Eyefodder on tour

The Rockaways souvenir. On the travels I've been posting to this blog, I try to pick up a small souvenir from each place so I can remember the place. I never set out to get souvenirs from my time at the Rockaways, but I've kept two things that will remind me of the place. The first is my pair of work gloves, that lasted me for the first couple of weeks before I wore a hole in the fingers. And for the second, the miracle that is the self-heating MRE (Meal; Ready to Eat). This is my last post for now on the Rockaways. Perhaps in the spring time I'll head out there again to do a follow up, or to try and get involved with a volunteer organization involved in the long recovery that they will face. Until then, let's get back to the exotic travels. When I last posted, I'd just left deepest darkest Peru, next stop Easter Island!

One last house. My last day at the Rockaways took me to an unusual mission. Most of the work there has involved mucking out water-soaked belongings, removing drywall and insulation; basically stripping homes down to wooden studs so they can begin the long, slow drying-out process. But this house was brick and didn't have studs. In fact, there wasn't much left of anything. A fire in the neighbouring house had spread and consumed this two-family home. The roof, most of the walls and the floor had gone. The house and all its contents had been destroyed. Or so it seemed. The goal with this project was to see what, if anything could be salvaged. Gingerly stepping on the charred remains of someone's material life is tough, both physically and emotionally. At first we sifted down in a small area, removing char and rubble bucket by bucket. Occasionally we would find something that escaped complete destruction: a plate here, or a beanie baby there (in fact *a lot* of Beanie Babies survived).You could see the heat from the fire had been intense; The enamel from a colander had melted; all that was left of a grand piano was the cast-iron harp. And yet over the course of the day we were able to salvage a few memories for this kind family. "Who would do this if we weren't doing this?" asked Dan "No-one, that's who..." Doc replied drily And that is what this team of people is about; jumping in and getting their hands dirty when it's beyond the reach or remit of others. When it just seems like too much work. We didn't get much out of the wreckage that day. But what we did get out—those few photographs and possessions—made the time we spent there more than worth it.

Rockaway Residents. These people have been through hell. Each resident in these pictures has lost some or all of their belongings, walls and floors. They had been without power for a week or three. The lucky ones had been able to stay with friends or family while getting their homes back together. Some grouped together to stay warm and safe in an area with limited resources and danger at night. One resident whose house we were working on told me that she had seventeen people sleeping upstairs at night in a space no bigger than a two bedroom apartment. That said, the people approached the task of recovery with strength and gusto. They all mucked in to work with us and kept going till the task was done. And when it was they would often offer to share what they had. We never would accept any sort of payment; being offered a cup of tea by someone who had just been able to boil water for the first time in weeks was far better compensation.

Staying warm in the Rockaways. When you're working and moving around you don't notice it. But first thing in the morning, before the sun takes the edge off things, it can be bitterly cold. The wind whips through and just seems to suck bodyheat away. A few donated heaters help (that's why Conrad, Sue, Becky and Dylan are clustered up so close in that second picture) but it makes you realise how miserable it is for people living out here with no heat, electricity or hot water. —And yes, my hat is *that* orange!

A very Rockaway thanksgiving.

Breezy Point.

Although I spent much of my time in the Rockaways, I worked for a couple of days at Breezy point. It's a different community, at the end of the island it feels more isolated and the houses far more clearly show their origins as summer beach cottages. 

Breezy Point was hit particularly bad for a number of reasons. The properties are much more densely packed, which meant that when fire did break out, it rapidly spread to over a hundred homes. Furthermore, because many of the properties have humble beginnings, they were constructed more inexpensively; a number of houses here were literally washed off the foundations. 

And recovery will be tough too. Access is tight (many of the walk/roadways to get to houses can barely accommodate vehicles) and there is a big question-mark as to whether the city will even allow rebuilding on these plots of land—if they are made subject to current planning regulations the plots are simply too small. 

Heading back to New York from the Rockaways.

Possessions. Although hurricane Sandy claimed relatively few casualties, the toll on material possessions was high. Homeowner Matt watches as his childrens' toys and his prized record collection are taken out to the kerb. Being a mechanic, the bike (and spare engine) can be saved with a kerosene bath and many painstaking hours of restoration work.

This series of posts document the time I spent in the Rockaways (an area near New York City that was devastated by Hurricane Sandy) with Team Rubicon. If you liked them, please consider reblogging the post to spread the word, making a donation, or if its before December 4th 2012 voting in the American Giving Awards for Team Rubicon.

The media.

Over the last few weeks, Team Rubicon has garnered quite a bit of media attention. Here are a few selections to enjoy.

A great segment featuring Harry Golden on MSNBC's Brian Williams show.

An article from local favourite, New York 1

And an in-depth article from the New York Times' "At War" blog.

Interested to see that Forbes were one of the first to cover the team. 

Rockaways' Signs.

Put up out of fear, necessity, frustration, hope or thanks, the hand-written signs in the rockaways tell a story of life during the recovery.

Volunteers.

One of the things the Team Rubicon operation was particularly good at was accommodating other volunteers. Whether it was individuals like me, or organized groups like the great team from Landmark College or Intent Media, volunteers were looked after, treated as equals and put to work as effectively as possible. The team was even able to mobilise five hundred volunteers from the Clinton Global Initiative (including Chelsea Clinton) with a minimum of fuss and disruption.

Gordon's Homestyle Kitchen.

On a cold morning at our Forward Operating Base (FOB) in the Rockaways, Gordon cooks up a mean breakfast. In the background is his pride and joy — a biodiesel powered former tour bus named "Big Bertha". Having previously done service in Katrina, Gordon drove the bus here from Colorado. Over the time at the Rockaways, I've seen the bus serve as bedroom, store, meeting room, communications centre and sometimes just a plain old place to hide from the wind.

Christian the medic's home made hat. #trsandy #trnation #nyc #rockaways (at Rockaway Beach - 145th Street)

Sweat. #rockaways #trsandy #trnation #nyc #sandy (at Far Rockaway, Queens)

Rockaways day 5

The good news is a lot of the work orders we had no longer needed work. The bad news was that it was cold wet and raining all morning. 

Also one of the homeowners, Betty, had a generator for the first time. That means she was able to boil water and most importantly make us tea. She said it was the first normal thing she had been able to do. 

It was the best tea I've tasted in a long time.