Looking Back on Superstorm Sandy, One Year Later

by Tonya Solis-Mosby, volunteer contributor

The American Red Cross response to Superstorm Sandy
was our largest US relief operation in 5 years.

Her fierce winds rose to 115 miles per hour.  In her wake she left trees splintered and strewn; demolished houses and other buildings; many lives uprooted and at least 285 dead.  She was so much more than the average hurricane. She was called Superstorm Sandy.

As the first anniversary of Hurricane Sandy’s devastating blow to the East Coast on October 29, 2012 approaches, Tom and Jeanne Gargiulo, a Long Island couple, shared recently with Red Cross staff, board members and volunteers their story of survival during a hurricane nightmare.

North Texas Regional CEO T.D. Smyers presents
the Gargiulo's with a framed copy of the poster
they were featured in for the American Red Cross.

“We were shattered,” Mrs. Gargiulo said, adding, “but we weren’t broken.”

Mr. and Mrs. Gargiulo were featured guest speakers for "The Journey Forward," a Sandy Commemoration Forum hosted by the American Red Cross in North Texas last week.  The special event was attended by Red Cross volunteers, board members and community partners.

During their presentation, which included a slide show presentation of the storm damage, Mrs. Gargiulo described her family’s activities in the days prior to the storm hitting Babylon Village where she and her family lived.  She said their efforts weren’t unlike other village residents. They boarded their windows and strategically placed sandbags in an effort to ward off the effects of the storm. But their efforts were in vain. 

“We moved 3 miles away (to her in-laws house),” Mrs. Gargiulo said, “There were electric lines sparking, trees uprooted and what sounded like explosions.  There was also high water.”

Mrs. Gargiulo said 24 hours later, she and her family returned to their home to find it had been filled with about 6 feet of water.  She said it took boats and wading in waist-high water to get through their neighborhood. But before the Gargiulo family and their neighbors could begin to think about repairs, Mother Nature dumped a tremendous snow storm on the area.

“With everything that was going on,” Mr. Gargiulo said, “and all the organizations that came out to help, one organization stood out. It was one of the happiest moments of our lives when that truck drove up with hot meals.”

The truck that Mr. Gargiulo spoke about was an American Red Cross emergency relief vehicle. Aboard that truck was food and drink, but in the days following the storm, the Red Cross also delivered supplies that helped residents sift through the remains of their homes and to keep warm, he said.

“Thank you for being our light in the darkness,” Mrs. Gargiulo said.

Now, one year later, The Gargiulos described their neighborhood as one that is struggling to overcome the devastation.  There are vacant lots and friends and neighbors who have vowed not to return, they said. However, they had the hope of rebuilding their lives in their old neighborhood so they began repairs to their house earlier this year.  Unfortunately, a project to elevate the house failed. The house plummeted from the hydraulics to the ground, causing irreparable damage.  They are slated to begin rebuilding again in a few months.

Larry Mowry, CBS 11 meteorologist & Sandy Forum
speaker poses with Red Cross volunteer Anna.

Also during the forum, T.D. Smyers, North Texas Region Red Cross chief executive officer, facilitated conversations of Hurricane Sandy experiences from DFW-area volunteers who were deployed to the storm-damaged area. Larry Mowry, CBS 11 chief meteorologist, also shared insight on the conditions that made Sandy such a significant storm.  Finally, tips for preparing for hurricanes and tornados, as well as other emergencies, were shared by Red Cross officials and by members of the city and county of emergency response teams, including emergency managers Doug Bass and David McCurdy and Juan Ortiz, and Tarrant County Judge B. Glen Whitley.

Check out more photos from the events in Dallas & Fort Worth on Flickr. Learn more about the American Red Cross' massive response to Superstorm Sandy by reading our one-year report.

Tips for emergency preparedness can be found on the American Red Cross website www.redcross.org/prepare. Safety information is also available on Facebook: RedCrossDFW and Twitter @RedCrossDFW.

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Preparing For The Winds and Rain: Hurricane Training in Dallas

by Tonya Solis-Mosby, volunteer contributor

The nearest ocean is about 300 miles away, but that doesn't stop the annual summer training of a group of American Red Cross volunteers.  The Public Affairs team met recently to discuss the Red Cross emergency plan associated with a hurricane if the need arises.

Anita Foster, North Texas Region chief communications officer, said the majority of deaths associated with hurricanes are not from the winds. “Eighty-two percent of fatalities happen inland and are caused by flooding,” she said.

It is because of statistics like that and because of the influx of people to the North Texas Region when a storm hits the Texas coast that North Texas Red Cross teams must stay prepared.

While the storm is still about 72-hours away from landfall, Red Cross volunteers across the region, district and in other areas are already springing into action. By that time, plans for distributing items to victims and those who will work in shelters are being activated.  Shelter plans are put in motion and in some cases, shelters begin to open.  Plans for feeding people and plans for other services such as health services are also reviewed to prepare for activation. It’s the time when the public affairs team is placed on alert and messages to assist the general public begin to go out through a variety of media outlets.

Within 48 hours of a storm making landfall, shelters for potential victims are in operation and all the operations begin to surge forward.  In the North Texas Region, Dallas in particular, plans for the only shelter hub headquarters across the country are put in place.  Once people arrive in the area from the South Texas coast, they are directed to a central location from where they receive shelter assignments.  This system was developed to stop shelter overcrowding and the possibility of people arriving at a shelter only to find there is no room for them.

Public Affairs volunteers learn about how
the Red Cross in the DFW area respond to hurricanes.

As the discussion about this hub system goes on in the training meeting, it receives approving nods from veteran volunteers, especially those who served during previous hurricanes.  The veterans share the importance of this plan being in place because within 24-hours the city could be overrun with people fleeing a dangerous storm.

While the Public Affairs team is the eyes and ears to the outside world for the American Red Cross, there are many other teams who are also preparing to leap into action when disaster strikes.

You can help with disaster relief, too.  All you need to do is click – www.redcross.org; text – REDCROSS to 90999; or call 1-800-REDCROSS to become a volunteer or to make a donation.

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