Sandy

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According to the news they are out in droves laying down the law to unlicensed contractors doing tree removals roof repairs etc .
 
Butch,
Did you notice where those downed trees were? Queens or Brooklyn?
The London Planes/Sycamores? look like the ones south of Prospect Park and North of Ditmas Park in Brooklyn.
Wait, the political ad is for Golden, he is running again for 22nd, so that is Brooklyn, near her place. Lawrence Schultz is one of the local City Arborists.
Daughter there said a lot of them blew down.
 
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Just know, it will get better. Been there, done that, probably have to do it again. Anything you need, let us know, we will pull together and help. We need to know what you need.
 
I was just in town and talked to a retired SBA disaster adjuster. Seems a local arborist is on Long Island and hooked up with locals doing work. He is looking for someone to drive some of his equipment down. I don't have CDL. If I knew the guy better I would be more tempted. Probably anyone involved with the cleanup is too busy to be online. Storm chasing usually seems to be a loser. It is over 300 miles from WNY to the city.

I stopped at the guys house a couple years ago to see about his saw mill. He was packing up to head down to the ice storm in Kentucky, Carolinas,... It was the one Skwerl ran up to. The guy invited me as a total stranger to go if I wanted. I wish I knew people who worked with him in the past.
 
First off I want to say: being sick sucks!

I just saw our daughter and her boyfriend off to Brooklyn, NY. They had come down for my father-in-law's memorial service this past weekend.
As they could not get bus or train service from where they live they chose to drive her band's van down and could not see going back with an empty van when there were so many who are lacking basic items in much of coastal NY and NJ.

We packed her band's Mercedes Sprinter van with as much in supplies as we could, all donated by folks in our neighborhood and a couple small churches we contacted here in Newark, Delaware.

The items included winter coats, boots, blankets, canned food, water, paper towels, toilet paper, flashlights and batteries, diapers, formula, cleaning supplies, gas Coleman stoves, and lots of other items.
Most of it will go to the Distribution Center in South Brooklyn (a few 5 gallon containers of gas are for her neighbors who have drained the fuel tanks of their cars to run generators for electricity).
From there the items get sorted and redistributed to the different communities as the organizers know best which area needs what.

Our daughter's friends have been organizing and volunteering in the harder hit areas. They say that some Red Cross and FEMA help is there, but not always in the time frame or the type of assistance that is really needed.
A number of them have gone to the Rockaways and other hard hit areas daily to prepare and hand out meals, distribute goods and help clean up where folks still have little to no support.
Anyone who thinks the 20-somethings of this day and age are lacking motivation should hear about the efforts going on; it is amazing what is being done through social media.
A lot of it grew out of the organization behind the Occupy Wall Street movement, which is now running the South Brooklyn Distribution Center and many in-the-field operations.

Check out the Facebook page: "Occupy Sandy Relief NYC".

Yesterday about 200 military personnel were given orientation by the Occupy Sandy Relief NYC organizers, as the military responders were unaware of how best to help.
Another group helping in the response is YANA (You Are Not Alone), also a group of citizens who saw a need and stepped in.

Another organization I think is neat is The Fuel Relief Fund.
See their website at:

http://fuelrelieffund.org

They drove out from California with semi-truck tankers, purchased gas at nearby refineries and are giving it away.
They know that after food, water, and shelter, the need for fuel is the next most important determinant in peoples' survival of a natural disaster.
These folks, from the board of directors all the way down to the oil industry management, drivers, and those who dispense the gas are non-paid volunteers; none of them are compensated for their time and efforts.
They arrived in Hoboken, then moved to Staten Island, and as of yesterday morning had dispensed 6000 gallons of gas; always beginning with the first-responders, then the populace.
If you are so inclined, hit their website and make a donation.

Lots of shut-ins and senior citizens in the hard hit areas are running out of basic needs items and medicines for serious conditions like diabetes, cardiac conditions, and asthma.
A friend who like me is a nurse and runs a small business in North Carolina has sent most of her staff of nurses through the Red Cross to the Northeast to assist in efforts including going door-to-door to assess health status, needs, and to get prescriptions filled and basic needs met.

Reports from the field from my crew in NJ is that the infrastructure work alone could well keep them there for a while.
They still have no electricity and the cold has been a challenge.
They have been taking trees off of some homes and buildings and clearing affected electrical distribution lines (with a small 40' boom truck - all we could find at the time).
The township just asked if they would work exclusively with the township electrical crews for a few days to facilitate getting the electricity back on.

I just received a large check from a former customer who now lives in Europe who stays in touch with me (the postal fees to get it here fast -wow!).
He retired back there after working here at the University for over thirty years.
He appreciates that we maintained his trees for years and wanted to help offset our loss of income while the crew volunteers to help folks get their power back on.
I say people really are basically good... I don't care what anyone else thinks!

The first few days it was very heartening to see the large number of tree and line crews from all over streaming past on I-95, all heading North with their flashers on - such a symbol of solidarity.

I know any and all efforts toward helping are much appreciated.
I hope Rob and Ben and anyone else in the disaster area are staying safe.
If you look at the list of deaths related to the storm system, the number killed by falling trees or branches was about 21%:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...41b46e-25fe-11e2-92f8-7f9c4daf276a_story.html

As soon as I am over this flu/sinusitis that felled me I'll be heading up there with another truck, the spare chipper, supplies and tree tools.

Be safe out there and stay warm.
 
Tom,
Storm chasing can be costly and unless you have a well-oiled crew that is efficient and very adaptable to the varying tasks at hand, likely frustrating.
Signing on to work with someone you don't know could lead to misunderstandings due to different styles of working, perspectives and goals.

The reason I sent the crew is one of the guys grew up there, knows everyone, and they have family support and a strong desire to help out.
Their fixed costs are low, with a home to stay in instead of paying motel costs.
 
You can make money after storms. I busted $5.5K in the 5 days following Ike. Gotta hit the right zip codes. Anyone who is going to wait for an insurance adjuster isn't your customer. The ones who will out of pocket here and now, and bill the insurance company later are your targets. While you are there, up sell them on tossing anything standing that could be "dangerous" when the next storm comes.

In Houston, after 5 days, it was nothing but people waiting on insurance adjusters. Sure, still weeks of work, but the cream had been skimmed away and the muddy waters were still filling with sharks......

Good luck to all.....
 
Pigwot...what an amazing report, thank you for posting it.
It brought me to tears to read of the depth of thoughtfulness and generosity generated at a time like this. Selflessness.
 
Yes, I too have welled up several times. Having friends in the nursing, public health, tree, and transportation sectors I keep hearing touching stories.

While Manhattan below 39th St was without electricity it seems everyone we know in Brooklyn was coordinating moving folks into their homes. I am impressed with how our daughter's community of friends live such a fluid-boundary lifestye. The difficulty fnding work for many youth has lead to situations of sharing jobs and 'making' work, and sharing food to keep folks going.
What impresses me is how they accomplish this without any hint of offending anyone's dignity and ego.

I feel the moral compass of this country is amiss if we only focus on the extremes: undue poverty (those who don't take or have opportunities for getting ahead and resort to crime or 'working the dole') and undue wealth (acquired through criminal, unethical means and corporate greed). The vast majority of people in this country are hardworking and willing to do what it takes to make ends meet, AND they are there for one another as we are seeing in the response to Sandy.

Pictures of folks holding signs with the hash tag: "#WEGOTTHIS" are showing up at a lot of the aid and relief locations. It says a lot... average people taking care of their sisters and brothers, their fellow man, (and their fellow pets) as is spoken of in Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and the multitude of other religions, along with the many agnostics and atheists who have just as strong a motivation toward the well-being of others.

It gives me hope for the future (I know, an over-used expression). But when so many lives are touched and helped, that spirit can only grow. When so many see the devastation of lives, we all maybe will think a bit more about our basic needs, the fears we harbor when we do not have enough (material goods OR love), the joy we feel with our successes and accomplishments, the partaking of our luxuries and excesses, and what it means to take a personal responsibility for the well-being of those around us.

Geez! I just looked at what all I have been writing... I swear the fever is gone and it's just a really sore throat and general achiness...

BTW, Does anyone know Lawrence Schultz, an arborist in Brooklyn? I have not gotten a reply from him on email, though I expect he is putting in 18+ hour days like most in the affeced areas.
 
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