A bit about the flood and its aftermath from my perspective
http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20 ... |FRONTPAGE
This is the situation faced by many in the flood affected regions -- they are looking at not allowing Trick-or-Treating this year due to safety concerns in the cleanup zones. I definitely understand and agree with the thought and reasoning, and they are planning an alternate event in town, but it is sad to think that the kids won't get to participate in the yearly tradition of canvassing the neighborhood. It definitely brings to light some of the less obvious consequences of the disaster that one normally wouldn't think of. The damaged property, the washed out roads -- those are things one associates with flooding, but not a village/town/city-wide curfew that prevents Trick-or-Treating nearly two months later. The effects indeed ripple their way through the community long after the water has receded.
Owego is about 15mi to my west. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it's something like ~430 buildings in the "downtown" area of Owego, ~375 of which were condemned following the flood. That doesn't count the houses in the outlying areas. Again, the numbers are off by a bit, but the point is that the the vast majority of structures were destroyed in Owego. A large number of those structures were historic landmarks or at least played a large part in Owego's rich history. The damage goes beyond the material value of the destruction. These floods have erased part of the historical and cultural record, while adding a bit of their own story at the same time.
I was listening to my police & fire scanner the night of the flooding. One of the most unnerving things I heard was from the chief of my neighborhood's fire district. They were working about three blocks from my house, and he made a radio call to the effect of, "To all West Corners Fire personell: if you have any friends with boats that can get here quickly, call them immediately and have them stage at Station 1 and prepare for rescue and evacuation procedures."
The next day, the National Guard airlifted relief supplies, equipment, and manpower into the field at my old school down the road. I had never seen military vehicles on my street before. I got a frantic call from a concerned friend near Rochester whose husband, a paramedic/EMT, had been deployed via FEMA to Binghamton for relief efforts. That is one thing I can say -- the response from all around NY in support of the relief efforts was amazing, and more importantly the initial response from our local emergency crews was just top notch. In all of Lee's fury, no loss of human life was reported in NY, and I credit that to those crews, public communication from/with county and local officials (which has been outstanding throughout), and to the local news/media organizations for being on the ball with information and updates. In addition, the community heeded the warnings, paid attention to the alerts, and followed the early evacuation orders. Still today, the communities affected continue to rally behind each other to get everyone back on their feet.
The school district in which I live has recently closed some schools due to decline in student population. The elementary school near my house (where the airlifted supplies landed) was one of those closed. When the flooding destroyed the elementary school in Owego, this district immediately offered use of this school to the Owego district for those displaced by the flooding. These two schools have long been 'bitter' rivals on the sports fields and in academic competitions. In a time of disaster, these two schools, as well as the others in the region, stood unified in helping their communities recover.
I personally aided in some of the cleanup efforts in Apalachin, a small town on the other side of the river from me. To start with, I couldn't get into Apalachin for 2 days until the water receded enough to get across the bridge safely. What I saw once I got there was heart wrenching. There was a distinct line of fresh mud showing where the water levels had been. In some places homes had been under water to the 2nd floor. And the smell! The smell was awful. Not strong, but very pervasive. Finally made my way to my friends house to begin the cleanup. He was one of the luckier ones in that only his basement got flooded, but that's still tens of thousands of dollars in damage he can only hope his insurance or FEMA will help to recover. More than that, it is the emotional and psychological toll this will take on him and his family, and the rest of the families affected. To drive down the main roads Apalachin.... to see piles of rubble at the curbside, not being able to distinguish one property from another because the piles are just continuous. In the few spots where you could see past the rubble, the only things visible were empty shells of homes.
These floods will neither be quickly nor easily forgotten. The scars exist in places less obvious than the physical landscape.
