Saturday, June 30, 2007
Nine months after the initial meeting to organize the
Otisville-Mt.
Hope Presbyterian Church Emergency Response Team, the team
was
deployed and 16 volunteers from the Main Street church, and
another
volunteer, went to assist three families whose property was
damaged
in the Colchester/Roscoe area.
Words cannot describe the devastation caused by the flash
flood that
affected approximately 8 miles of Route 206 in Colchester.
By the
time we arrived there on Saturday, it was obvious that road
crews
had been diligently working to reconstruct damaged roadways
and
bridges. Debris was piled everywhere. Some
houses were left with
motes. Some were left to stand alone, as if on an
island. Some
houses were completely gone, leaving only portions of block
foundations as a testament to their previous existence.
Some
residents are left without any mode of transportation, their
vehicles carried away by the fast moving water. Some
portions of
the mountain resembled small gorges. Two people are
still missing.
Our team's availability was made known by Roger Burch, of
the
American Red Cross, and its efforts were coordinated through
the
Pastor at the Roscoe Presbyterian Church. A convoy of
eight
vehicles approached the State Police road block and our team
proceeded to MAKE A DIFFERENCE for these families.
Huge trees,
brush, stone and gravel were removed from yards.
Chansaws
buzzed. A chain of volunteers worked together to
remove downed
trees and limbs from a cluttered stream bed. One
family hosted a
lovely barbecue for the volunteers. Hugs were
exchanged.
One of the individuals we assisted said she was suprised by
the
number of people that came to help her family, She
felt like she
was on TV - something like Extreme Makeover-Home Edition,
absent the
megaphone. When our team showed up at her house, she
was
overwhelmed and almost cried. She couldn't believe
that people she
didn't even know were willing to come and help her and her
family.
Nine months ago we formed this team because we felt we
weren't
adequately prepared and hadn't done enough to help the then
recent
flood victims in Port Jervis, Myers Grove,
Westbrookville and
surrounding areas. Little did we know how soon our
team would serve
a purpose. Today we look back to where we were then,
recognize all
we have done since, strive to learn from each experience,
and look
forward to improving on MAKING A DIFFERENCE each time
we're needed
in the future, in whatever way possible.
Susan Maney-Eggleton
OMHPC ERT Director
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