Photo Essay: Occupy Sandy's effectiveness

Image source: The Nation

The Nation has a photo essay that sings the praises of Occupy Sandy’s hurricane relief efforts in the Rockaways. This confirms some of the things we had heard – that early on, the Red Cross and FEMA were nowhere to be seen, while Occupy Sandy was there on the ground and exhibiting organized effectiveness. The Occupy movement, which has been at the end of some serious criticism in the past, was called “phenomenal” in this article:

In the wake of one of the worst hurricanes to ever hit the East Coast, stories have surfaced about the phenomenal job Occupy Sandy has done to bring relief to some of the most affected sites in the New York area. Not only does Occupy continue to successfully manage two major distribution hubs in Brooklyn, which daily disperse thousands of materials to other hurricane relief sites, but Occupy volunteers have proven their ability to provide aid to affected populations even when government agencies have not.

Even FEMA has consulted with Occupy to learn what the best course of action is down on the ground. That’s pretty impressive. We know many people who found Occupy Sandy’s efforts much more useful and meaningful than that of FEMA and the Red Cross.

Occupy Sandy has also done an excellent job when it comes to organizing volunteers and getting them from Brooklyn to the Rockaways, including getting them there and back. It’s not possible to take a train there, so driving is the more practical option for many. Occupy Sandy also produces a newsletter, full of “information about disaster unemployment and hiring opportunities, staying warm without heat, emergency snap benefits, FEMA disaster relief, cleaning up, shelters and care and food and supplies.”

As with OWS, Occupy Sandy also harnesses the power of social media, the internet, and other technologies:

At the end of each day, each distribution hub submits a list of needs for the following day to Celly, a website that forwards messages to any cell phone tapped into the social network. The affiliated Twitter and Facebook channels which are updated several times per day to tell volunteers where they are needed and which supplies to bring. Camera phones have also proved useful: a sign taped up in YANA’s headquarters instructs volunteers to “Take a picture of this with your phone,” referring to a map of the Rockaways with relief headquarters marked.

Occupy Sandy intends to stick around the Rockaways for as long as they are needed.

PHOTOESSAY: The Sandy-Ravaged Rockaways, One Month Out [The Nation]