Volunteers proud to help out east
Updated: November 27, 2012
CHAMPAIGN -- Some area volunteers are still in New York lending helping hands to fix what Super Storm Sandy destroyed. It's a long road to recovery for families on the east coast. But a crew from Central Illinois is helping them get there.
A handful of them, like Tom Lovejoy, are part of the State Incident Management Team. They're the ones called upon for things like natural disasters.
"The public works agency has been working almost day and night," said Lovejoy. "We're all in this together to help the people who need help."
Illinois sent eight people, five of them from the Illinois Fire Institute. They've spent the last week in Babylon, N.Y., making sure supplies, water, generators, all got to the right places.
"It's a water mark. You can see it on the ground, once you cross the devastation."
"They're still trying to pump water out of their homes, but you have to understand, they're doing that with generator power because there's not electricity out there."
The crew there, and here in Central Illinois, says it's part of the job.
"If something happened here in Illinois, like a tornado, we would want to be able to reach out to the state's around us and I know that we would be able to receive it."
A little bit of help for those who've lost so much.
"We're happy to support them and back them up. I can't say it's a good experience, but it's a rewarding one."
That crew will be in New York until Sunday. They say the biggest problem right now is power. A lot of places are still without it.
A handful of them, like Tom Lovejoy, are part of the State Incident Management Team. They're the ones called upon for things like natural disasters.
"The public works agency has been working almost day and night," said Lovejoy. "We're all in this together to help the people who need help."
Illinois sent eight people, five of them from the Illinois Fire Institute. They've spent the last week in Babylon, N.Y., making sure supplies, water, generators, all got to the right places.
"It's a water mark. You can see it on the ground, once you cross the devastation."
"They're still trying to pump water out of their homes, but you have to understand, they're doing that with generator power because there's not electricity out there."
The crew there, and here in Central Illinois, says it's part of the job.
"If something happened here in Illinois, like a tornado, we would want to be able to reach out to the state's around us and I know that we would be able to receive it."
A little bit of help for those who've lost so much.
"We're happy to support them and back them up. I can't say it's a good experience, but it's a rewarding one."
That crew will be in New York until Sunday. They say the biggest problem right now is power. A lot of places are still without it.
