TSA Washington/Reagan Supervisor Lisa Caillet in Far Rockaway, NY |
Over the past five weeks, thousands of New Yorkers
have come in contact with more than 700 TSA officers, inspectors and
administrative personnel from 200 airports across the country, men and women
who have volunteered for a FEMA-led New York humanitarian recovery and
assistance effort in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. But
odds are that they never knew it because these TSA employees literally traded
in their blue security uniforms, black TSA inspector jackets and TSA badges for
a FEMA badge to help residents recover from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.
These TSA employees
are wearing winter coats and wool caps as members of the FEMA Community
Relations Teams, going door-to-door in neighborhoods affected by Hurricane
Sandy, helping residents sign up for both FEMA and state assistance. In many cases, these workers returned to
check on the status of those applications, and returned again to make “wellness
checks” along with members of the National Guard to offer water and food.
TSA employees also are
staffing many of FEMA’s Disaster Recover Centers (DRC) that have been set up in
community and recreation centers, schools, and other locations. At DRC’s, survivors are guided through the recovery
process to ensure that they are getting needed aid . They can also learn about available programs to
get heat and electricity restored to their homes and shops – so that their homes
can again become inhabitable, and their shops readied for a return to business.
TSA Atlantic City BDO James Weisbecker in Breezy Point, NY |
Douglas Estridge, a Master Behavior
Detection Officer from Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW), said he was
making a follow-up visit to the home of a middle-aged couple and noticed that
the husband was leaning awkwardly on the door frame. Shortly before the storm,
the man had undergone double-knee surgery but because his car had been
flooded, he had been unable to get to
his physical therapy sessions. Esteridge was able to contact his FEMA group
leader, and together they arranged transportation for the man to get to his
physical therapy appointments.
Mark Siepak, a TSA Officer from
Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) in Greensboro, N.C., said that early in his FEMA deployment, he was
speaking with a woman who was living with her elderly mother – with no heat or
electricity.. The mother’s feet would turn blue from the cold and the daughter
would rub her mother’s feet several times a day to warm them up. Siepak made
what he refers to as “an urgent-need call” and while on the phone it was
determined that the women were eligible for funds to cover the cost of housing
and that the funds would be transferred the same day.
TSA Charlotte TSO Dwayne Bishop in Staten Island, NY |
These TSA employees
put their lives on hold, packed a bag and waved goodbye to their families because
they saw a need to help make a difference in the lives of complete strangers at
a time when the need was greatest. They spent Thanksgiving away from loved ones.
In the words of FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate – “duty called.”
TSA Amarillo Supervisor Sharon Buckley in Breezy Point, NY. |
Like other agencies that fall within
the scope of the Department of Homeland Security, TSA employees can volunteer to
be members of what is known as the Surge Capacity Force; these volunteers are willing
to be deployed to a disaster location to help FEMA with response and recovery
support.
Make no mistake, this work is no
vacation. Surge Capacity Force members are putting in a minimum of 12- to 14-hour
days living on maritime training vessels docked in the waterways of New York,
to enable displaced residents to utilize the available hotel rooms. TSA
employees are eating in a galley and sleeping in the hulls of ships in large,
shared living quarters that feature triple-bunks. “But we are sleeping well
knowing that the important work we are doing is making a difference” in
improving the lives of their fellow countrymen, says Sharon Buckley, a
Supervisory Transportation Security Officer from Rick Husband Amarillo
International Airport (AMA).
Guest Blogger Lisa Farbstein
TSA Public Affairs Spokesperson, New York/New Jersey
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