Huntington Locals Assist in Hurricane Irma Relief Efforts

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) speaks outside his Huntington office with families of students stranded on Gulf Coast islands by Hurricane Irma. Photo/Office of Rep. Tom Suozzi

By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com

As Texas continues to recover from Hurricane Harvey, Florida braced itself as Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, made its way up the Gulf Coast.

As they did after Hurricane Harvey, Huntington residents, politicians and businesses have contributed to relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

Congressman Aids Rescue Efforts in St. Maarten

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), who collected donations for Hurricane Harvey victims, has now turned his attention to aiding efforts to safely return students and civilians stranded on islands in the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Irma.

On Saturday, Suozzi met with parents, Rudy Weber of Bayville and Siva Sivapalan of Floral Park, who each have a son attending American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in St. Maarten. The two medical students were safely taken to Puerto Rico, officials in Suozzi’s office said Wednesday.

However, hundreds of other students face dangerous living conditions on the island and await rescue, which has been delayed by damage caused by the storm, including at a local airport. People are starting to be brought off the island with help from the Puerto Rican Air National Guard and Dutch authorities, according to Suozzi’s officials.

“The good news is that, due to all of our collective efforts, including the families as well as the State Department and the Department of Defense, people are starting to pay attention and are making this a priority,” Suozzi stated. “However, there is so much work left to do…With Hurricane Jose now approaching fast, our hope is to try and get these stranded students and other innocent civilians off the island and bring them home as soon as possible.”

Suozzi urged anyone with friends or relatives affected by the hurricane in that area to register their names at Travel.state.gov to help facilitate in the rescue process.

PSEG Dispatches Additional Workers to Florida

While some are helping with supplies, PSEG Long Island has dispatched an additional 169 employees and contractors to Florida to help restore power that was wiped out by Hurricane Irma.

The group made its way to Tampa from Roslyn Tuesday morning to help Florida Power & Light, Tampa Electric Company and Duke Energy to bring back electric service to millions who lost power during the storm.

A first group of 300 contractors traveled south last week in an effort to prepare for the storm’s arrival, PSEG Long Island officials said.

The restoration process is going to take a substantial amount of work and time, according to John O’Connell, PSEG Long Island vice president of transmission and distribution.

“Hurricane Irma caused a significant amount of damage to the electric system throughout Florida and continues to ravage parts of the southeast,” he said. “PSEG Long Island is fortunate to be in a position to send line personnel and tree crews to assist in restoring electric service as safely and quickly as possible.”

PSEG Long Island officials said employees are expected to work on getting Florida’s power up and running for several weeks.

South Huntington Care Center Collecting Donations for Hurricane Victims

Meanwhile, Huntington Station-based care center has joined the relief efforts for both hurricanes by collecting diapers and baby wipes.

Apex Rehabilitation and Healthcare plans to ship supplies to both Texas- and Florida-based charities so they can be distributed to families in need.

The center is also accepting cash, checks and gift card donations to send to the UJA Federation, through which 100 percent of donations will be used to benefit hurricane victims.

“Watching the news coverage of these back-to-back, devastating storms has left our staff feeling that we need to do something to help our fellow Americans recover,” David Efroymson, LNHA, Apex administrator, said. “We are accepting donations from employees and community members.”

The center will collect donations at its 78 Birchwood Road location through the end of September.