A Homecoming After Hurricane Sandy
(Editor’s Note: October 29th marked four years since Hurricane Sandy devastated communities in the New York region, including many homes in Rockaway, Queens. Since the storm, SBP — a CGI member and the only nonprofit still providing rebuilding services for families in Rockaway — has rebuilt 250 homes in New York to date, and has partnered with the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery on a first of its kind pilot program to elevate homes in Brooklyn and Queens. Learn more about SBP’s work on a co-authored “Playbook” for effectively replicating its post-disaster recovery model.
This post originally appeared on the Clinton Foundation blog on January 21, 2016. SBP has since opened new operations in flood-impacted West Virginia and South Louisiana.)
Three years after Hurricane Sandy made landfall, Evelyn Stevens was still living on the second floor of her house in Rockaway, New York. The first floor, where her living room and kitchen once were, had been flooded by the storm surge that swept across the peninsula, decimating the house and those of her neighbors. With her first floor uninhabitable, Ms. Stevens used her insurance payout to retain the services of a contractor to rebuild her home. The contractor promptly disappeared with her money — an all too frequent occurrence in the aftermath of disasters.
Finally, on October 31, 2015, Ms. Stevens who works at the New York City Department of Children’s Services, was getting the rebuilding services she deserved. Chelsea Clinton and volunteers participating in the Clinton Foundation’s Day of Action were working with SBP and its NY affiliate, Friends of Rockaway to hang sheetrock on the house’s wooden frame that had only recently been treated for a mold infestation.
As the new walls went up, covering fresh insulation, Ms. Stevens’ house began to look a lot more like a home. And on January 14, three years and three months after Hurricane Sandy, Ms. Stevens was officially able to call it just that at a Welcome Home Party hosted by Friends of Rockaway.
“I’ve been very cramped. I can’t wait to stretch out into the space. I need more closet space, cabinet space; it’s going to be fabulous,” said Ms. Stevens.
Ms. Stevens’ homecoming is a cause for celebration. But it shouldn’t have taken three years. Even more concerning: the path to recovery is far from over for others across Rockaway. Today, Friends of Rockaway is the only Queens-based rebuilding organization that remains in operation while thousands of residents cannot afford to rebuild and are in need of help.
Thomas Corley, who headed up SBP’s recovery operation in Joplin, MO and now leads the organization’s efforts in Rockaway, noted, “Last year, Friends of Rockaway completed 74 homes. Thousands of volunteers engaged, donated, and reassured the Rockaway community that they are not forgotten. This year, we’re facing our greatest challenge yet. The further we get from Hurricane Sandy, the harder it is to recruit the hands and dollars we need to get the job done.”
He continued, “Today, we have over 50 families on our waiting list. We continue to receive two to three calls, each week, from residents who are still living in storm damaged homes. Some without heat, or running water. The situation is dire, and we’ll only make a difference with the help of volunteers.”
Unfortunately, Ms. Stevens’ story is not unique. In many places across the United States where SBP operates, the road to recovery has been arduous. From the ongoing ten-plus year recovery in New Orleans to places where the rebuilding is just getting started; from San Marcos, TX to Columbia, SC; and now towns all along the Mississippi River and in California where flooding has devastated communities, recovery will take years.
The good news is that we know this is a solvable problem. SBP’s mission is to shrink the time between disaster and full recovery and we have a model to do so. In fact, as part of our 2013 Clinton Global Initiative commitment in partnership with Farmers Insurance, we developed a standardized “Playbook” for post-disaster recovery based on best practices from SBP’s ten years of disaster recovery work across the country. The updated version will be released this spring, but the truth remains: no model works without volunteers committing their time to help their fellow Americans.
With natural disasters happening more frequently and in places not often associated with those events, it’s more important than ever before to rally around our neighbors and dedicate ourselves not just to a Day of Action but to Weeks of Action and Months of Action. Let’s make 2016 the Year of Action. Without it, there will be many more stories like Ms. Stevens’. Her story could be any of ours.
About SBP
SBP’s mission is to shrink time between disaster and recovery. Since its founding in 2006 in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, SBP has rebuilt homes for more than 1,170 families with the help of 150,000 volunteers in New Orleans; Joplin, MO; Staten Island, NY; Rockaway, NY; Monmouth and Ocean Counties, NJ; San Marcos, TX; Columbia, SC; White Sulphur Springs, WV and Baton Rouge, LA.
SBP’s model is enhanced by AmeriCorps, which provides 180 members annually to manage worksites and clients, and train the organization’s volunteers nationally.
Through its Disaster Resilience and Recovery Lab (DRRL), SBP works to share lessons learned, prevent common barriers to recovery and help communities utilize SBP’s standardized, repeatable and proven-effective model.
SBP shrinks time between disaster and recovery via five interventions:
1) Build innovatively, driving efficiency
2) Share SBP’s proven effective model with other organizations to increase efficacy across the disaster rebuilding sector
3) Train home and business owners in resilience and risk mitigation prior to disaster
4) Advise local and state government officials so they can deploy federal dollars sooner, and in a way that empowers an efficient recovery
5) Advocate so that what is measured is what matters — a complete recovery
To learn more, visit www.SBPUSA.org and like/follow on Facebook & Twitter @SBPUSA
