101 Days After Sandy, Red Cross Says Work Is Far From Over
NEW YORK (WLNY) -- It's been 101 days since Superstorm Sandy struck our area - and the work is far from over.
The Red Cross has been on the scene, helping the displaced find housing, and serving almost 7.5 million meals in New York alone.
More: More Than 2,000 Long Island Homes Inhabitable After Sandy
Sam Kille, the communications director of the American Red Cross's greater New York region, joined us on The Couch to give us an update.
He said we're in the midst of both the recovery and response phase.
"There's still a lot of people - especially in the Rockaways, Staten Island, parts of Long Island - that still don't have power, don't have the means to prepare meals," Kille said. We're still serving 40,000 meals a day."
"One of the biggest problems is a lot people are facing as they try to repair their homes is mold, caused by all the flooding that took place," Kille said. "We partnered with the Mayor's Fund and Robinhood to help do mold remediation."
The $15 million partnership will look at 2000 homes in need of help.
"Recovery is something that's not a sprint, it's a marathon - it's going to take a long time," said Kille. "We spent five years doing recovery for Hurricane Katrina. We're still in Joplin, Missouri, almost a year and a half after the tornado there. It's going to take a long time."
Kille said nearly $250 million was donated in the wake of Sandy. At this point, it's not more money that is needed, instead, they need people to volunteer. Go to RedCross.org to sign up.
