Three weekends ago, my wife's company ran a volunteer day. They have one every year, and we will sign up to clean beaches, parks, or do a variety of things which benefit the community. I feel if I use the beach or the park, I should help keep it clean.
This year we signed up to help clean a shore town in New Jersey that was afflicted by Sandy. We were assigned to clean streets and lend a hand to any homeowners who requested assistance in removing trash. Others in our group were assigned to paint the Ambulance Hall. We cleaned a 2 square block area, and our team 'captain' was a local man who not only gave us guidance on what we would be doing, but also filled us in on what transpired in the town.
He pointed out that May 1st would be the 6 month anniversary of Sandy, and requests for FEMA funds would have to be in by then. He said most residents had already applied, but the funds were limited. In addition the payment wasn't enough to help those with any substantial damage. His home had filled with water up to the ceiling of the first floor and his foundation had cracked, so he was renting the house next door in order to keep his kids in the school district. FEMA was a drop in the bucket for him. Charities were few and far between in this section of NJ. He was getting by on his pension and couldn't afford to get work done on his home.
He took some of us on a brief walk around town to point out the damage. The water level had reached 4-18 feet in this 1 square mile town. 7 of the 21 bars and restaurants were open. The police were still operating out of a trailer.
The only charity, aside from local charities, that was visible was Habitat for Humanity, fixing up one home. They had fixed about 55 homes in the area. Aside from this special weekend, where several large corporations banded together to supply food, paint, brooms, brushes, buckets and a host of other cleaning products, everybody in this town was still scraping by.
I could become political and make comparisons to Katrina and the promises made and not kept (though claims are made about how they have been). Or I could discuss the lack of news coverage Sandy is receiving compared to Katrina, 6 months later. In my estimation, Sandy has been much more devastating and I don't believe the 'official' estimates which say Katrina had more of a financial impact. There are towns in New Jersey, such as the one I worked, where people are walking away from their homes. These were middle and working-class families.
The money is going to areas where it can be visibly shown to 'have an impact'. Shore towns that have summer businesses that need to get up and running.
Other towns, which don't have the high-profile shore traffic, or are simply residential, are going unnoticed.
Even some communities in Connecticut, where a co-worker mine lives, are still having trouble getting back on their feet. He won't be able to move back into his house until August. It was under 10 feet of water for 3 weeks. He was lucky and found another place to live nearby, much like my clean-up captain. He pointed out many of his neighbors aren't as lucky and some are actually 'homeless'.
Perhaps I'm being overly cynical, but I guess tragedies are only tragedies if they impact a lower economic sector of our society, or wipe out a business. If you're middle or working class, nobody really cares as much. If I'm not cynical, and I don't think I am, it says quite a bit about how truly misguided our nation is today.
