A Joplin police officer who weathered the May 22, 2011, tornado is among thousands of volunteers bolstering recovery efforts on the East Coast following Hurricane Sandy.
Cpl. Chuck Niess, a public information officer with the Joplin Police Department, made the trek as a member of the Southwest Missouri Incident Support Team and has been working at the Emergency Operations Center for Nassau County on Long Island, N.Y., since the team arrived by motor vehicles Nov. 9.
The center is located on the ground floor of a three-story building in Bethpage, N.Y. The volunteers have been sleeping on cots in vacant offices on the second and third floors of the building between work shifts.
Niess sees some of the same disaster-recovery problems there that emergency workers faced in the wake of the tornado that ravaged Joplin.
“When we first got here, there were 800 in the shelter,” Niess said in a telephone interview Friday. “It was down to 318 this morning. The problem is: There’s just no vacant housing around here.”
You have to drive an hour or more inland to have any chance of finding a hotel or motel with rooms available, he said.
The authority that provides power in the area had managed to get 99 percent of its customers back on line by Thursday, he said. But there are about 1,800 homes in the area where he is working that were so badly damaged they remain without power.
Niess said the devastation is comparable to what Joplin experienced, with about 10,000 structures damaged or destroyed in Nassau County. He said many near the shore were simply obliterated. As you move inland, you find homes and buildings with gradually less wind and flood damage.
He said a logistical problem volunteers were trying to solve Friday, with the help of the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, was location of a warehouse to store donations that are pouring in from other parts of the country.
Niess, a 23-year veteran of the Joplin police force, lost his home in the tornado that struck Joplin but still played a part in the public service effort that kept the city functioning in the aftermath of the disaster.
“We’re committed to 14 days here,” he said. “We’ll have to see how things are going next week. But we’re committed until after Thanksgiving at least.”
Background
Cpl. Chuck Niess joined the Southwest Missouri Incident Support Team three months ago, and this is his first deployment.
May 2011 Joplin tornado
Related Photos
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Joplin police Cpl. Chuck Niess (right) is shown here with others working in the Emergency Operations Center in Nausau County on Long Island, N.Y. The team members were deployed to New York on Nov. 8 to help with the recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy. Courtesy | Southwest Missouri Incident Support Team
Discussion
Joplin officer aids recovery efforts on East Coast
- May 2011 Joplin tornado
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FACES OF RECOVERY: 176,869 volunteers help put Joplin together again
They initially came in droves, pouring into Joplin by the thousands during the months following the May 2011 tornado to clear debris, clean up damaged homes and businesses and distribute donations of food, water, clothing and other necessities.
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SLIDESHOW: One year later, One day of unity, updated
Photos from a day of events commemorating the May 22, 2011 tornado anniversary
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Therapy dogs
Any question that Louie was bred to put people as ease is put to rest when the golden retriever trots over to where a visitor sits and puts his head on their knee, the dog’s eyes filled with a gentle affection.
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Nova Kluseman and Jeanne Morrow
Nova Kluseman has staked her claim on Wednesdays at the Mercy medical office clinics where she volunteers. The staff at Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri will know it’s Thursday when they see Jeanne Morrow walk through the door.
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Greentree Community Church
Every two months, Joplin plays host to some now-familiar faces. They’re members of Greentree Community Church in St. Louis, and they have “adopted” the city as one of their mission projects since the tornado.
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Virginia Laas
Virginia Laas isn’t an accountant or bookkeeper by trade. But when the tornado caused significant damage to Joplin Schools, and subsequently spurred a massive landslide of donations to the district, Laas voluntarily stepped into those roles to fill a need that administrators were too busy to handle.
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Rebecca Williams
Two years after the tornado, Rebecca Williams remains committed to helping people around the world keep up with the progress that has been made in Joplin.
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Community Outreach Team
While it didn’t yet have a formal name, the seeds of Freeman Health System’s Community Outreach Team were planted in the hours following the tornado.
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Jewish Disaster Response Corps
“Tikkun olam” is Hebrew for “repairing the world,” and the concept — of service to others, of helping those in need — is prevalent in Judaism.
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Dorothy Maples
Dorothy Maples always felt a calling to volunteer, whether it was participating in a fundraiser or giving a hand to help someone in need.
- More May 2011 Joplin tornado Headlines
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