Hope in disaster’s wake

Salem Church, located in the northeast of Staten Island, was fortunate when Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast earlier this month. Besides the large tree that fell over and a couple shingles that blew off the roof, the church came out of the storm unscathed.
But only three miles away, thousands of homes lay devastated, according to Liberty alumnus and Lead Pastor of Salem Church, Ed Cole.

“It’s like we went to bed on Monday and woke up to a whole new reality,” Cole said. “While we can wait till everything goes back to some sense of normalcy, it will not be the same normal as it was before. This hurricane happened.”

Staten Island was one of the worst-hit areas in New York City when the record-breaking storm made landfall in Atlantic City Oct. 29. According to the National Weather Service, Hurricane Sandy had a diameter of 943 miles, which is roughly about one-third of the distance between the West Coast and East Coast. Damages from the hurricane are estimated to be the second most expensive after Hurricane Katrina.

Power outages, flooding and housing damages were reported from the Altantic Coast to the Great Lakes area as the storm went land-bound, and thousands of people are still without electricity, housing and food after two weeks. In response to Sandy, many Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) like the Southern Baptist Convention, governmental agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and local churches like Salem Church in Staten Island have reached out to the disaster-struck communities.

Ronald Davidson, President of Gleaning For The World, said that the additional storms that came after Sandy have made the recovery effort even more difficult.

“This is going to be long-term,” Davidson said about his company’s relief efforts in the disaster-struck areas. “On Wednesday night, (Athena) knocked down electricity for a lot of new people, and some lost electricity again.”

Gleaning For The World has partnered with numerous churches in New York to provide relief to hurricane victims including Salem Church. Cole has mentioned that the recovery process is still in its infant stages.

“When the storm hit, everybody just went in (to the devastated areas) and dove in,” Cole said. “Now, we have to get out of the emergency mode and think of
survival.”

People still face a lot of problems in the aftermath of the storm. Tensions rise when they clean up fallen debris, search for electricity and gas, deal with the disunity of some relief organizations, and worry about looters emerging due to worsening conditions, Cole said.

Despite the hardships New Yorkers have already faced, Keith Miraldi, executive pastor of Salem Church, has said that there was an great response from the local communities.

“A lot of people want to collect supplies and send them up, but from what we’re hearing, it’s so chaotic right now that sending supplies is not going to solve their problems,” Ishmael LaBiosa, the media specialist for Salem Church, said.

“We’re going to need a lot of money,” Cole said. “I mean, there’s just no other way to put it. Some of these victims are two-income families, but they don’t have
anything left.”

Another important thing people need in the devastated areas is prayer, LaBiosa said.

“These families lost their homes and some folks lost their loved ones, and it’s a big challenge,” LaBiosa said. “It’s a time where those who may go to church might be questioning their faith in God, and if we can have Liberty University praying for the people, volunteers who are on the ground, and the people who are affected, that’s a very important thing.”

Liberty students may also have a chance to go visit Salem church because Kevin Corsini, the administrative dean for graduate programs for Liberty University, is in the process of planning a volunteer trip to the New York area. Students who are interested may contact Corsini at kdcorsini@liberty.edu.