gloucester Counties, NJ)

John Andrews, DG , ja2inoc@verizon.net, (c) 609-576-8353

Atlantic City and Brigantine were the hardest hit. They are still in a state of emergency   Much of those cities were inundated. Also hard-hit were Beach Haven,Ventnor, Margate and Longport. There are shelters set up in these areas.

In the other districts in our immediate region, District 7470 (Essex, Sussex, Morris and Somerset Counties) had some flooding in Newark, plus downed trees. District 7510 (Union, Middlesex, Princeton) had some flooding and downed trees and no power. 7210 (Rockland, Orange, Duchess) had some flooding in Piermont and Nyack, plus downed trees and no power in many areas, but the damage is not as drastic as in the other areas. I have not included Connecticut in this survey.