Public Employee Press

Surviving Sandy
''It's just possessions I lost"

"Now I know what it means to be homeless," said Olivia Crum after city Police evacuated her from the two-family home in flooding Arverne, Queens, where she had lived for 20 years.

"When the storm surge hit, the water rose to the second floor by 9 p.m. There was no time to grab anything on the way out," said Crum, Local 1549's chief shop steward at Elmhurst Hospital. The Police Dept. collected people in buses, including Crum and eight family members. The evacuees were taken to Queens College, which turned its library into an emergency shelter.

"It's not your fault, but there you are. I appreciate that I have a home - what's left of it - and that I'm alive," Crum said.

After eight days in the shelter, she went back to her home, dark and cold without electricity or heat, which she preferred to sleeping on a cot in an open space. On Nov.13, she was able to return to work.

Almost 90 people at Elmhurst Hospital were affected by the storm. "My union rep, Eddie Douglass, tracked me down till he got through to me on Oct. 30." She's grateful for DC 37, Local 1549 and her employer. "If it wasn't for my union and my job, I wouldn't have made it this far," she said. "The union reached out with compassion."

The hospital set up a fund for employees who were victims of the storm. "We always do this at Elmhurst, and many employees are donating time to those who don't have extra time. I've received care packages from different departments, with personal items," she said.

Local 1549's Disaster Fund is available to help victims of the storm, with applications available online. "New York City had its Katrina, and I thank God that my union is there for me," Crum said.

"So many people lost their lives. Everything I lost is material. It's just possessions. Even though I lost the mementos of a lifetime, I am thankful that we are all alive. We can replace and repair what's been ruined," she said. "You cannot replace a life."

—Jane LaTour