I got there just 3 days after the waters receded and we immediately started to train so the professionals and volunteers could get to work! This footage was filmed 4 days after the waters receded.
There were many other trainings being conducted besides my OSHA 10’s: HAZWOPER 40 hour, Respirator fit testing among others. In subsequent videos you will see the devastation at an elementary school (where the training was conducted powered by a generator and outside on the sidewalk) as well as a short clip of where I had to stay. I stayed at a hotel 70 miles south in Scranton, PA! This was due to the fact that many hotels nearby were not open and the operating ones had no vacancies.
Binghamton, NY is famous for the original headquarters of IBM. Nowadays -I was told from the Project Manager who brought me in- that massive IBM facility is basically a store house for materials from over the decades. Thus the problem for Binghamton, NY; because this flood brought sewage into the streets along with all manner of chemicals from industrial facilities and businesses like IBM and others. You can see the grime and sludge that is caked up in the streets in my footage here.
Another thing you’ll see in my video is a Staples parking lot in town where I picked up my printed materials for the OSHA training. You can see how half the parking lot is still covered with that grime from the flood. There was a awful stench throughout most of town when I was there for those 4 days as well.
Let’s be sure to pray for this city as well as the current victims -our fellow citizens- of New York and New Jersey who recently experienced and are experiencing this very same calamity. Along with prayer I encourage all to take action and donate money and/or time to reputable organizations to help. Along with large international organizations like the Red Cross, local churches are often great ways to help even months after a disaster. They will continue to need support of time and money long after the first month! For example, here in Central Massachusetts there was a tornado that ripped through and absolutely turned many small towns upside down in the summer of 2011. Local churches in conjunction with the town halls were still asking for daily volunteer help 2 and 4 months afterward. Our local church sent groups of teens and adults just on 2 separate visits. We were welcomed and told that even one day makes a difference months after the disaster.
Thanks for reading this far down!
Until next time, Steve