NEW YORK (CNS): The damage from the wind, rain and flooding brought by Hurricane Sandy “is almost overwhelming”, executive director of Catholic Charities of New York archdiocese Monsignor Kevin Sullivan said.
“We’re reaching out to parishes and getting them to directly assist those in critical need – they know their own people and their neighbourhoods,” he told Catholic News Service on October 31.
Several Catholic agencies and religious com-munities have stepped forward to address the greatest needs of victims of the super storm.
“Reaching out to parishes and other communities and neighbourhoods is imperative at this point,” Msgr Sullivan said.
“The response on the parish level has been tremendous.
“We’re also working very, very closely with several municipal, state and private agencies, including Red Cross, to figure out the best way to respond to this disaster.”
When New York state and New York City were preparing for Sandy’s unprecedented onslaught, emergency responders had met with Msgr Sullivan and Catholic Charities to plan how to best utilise its resources and personnel after the storm.
“Many people suffering through disasters fall through the gaps,” Msgr Sullivan said.
“Our staff is in place to make sure that doesn’t happen. We found this is the best way to work with victims in this situation.”
Sandy, which made landfall in New Jersey on October 29, caused flooding, power outages, downed trees and other calamities over a large swath of the East Coast and into the Midwest.
As of November 5, the US death toll from the storm stood at more than 110 people.
Clean-up and repair in New York City were progressing after the storm, but only so much could be done with more than 500,000 New Yorkers living without electricity and without the use of the nation’s largest subway system.
“The greatest need is in southern Manhattan, the Long Island shore, Far Rockaway, the Bronx, large parts of Staten Island, and large parts of Brooklyn,” Msgr Sullivan said.
