GOSHEN — Goshen emergency responders returned home last weekend after being deployed to the East Coast to help residents affected by Hurricane Sandy.
Aiding East Coasters were Goshen Fire Department Chief Dan Sink, Chief Paramedic Kit Castetter and Elkhart County Red Cross Executive Director Frank Connolly.
“It’s a fun aspect of my job that’s different from my daily job that I get to participate in,” Chief Sink said. “It was a great experience and ... tiresome.”
Connolly said he slept most of one day and part of another day after his return home.
His job was to manage all the American Red Cross shelters in the state of New York for Hurricane Sandy, including New York City, he said.
“I was incredibly proud of the team I worked with. It didn’t start easy and the team didn’t back down,” Connolly said. “They made sure everyone was safe and secure. It was tough to find shelter for staff and the gas shortage provided challenges.”
Chief Sink helped develop an All Hazards Incident Management Team in Baltimore, Md., he said after leaving Oct. 28, and “then the hurricane turned into a northerly track and hit New York and New Jersey.” They demobilized on the morning of Oct. 31, camped overnight on an Army base in Maryland and traveled to New York on Nov. 1.
“The objectives were to provide infrastructure support for the city of Long Beach, NY, and we provided governmental support and support for local ongoing response,” Chief Sink said. “We provided technical logistic support, facilitated pumps for water and sewers, and generators for city hall, fire stations, police stations, places that really needed power.”
He described his daily schedule which began at 5 a.m. and in the command post by 7 a.m. for briefing for the day followed by a tactics meeting at 11 a.m. and he attended all the meetings, he said. The operations ended at 7 p.m. when he returned to the Jericho Volunteer Fire Department, where his sleeping quarters were at.
“I ate dinner between 7 and 8 p.m., went to bed, got up and did it all over again the next day,” Chief Sink said. “The destruction is difficult to describe even with pictures I brought back. The destruction is incredible. Building will take literally months and even years.”
Connolly said after Hurricane Sandy hit landfall and “was considered a substantial event,” he helped set up people to manage shelters and others to manage the day-to-day operations in Long Island City, New York City, Westchester County and upstate New York.
He said it was complicated and challenging to find shelter locations within certain areas due to legalities.
“Our objective is to place shelters in affected areas as close as possible and still be safe,” Connolly said. “At the peak of the storm, there were 15,000 to 20,000 people in shelters. That’s a pretty large number. We could have sheltered more if we needed. We were busy and even with the size and complexity, things went very well.”
Some of the more difficult aspects after the storm included getting power for shelter needs, finding shelter for the American Red Cross staff, and getting people back in their homes, he added.
“There were a lot of challenges with the gas shortage and power outage, which affected communication, as well,” Connolly said. “There are about 2,500 people still in shelters, so the need is reducing.”
Breaking News
Related Photos
-
Goshen Fire Chief Dan Sink, left and Lucas Gluchowski from Clay Fire Territory, pose for a picture at a camp for emergency workers helping with Hurricane Sandy relief. PHOTO PROVIDED
Local emergency responders provide relief after Sandy
- Breaking News
-
-
Council makes a smart move on tax breaks
The Goshen City Council’s adoption of a tax phase-in policy for local governments will help bring uniformity to a competitive process that has pitted local governments against each other.
-
WWI vet to be honored at dusk to dawn vigil
MIDDLEBURY — Guests speakers at the Middlebury American Legion Post 210 annual dusk to dawn vigil at Grace Lawn Cemetery reads like a who’s who list in Indiana government.
-
Dozens treated after school buses collide
NORTH WEBSTER — A crash involving four Wawasee Community School buses Wednesday resulted in more than 50 injured students, according to Kosciusko County police.
-
Fitness Fridays begin at Parkview LaGrange
Looking for a way to “jump start” your weekend activities? Leaders at Parkview LaGrange Hospital invite the public to join them every Friday at 4 p.m. for a 2-mile walk around the hospital’s half-mile walking track.
-
UPDATE: Wawasee bus driver, some students taken to hospital after crash
SYRACUSE — A crash Wednesday afternoon involving four Wawawsee Community School buses has sent 25 children and a bus driver to local hospitals for treatment. The crash occurred on Ind. 13 near Clark Marina, which is between Wawasee Middle School and the North Webster town limits.
-
FIT FAMILIES: Hospital or home, which setting is best for delivering a baby?
It would be difficult to find a birth topic more emotionally charged than home delivery. Women and men of all socio-economic, educational and professional backgrounds tend to have strong ideas about home birth vs. hospital birth.
-
School bus crash in North Webster
Samirtan helicopters are en route to a wreck involving mutliple school buses in North Webster.
-
Shipshe Event Center receives AED
Visitors and staff at the Shipshewana Event Center and Hostetler’s Hudson Museum will have a little extra backup in case of emergency thanks to an automated external defibrillator that is now available on site.
-
Graduation season gets underway tonight
The time has come for local high school seniors to begin turning their tassels. After 13 years of schooling in many cases, the Class of 2013 is ready to graduate.
-
Fifth-graders give ‘State Fair’
NAPPANEE — Fifth-graders at Nappanee Elementary School proudly showed off their work at a state fair held Friday in the school gymnasium. The students have been studying states and the fair was the culmination of their work, which began in March.
- More Breaking News Headlines
-
Council makes a smart move on tax breaks
Texas Students Coach Teachers on Fitness
New Forecasting Tool Eyed for Hurricane Season
Meet MJ, the Bike Riding Tabby Cat
Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam
Raw: Kevin Durant Tours Moore After $1M Pledge
Weiner Launches Bid to Become NYC Mayor
Okla. Teens Get Video of Deadly Tornado Overhead
Man Shot While Questioned in Boston Probe
School Storm Protection Spotty in Tornado Zones
9-year-old Tornado Victim Loved Family, Singing
Moore Native Toby Keith Tours Tornado Damage
Oklahoma Survivors, Heroes Survey Damage
Okla. City Mayor: Up to 13K Homes Hit by Tornado
Raw: Aftermath of Deadly Attack in London
Paperless Scanner, Vision of the Future
Florida FBI Shooting Has Boston Bombing Links
Garcetti Elected Los Angeles Mayor Over Greuel
Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado
IRS Official Pleads 5th Amendment
Lawyer: Feds Investigating Susan Powell Case
