Demolition Debris Still Litters Some Homes in the Neighborhood
This was a poignant and critical taste of academic service learning for me. I was trying for weeks to image from the comfort of my apartment on a hill in Manhattan that will never see flood damage (unless it is the end of times….) what the people of coastal neighborhoods went through. I never made the effort to swipe my metro card and go see for myself, until now. Seeing things for yourself and trying to find even a brief (15 minute) relationship with someone in the neighborhood (thanks to the local volunteers and very gracious home owners) places such a tragedy into your own sphere of reference, which is something to build upon to take positive steps for the future.
Most important to me was the time listening on the door step or in the foyer to the experience of that night in October, the strong belief that nothing was going to happen in that neighborhood, the sudden realization (to late) that it was happening, the fear and stress of water rising at your doorstep and not knowing when it would stop or go away. I definitely needed to hear this to have any sense at all what they went through and are still going through.
In regard to emergency preparedness for the future, communication of quality information, neighborhood by neighborhood, is the most fundamental requirement. The survey sparked strong and thoughtful responses from the residents as they turned their experience into a learning opportunity for everyone. This perhaps I appreciated most of all.
