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In the wake of Hurricane Sandy and a snowy Noreaster, grassroots rescue and support endeavors across New England came to the rescue. They presented a vivid contrast between the sluggish response of a government bureaucracy and the helping hand of neighbors and community groups that comprise the bedrock of our nations civil society.
The ever-growing piles of rubbish outside every home in Ortley Beach only hint at the sadness of the owners inside. There is a lot of wooden furniture, much of it clearly carved and crafted decades ago, and sofas upholstered in patterns of the past. There are mattresses and clothes left sodden by water. But there are also leather footballs, children's bicycles, and vintage LPs; there are gas-fired BBQs, refrigerators and plastic flowers. As good Italian home-makers, John and Merlinda Berish even had six months' worth of home-cooked meals in their freezer. No longer. Sandy's salty floodwater and its deadly ally, a creeping mould, have spared little.
Instead of personal possessions the Berishes now have a rogue home sitting outside the front porch, a beachside bungalow that has come to rest a full quarter of a mile from its usual spot. Sandy tore the house from its foundations in Beier Avenue and sent it careering up 3rd Avenue, where it eventually slammed into the Berishes' property and came to a halt. It's still there, weeks later. "It hit my house pretty good," says John Berish, 75. "I wish they'd get it out of here now. It's an eyesore. "Everything you see in most houses up and down the street is destroyed. You name it, it's gone."
He looks out over his front porch and surveys his belongings. "Everything you have personally in your life is now going out in the garbage cans." The Berishes' experience is entirely typical of the new reality in Ortley Beach. One month on from Sandy's inundation, it's not that Ortley Beach is yet to recover; the problem is that it has barely begun. The barrier island community was especially vulnerable to a storm like Sandy, which pushed great swells of ocean towards the coast, breaching protective dunes and flooding virtually every home.
While Ortley Beach is often referred to as "ground zero", other Jersey Shore communities were also badly hit: Seaside Heights, Lavallette, Normandy and Mantoloking on Ortley's island strip; on Long Beach Island and in Atlantic City to the south. The governors of New York and New Jersey states have now asked for almost $80bn (£50bn) in federal funding for disaster relief and future flood prevention. New Jersey's $37bn request is bigger than the state's entire annual budget. In Ortley Beach, it is hard to overstate the chaos and sadness the storm has left behind. Although no-one died here, tales of loss are on every street corner and in most of the homes in between.
More BBC News - Sandy and the Jersey Shore: The struggles of Ortley Beach
We sent nearly 100 volunteers during the first round of our response and there are still Oklahoma Baptist's there right now, with more set to follow in rotation. Other states have sent teams too.
Oklahoma volunteers are honored for hurricane relief work | NewsOK.com
We sent nearly 100 volunteers during the first round of our response and there are still Oklahoma Baptist's there right now, with more set to follow in rotation. Other states have sent teams too.
Oklahoma volunteers are honored for hurricane relief work | NewsOK.com
But there are people here that can see nothing but a divided America. This is still one nation, one that has a proud history of responding to disasters and aiding it's fellow Citizens.
