AFSCME/CSEA Members Combat Flooding
Schoharie County, New York
Disaster is an old acquaintance here in Schoharie County. The blizzard and flooding that hit much of the east and midwest in January gave this rural upstate county its fourth disaster in ten years. The dedication and tireless efforts of public employees saw citizens through this latest emergency.
"In the past decade, we've faced flooding, a tornado, and a gas explosion," related Social Services employee and Local 848 Vice Pres. Cindy Hay (Local 848 is a local union of CSEA/AFSCME Local 1000). This January, with a snowpack of four feet in the hills of the Schoharie Creek watershed, warmer weather and rains caused flood warnings and prompted evacuations. At three o'clock on Friday, January 19, a call went out to Hay's department requesting volunteers to help in the Office of Emergency Management. CSEA member Denise Pangman was among those who responded.
Pangman coordinated all incoming phone calls. She talked to people stuck in their homes, people trying to locate their evacuated families, people being evacuated. She talked to citizens calling to volunteer time and equipment. She referred calls to shelter workers and to the Red Cross, sent rescue workers out to those who could be reached, and made hourly calls to those who could not.
Like many of the other workers, she spent 32 straight hours in the county building, staying in the basement office until it, too, became flooded, then helping move it upstairs and continuing to answer phones from there.
When the water finally receded, 30 roads and eight bridges had been closed, and 61 homes completely destroyed; 447 homes sustained damage; 2,000 people were affected, and two people lost their lives. The damage to infrastructure is now estimated at ten million dollars.
The 402 AFSCME members across the county responded rapidly and selflessly, doing everything from answering phones to piling sandbags, from bringing cots to evacuation centers to shoring up bridges. They did their jobs and more—when they weren't working, they volunteered their time.
Labor and management report a new sense of camaraderie after facing this disaster together. Department of Social Services Commissioner Judith Maier said, "I can't tell you how proud I am of [the staff of this department]....They are superb. They get in there; they know what to do; they do it. They do it without asking for praise; they do it without any publicity whatsoever, and they work behind the scenes. They work...for the good of the community and I think they deserve all kinds of praise." When the workers were putting in 18-hour days, so were their bosses. Local 848 Pres. Bill Betz said, "We had the commissioner and the deputy on board with us."
With Schoharie Creek back at its usual level and the county declared a federal disaster area, Schoharie public employees are working to repair the damage. Their restoration efforts include fixing roads, restoring an historic covered bridge, counseling those who need it, and testing drinking water.
