Responders from near and far aiding Ocean City in recovery from Sandy

Last Updated on Sunday, November 18, 2012 09:14 am Written by Cindy Nevitt Friday, November 16, 2012 01:00 am

As Ocean City began the long process of recovery from Superstorm Sandy, many organizations and individuals pitched in to aid with the effort. The sense of community that has always been so strong in this town grew stronger, and many were rightfully commended for it.

What was less unexpected is the national response to this disaster. No matter where you go in town, you are likely to see a vehicle with an out-of-state license plate manned by out-of-state workers. Sandy has brought both people who love Ocean City and people who have never been to Ocean City here to help in our hour of deepest need.

From the first post-Sandy day that Ocean City granted access to the island, cars with out-of-state license plates have poured into town. Most were driven by second home owners, and some by curiosity seekers, but a surprising number delivered volunteers to our shore to help residents clean up, to donate food and household goods, and to do whatever small thing they could to hasten this town on its way to recovery.

Work crews from out of state steadily arrived in town and took up semi-permanent residence, some of them for what they predict could be as long as six months. In the first days after the storm, utility trucks from Indiana and Maryland carrying New Jersey linemen were joined by utility crews from Alabama in restoring power to residents without electricity.

Disaster rigs from a debris removal company under contract with Ocean City, bearing license plates from Wisconsin and worked by men from Wisconsin, combed the streets, picking up large pieces of trash that homeowners had dragged from their flood-damaged homes to the curb.

Cleaning services from as far away as Texas, Minnesota and Nebraska are parking their vehicles in the spots that displaced residents have been forced to leave as partial demolitions of their properties are undertaken.

FEMA workers from North Carolina have walked the neighborhoods hit hardest by the hurricane, handing out directions that detailed how to apply for disaster assistance.

A restaurant in Wisconsin, owned by native Pennsylvanians who regularly visit Ocean City, has pledged to donate 100 percent of its Nov. 14 and Nov. 28 profits to hurricane victims. Beanie’s Mexican Restaurant owner Maria Endicott, who brought her five grandchildren to Ocean City in June, told a Wisconsin news outlet, “We have memories there, we have family there and there are many people with broken hearts there.”

A rock band in California played a benefit concert last weekend, raising $1,300 for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The band’s drummer, Andrew Baird, grew up in Beesleys Point and graduated from Ocean City High School in 1999.

In the days immediately following Sandy’s destructive landfall, Dennis Alexander, a deejay and bartender in Tahoe, Calif., and a friend of Baird’s, collected and shipped 600 pounds of clothing to St. Peter’s United Methodist Church.

People have come from near and far to help Ocean City respond to and recover from this life-altering event. Perhaps none has traveled farther than my insurance adjustor, who hails from South Africa by way of Texas.

Although he is dealing with people who are experiencing some of the darkest days of their lives, he says he is impressed with how nice everyone is. So much so, he said, he is thinking of moving here from the Lone Star State.

Of all the things Sandy took from this town, it couldn’t take its spirit. We are accustomed to people flocking here from all over the nation, and even the world, in the summer, a time when we are at our best. How encouraging that even when we feel we are at our worst, others view us as the kind of people they’d like to have as neighbors.

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