Below is a slightly edited copy of my report that I gave for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints archival records of the church, ward, and stake efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
As a relatively newly called Bishop of the Jersey City 2nd
ward, Hurricane Sandy really rocked my world, but it also gave our ward and
stake lots of service opportunities that were really strengthening and
uplifting.
I live in Hoboken, NJ, which is where most of the worst
flooding occurred in our area. We watched the news, social media, and out our
window as the storm developed and approached. At least, until the power went
out, then we just watched out the windows.
We watched the power go out all over town. And then we
watched the storm surge wash into our neighborhood.
October 29, 2012
(photo by Carma Bylund-Lincoln)
It wasn’t clear until the next morning how bad the damage
was, at least in our own immediate area of town.
October 30, 2012- (photo by Greg Lincoln) Our nearest
intersection under about 5 feet of water. Near the center bottom of the photo
is a splash of yellow. To the left is a circle- that circle is a trash can
(permanently affixed to the sidewalk) submerged about 6 inches below the
water’s surface.
October 30, 2012- (photo by Greg Lincoln) Just south of
prior photo.
The west end of Hoboken (away from the Hudson River) is
situated below sea level, and is where all the water from the storm surge in
our community ended up. It essentially acted as a bath tub, holding all the
surge water (now mixed with drain and sewage). It wasn’t until November 1st
that all the water was finally pumped out. Repairs to the electric substations
that had been inundated with the salt water couldn’t even begin to be repaired
until the water had receded.
On October 31st, (photo by Greg Lincoln) the
National Guard arrived, responding to our mayor’s request for aid. They began
evacuating people who wanted to leave to the shelters that had been set up.
With no power, one child feeling sick, and the threat of
losing water and being without power for 7-10 days, my wife and I decided to
leave if we could.
I family and I were able to evacuate, though not using the
National Guard. We went to the D.C. area to visit Carma’s sister. Also the same
day I was asked to phone in to CNN’s “The Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer
while they showed some of the photos I had submitted. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1210/31/sitroom.02.html
At the hotel, we were able to recharge, and get back in the
communication loop. Cell phone service had been partially compromised by
damaged towers, and dropped calls were more common than conversations.
We learned that the water receded on November 1st,
and I made the decision to come back on November 2nd (also my
birthday) to check up on ward members and to help organize relief efforts for
the weekend. I spent the entire train ride back to Hoboken making phone calls,
coordinating getting food and hygiene kits, rounding up volunteers, and
adjusting our church meeting location for Sunday (our chapel did not have
power). Apparently my phone calls touched a few others, as my Facebook status
that day says
“In a week full of
oddities and surreality, having someone overhear my conversations on the train
while I'm trying to organize relief efforts in Hoboken and then drop a $20 bill
on my tray (presumably a donation) as they disembark ranks pretty high up there.”
I was also told by another stranger, “Good luck in Hoboken tomorrow, you’re
doing good work.”
For me, that was an uplifting moment, and further
inspiration to do all I could.
The first of our ward service efforts was in Hoboken. In
addition to my role as Bishop, I serve as a commissioner on the Hoboken Housing
Authority (HHA) board. Given that role in addition to the fact that the HHA was
on the west end of Hoboken (most flooded), and in the most need for emergency
supplies (population of nearly 4,000), it was a natural place for us to start.
Saturday November 3rd, about 25 volunteers from
the Jersey City wards arrived and several other members of the Stake drove in
the 300+ food kits and 300+ hygiene kits to distribute to the HHA residents.
November 3rd,
2012 (Photo by Jean Michelle)- HHA Residents waiting to get food kits.
November 3rd,
2012 (Photo by Jean Michelle) Our volunteers.
More photos for 11/3/12 available at http://s285.photobucket.com/user/StefanieEskander/library/Photobucket%20Desktop%20-%20Stefanie/HelpingHands?sort=3&page=1
The demand for the food and hygiene kits far exceeded the
supply, so we coordinated to have an abbreviated church service the next day,
and return to the HHA with more supplies. We had over 50 members of the ward
and stake there to help distribute an addition 300+ food kits and nearly 500
hygiene kits on November 4th.
November 4, 2012. (Pictured: Stake President Jensen, Hoboken
City Council member David Mello, Bishop Greg Lincoln, Steve Overbey)
The following Wednesday (Nov. 7th), a small
number of stake and ward volunteers delivered 500 blankets, and another 200+
food kits.
The next phase of service took us to Jersey City. I had
prayed for guidance on how our ward could best render service, and had failed
to get responses from local authorities on where we could serve. I contacted
several other volunteer agencies to get as much information as I could, and was
led to a neighborhood in Jersey City on the border of the Jersey City wards and
the Bayonne branch that was hard hit given their proximity to the Hackensack
River.
The Lord had led us surely, as we discovered a neighborhood
in great need.
On Saturday, November 10th we had a small group
of volunteers help start to survey the area for need and begin helping at homes
where people were ready for us.
Nov. 10, 2012 (Photo by Greg Lincoln, pictured: Kit Burton
and Marco Durogene)
Mostly, we moved stuff out of homes and to the curb, and
identified places that would need help the next few weekends. The next
weekends, volunteers around the stake came to our aid, as there was so much
work to do. The area had been flooded with 6-7 feet of water, and every single
home had been impacted.
Ward and stake members spent hours and hours dragging out
useless, wet items, ripping out drywall, and helping people have hope that
their homes could be repaired.
Nov 17, 2012 (Photo by Greg Lincoln, pictured: Young men and
leaders removing drywall).
I can’t even count how many families or homes we helped, though
I know the Stake kept track. But I do know how grateful those individuals were
for the aid that was offered. One couple, in their 90’s, were so amazed. They
had no one to come and help them take out the decades worth of items from their
basement, because family was too far away to help. One gentleman was grateful
for our help because he had back troubles, and couldn’t do it himself. So many
people were just in shock at the amount of work there was to do in their homes,
and had trouble coping. So many were grateful for the army of yellow shirts
that arrived and accomplished so much for them.
I am so proud of our ward and our stake at the response we
were able to give in service to our communities. I thank the Lord for that
opportunity, and that we magnified it as best we could.
Sincerely,
Bishop Greg Lincoln
Jersey City 2nd Ward, Caldwell NJ Stake
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1 comment:
Good report. Can you believe it was only 6 months ago all this happened. You did good work, Bishop!
1 Tim. 3:1
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