For Those In Need

Got this message from Max Resnick today with some good information.

If there is anyone who needs help, or knows folks who do, the Rotary has a table in Phoenicia, at Mama's Boy, and they are trying to deploy volunteers to those in need.

Additionally, for anyone who lost possessions, there is an amazing amount of donated goods at the United Methodist Church, 29 Church St., Phoenicia. They are there now. And, will be open for redistribution from 10-4 this coming week, including Labor Day. They DO NOT need any more donations EXCEPT for clean, packaged underwear (all sizes), socks, toiletries and non-perishable foods.

And, if you need to be together with others to help ease the emotional toll, there is a 2pm ceremony today in Phoenicia.

Shandaken Healing Ceremony

2PM
Today, 3rd September
Parish Field
Phoenicia, NY

A gathering of community following the devastation of the flood.
Bring your voice, a bowl and a candle.

Support Your Local Businesses

Dave Pillard of Tenderland Home in Phoenicia asked me to tell everyone that he and many of the other businesses in town are open and ready to serve their customers. The catastrophic storm has been devastating to our local economy. Those of you who are able, can help a lot by shopping at local stores and eating in local restaurants. There are many great shops and eateries from Mt Tremper to Belleayre who need your business! The loss of this very important holiday weekend is very hard on everyone who is trying to make a living here. I do not have a list of every business that is open but go and check it out and start your Christmas shopping early or take your mother to dinner. This will go a long way to helping our town get back on it's feet!!

Town Of Shandaken Emergency Info

This information was in my mailbox yesterday (Sept 2, 2011)

1. For all emergencies call 911.
2. For general information call 688-7315 (Phoenicia Fire Dept)
3. The Belleayre Mountain is still providing food, clothing and shelter to those in need.
4. A bus will be making a loop between Mt. Tremper and Belleayre between 9am and 5pm. Flag the bus if needed.
5. Showers and limited laundry service are available at Belleayre.
6. Dry ice and water are still available at Phoenicia, Shandaken, Big Indian and Pine Hill Fire Houses.
7. Please check on your neighbors.
8. Electric restoration is continuing along Rt 28. Power has been restored to Phoenicia.
9. Donations of clothing and dry goods are being collected and distributed from Belleayre Mtn - Attention Noel
10. All contaminated and unrefrigerated food items should be discarded and NOT consumed. Do not risk illness.

Power To Phoenicia And Part Of WV

Phoenicia got power back late today and shortly after Woodland Valley got power back up to somewhere around Roxmor. Hopefully, the rest of the valley will be on soon!!

Town Hall Is Up and Running

The power, phone and cable has been restored to the Shandaken Town Hall so the town offices are up and running. If you need services and/or information please be patient as everyone is trying their best to get the town back to normal but at this point people are overwhelmed and information is scarce.

FEMA and Recovery Services at Belleayre

The following is from the Watershed Post. You can go to their site to read the full article.

Starting today, FEMA will be opening a disaster recovery center at the Belleayre Ski Center in Highmount. The center will be open today (Friday, September 2) from 12 noon to 8pm, and after that, every day from 8am to 8pm, until further notice. People who need to register for FEMA aid can go to Belleayre, where a station will be set up to help people go through the interview process they will need to complete in order to get help.

The most important thing people can do if they need assistance is to register with FEMA, either by calling 1-800-621-3362 (that's 800-621-FEMA), or by registering online at disasterassistance.gov or fema.gov. Either way, applicants will have to answer a series of questions.

DELAWARE COUNTY FLOOD RECOVERY CENTER: NOW OPEN

Belleayre Ski Center
181 Galli Currci Road
High Mount, NY 12441

SERVICES AVAILABLE AT RECOVERY CENTER ARE:
• Laundry – free use of washers and dryers
• Hot showers - free
• FEMA – from Noon to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept 2nd and then 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily starting Saturday, September 3rd
• Social Services
• Stress Management
• Meals
• New York Department of Labor

CONTINUOUS FREE SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE
FROM NOON TO 5:00 p.m. ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2nd AND THEN 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. DAILY STARTING SEPTEMBER 3rd STOPPING AT EACH OF THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS ALONG THE ROUTE:

Margaretville Country Store by school
Margaretville Hess Station on State Highway 28
Margaretville Town Hall
Arkville Behive
Clovesville Old Route 28 and corner of Kissimmee Road
Cloveville Baptist Church
Fleischmanns Community Church
Fleischmanns Country Store
Belleayre Ski Center

Latest Info

Here is the latest news I have gathered this morning.

It seems that the MF Whitney Fire Company has become a central spot for coordinating assistance to the community in Phoenicia. People are leaving donations of food and meeting there to offer assistance. If you need help or have something to donate you might want to try there first.

Several community associations including the Rotary Club are meeting today at noon at Mama's Boy in Phoenicia. I believe they too are trying to organize assistance efforts.

Merry Chellas sent me the FEMA emergency number. It is 800-621-3362. She said they were incredibly helpful. She also told me that they said the deadline for applications is October 31st. Apparently, beginning tomorrow they are also going to set up a disaster relief center at Belleayre. I will post more info about that later.

No power or phone yet in Woodland Valley. Phoenicia has phone but no power. The good news is that I see a lot more trucks around working on both issues.

Power Update

For a few minutes there the NYSEG site on the web was reporting that Woodland Valley had power again. But alas, it was just a dream. The folks upstate said they are still in the dark. The NYSEG website has now gone back to saying Sept 7th as the target date. Here is the link to the NYSEG site if you want to continue to check it: http://www.nyseg.com/Outages/outageinformation.html

Bellayre Reachs Out

I have been told that Bellayre has power and has graciously opened itself to residents who are in need. Folks without power can go up and take a shower and do one load of wash per family. People with cars can get there easily and for those without there is a shuttle from Main Street, Phoenicia up to the resort.

The Latest Information

Several people have called and emailed me with the new information on a variety of topics. First of all, Pine Hill has power. if you need to access a Wi-Fi connection both the Pine Hill Library and the Pine Hill Community Center have it. Unfortunately, I am not sure of their hours at this point.

If you are coming upstate remember to bring D batteries for your flashlights. Apparently, they are in short supply in our area.

Many of our residents have been reaching out to NYSEG, Verizon and Time Warner. Here is the message that Jeff Schwartz received from NYSEG:

We are aware of an electricity outage in your area affecting 1618 customer(s). The estimated restoration time is Wednesday, September 07 at 11:00 PM.

So it looks like there might not be power until the middle of next week.

Here is a link to NYSEG's site for obtaining dry ice:and bottled water. http://www.nyseg.com/Outages/dryice.html

I want to say that as the town digs out and heals itself many, many people have stepped up and helped their neighbors. On my personal thank you list is George Holz for getting Harry and I to town right after the flood. David Hershkovits for giving me a ride to Boiceville to check email and blog. Tommy Healy for lending me his equipment. And Bob and Linda McDonald for lending me some propane for my lantern. You are all awesome and I thank you so much!!

Here is another thank you to neighbor Ernie Persons from Laurie Ryan:
"Among the people working so hard to put the pieces back together, I especially want to thank Ernie Persons for having the foresight to knock on everyone's door at 6:00 a.m. and instruct them to move their cars across the Woodland Park Association bridge. So many people have been stranded in other places."
- Laurie Ryan

Ernie has been great in this emergency! He installed a makeshift foot bridge so that the residents of the WV Park Association could get over the stream. I have always said that Ernie was one of the people I would most like to know in an bad situation!! Great job, Ernie!

Lastly, I want to say that this experience has once again proved what an awesome community we live in!! Everyone has stepped up to help out!! This is a trying time but we will all get through this together!

PS - Jeff Schwartz just emailed me with this information.

I just got this email from NYSEG
"We recently restored service to your location on Wednesday, August 31 at 8:30 PM."

I usually verify by calling the house and getting my answering machine or alarm system to respond.

Either NYSEG is incorrect or they connected power but phones are still down at our end.

In an earlier post you indicated some residents had some phone service, do you have their numbers.
I would try to call them to see if they got power also.
- Jeff

Unfortunately, only residents that told me they had phone service in the valley are on Muddy Brook Rd and I do not have their phone number.

If anyone in the valley sees this post and has further information please email me here at: wvview@gmail.com

Also, for those seeking more information about the town in general can go to the live blog on The Watershed Post site;

8:15 UPDATE ON THE POWER - Romer Mt Park has no power so I doubt the rest of the valley has it.