Over fall break, a group of 16 BonaResponds’ volunteers traveled to Wilmington, North Carolina and saw first-hand the damage that a hurricane can do. They worked with several alumni from the area, as well as homeowners who needed assistance. Volunteers saw the aftermath of Hurricane Florence and how it produced over three feet of rain; it damaged roofs and trees and caused flooding that spread over hundreds of miles.
Since it was a short break, efforts were concentrated on jobs that had been arranged by our hosts at St. James Episcopal Church. BonaResponds worked both in Wilmington, where the church is located, and in the nearby town of Burgaw, where the sister St. Michael’s Church is located.
In Wilmington, the work included cleaning up downed trees and fixing a fence at a center for homeless veterans. This was great work and gave us the opportunity to speak with many veterans. Some said they would like to volunteer with us on our next trip.
The work in and around Wilmington was great, but the majority of the work accomplished was in Burgaw, a rural community to the northeast of Wilmington.
The first step after any flood is to haul out the wet, smelly debris from the homes and take apart walls, floors and ceilings to allow the home to properly dry out and to prevent the further spreading of mold. This process, known as gutting or mucking, is the initial step in a long road back. It is, however, an important, difficult and sometimes expensive step. This is especially true to retirees on fixed income and those who cannot do the hard manual labor needed to properly gut a home.
Due to the limited number of people willing to gut homes and the high demand for gutting, the price of hiring people to gut homes was very high. There were reports of businesses charging $10 to $15 per square foot to gut a home (a 3,000 square foot home could cost upwards of $45,000 just to gut)!
For the cost of a hug and some cold water, the volunteers carried out furniture, hauled bags of rotted food, ripped up carpets and tore down walls. In doing so, BonaResponds added to the piles of garbage that literally stretched for miles on the side of the roads.
The work was hot, dirty and never-ending. It was awful but also great. We got to meet (and often work besides) the families that were affected. We will never forget the tears of joy that we got from Dawn, Jim, Mary and Dave. The heartfelt thank you’s for emptying their homes and for setting them a little further down the road toward returning to their homes.
Of course, we only made a dent in the damage. Groups will be coming to the region for years to help with the recovery efforts. One such group is almost assuredly going to be BonaResponds, whose members have tentatively planned a return trip for spring break. It is a trip where we will need more volunteers.
The reason we have called the trip “tentative” is because Hurricane Michael came ashore days after our North Carolina trip and left utter destruction in its wake on the Florida panhandle. We are still assessing our response to that storm, which is to say, we will be going somewhere to help for spring break and likely for Christmas break. Get involved soon! We need your help!
BonaResponds Notes:
● We have been getting several wheelchair ramp requests per week. It takes at least a day to do a ramp, and we only work on weekends. With so many jobs around the country and locally, we have been forced to take the unprecedented step of halting job acceptance. We have had to say that any job received now will likely not be done until spring at best. This is a very sad situation.
● The rice harvest began in Liberia this week. With luck, the rice will be able to be sold to provide schooling for the 53 Ebola orphans that we have largely adopted in conjunction with CYC Africa.
● The next round of microloans will be paid off this month in Haiti. I hope to have updates in a coming article on the success of this round of loans.
● Over the weekend we have many jobs! Depending on the number of volunteers, we hope to install a new shed, fix a trailer roof, build a new deck and steps, level a floor and install a new door. The family currently had a tarp covering what had been a door. Come out and help! 11 a.m. on Saturday and 11:15 a.m. on Sunday. Meet in the lower parking lot by our trailer.
By Jim Mahar, Professor Columnist
jmahar@sbu.edu
