Day 1 - Albany

I got the call yesterday that I could deploy as a Health Services (HS) supervisor (SV) to central New York for flooding. This was the first I had even heard of flooding in NY, so I had to do a little research to even figure out what was going on. As it turns out, a number of rivers are above flood stage and the NY governor has declared 15 counties to be in a state of emergency. Earlier today Sen. Chuck Schumer toured affected areas in Oneida County (central NY). A federal state of emergency declaration for at least a portion of the affected areas is expected in the coming days. This will bring FEMA and the money behind it into the mix.

Right now Red Cross is doing what it does best, mass care. 3 (I think that is the most up-to-date number) Red Cross shelters are open housing affected people. I'll find out tomorrow more about population size in the shelters. Flooding in some areas has been severe so sheltering may last for some time but fortunately no fatalities have been reported (I am a little tired of condolence work). Anyways, thats the background info, on to today.

Day 1 started with final preparations to deploy, a trip to the chapter to get all my paperwork in order, and a drive to the Greensboro airport. My flight to Philadelphia was, unsurprisingly, delayed. That was ok, though, because the plane was only about half full so I had an empty seat beside me. After getting to Philadelphia, I found my flight to Albany (which was also delayed). After boarding we had a nice 45 minute wait to takeoff (and I was not so lucky to have an empty seat beside me). Once we finally got in the air, however, it was an uneventful flight to Albany.

Once I arrived in Albany, suffice it to say that it wasn't easy to figure out where to go and how to get there. Long story short, I got to the Best Western with the rest of the Red Cross people here and got a plan together for how to get to work tomorrow (I will probably be going to Utica or Syracuse in the morning). The biggest thing I gathered from my brief time here in Albany is how nice everyone is. From the Avis employees (who weren't able to help me but were very sorry about that) to the hotel staff (the jovial shuttle driver who came to pick me up from the airport, the all-too-accommodating receptionists, and the friendly albeit eccentric bartender) everyone has been very nice. I guess the south isn't the only place you get that.

Anyways, I will update this tomorrow night with where I end up and what I end up doing. Hopefully it involves minimal driving and minimal confusion but if previous disasters are any indication, that is wishful thinking (it is, after all, a disaster). I guess the best thing of all, regardless of any difficulties, is that my deployment to NJ over Thanksgiving wasn't my last one. I was pretty worried about that and I'm lucky to have a job this summer which lets me set my own schedule. I suppose it is ultimately up to me whether or not I choose a career which is conducive to me continuing with the Red Cross and I guess I have good reason to do that.