My first day in the field was postponed. Apparently someone recommended me as a computer genius to the the new manager based on my ability to format excel pages for printing. Thus I served as assistant to the head boss for a couple of days in the office. It would have been okay but there wasn't enough work to be done! I was only busy about 15 minutes every hour. The inside operation is an interesting sight to behold however. Chaotic. And yet somehow functional.
Yesterday I was granted the opportunity to leave the office work behind and get out in the streets of new jersey to talk to people. I was sent with a team of 4 others to a town called Cranford. The damage there is incredible. Butreally hard to comprehend because the 7 feet of water that swept the neighborhood receded within 18 hours. Now, 11 days later, there are rubbish piles that could fill a living room sitting in each yard. All of the stuff that was touched by the flood water, which was a combination of river water, sewage from all the lines that broke and oil from backyard heating tanks, is waiting on the curb to be picked up by the city tractors slowly making their way through town. Meanwhile it starting to mold and the rain keeps falling. There are no visible river banks.
Our assignment is to go door to door to see if people need anything: a safe place to sleep (some houses are condemned) clothes to wear and food to eat. We are helping them find community resources to clean up and open up cases with fema.
Ill write you some neighborhood stories tomorrow.
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