Occupy Sandy w/ St. Jacobi Church

Relief Center on Seba Ave •••

Per a local… The water was so high that cars in the street were practically covered. •••

Many houses were built with the living area 7’ up from street level, but that didn’t help basements. •••

Planning out what’s next…. •••

A lot of the places in this area were already gutted. •••

Unfortunatly, most of the houses were built with the main floor at steet level and some were lower. •••

…after the looting, some folks got serious! •••

All the homes in this area require this level of gutting… •••

One one knows when life will return to normal. •••

In order to remove the mold and mildew… They have to start from a bare skeleton. •••

But another example… •••

Even windows were lost. •••

Just beyond this home is the canal where it started. •••

Almost two weeks later, ConEd is projecting to finally have the electric back on by late Sunday / early Monday.

You can see the water line clearly in this shot. •••

The women in this home said, “this use to be a warm and lovely home”… •••

So I gave her a big hug and reassured her that it will be again… And that it will also be new. •••

If you’re interested in helping, St. Jacobi Church in Brooklyn is an excellent place to start. They are sending relief shuttles to all areas that are in need of assistance. (contact: 347.470.4192)

If you’re near the Gerritsen Beach area and would like to help them directly, the Relief Center is on Seba Avenue (between Frank Ct. & Eaton Ct.). Just show up and they’ll put you to work. If you want to drop off items to help: As of today they’re good on clothes - What they really need is brooms, mops, buckets, garbage bags, etc.. for cleaning. And perhaps low sodium/low sugar items for locals who are diabetic.

Thank you for inspiring me to do this, Michael Geer.