Personal accounts of how the NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund supports NYSUT members in times of need.
Hurricane Ida flooding devastates Queens
"Having people listen to your story and to just be kind … that alone is a great help,” said UFT member Palmyre Seraphin. “It’s so much to deal with.”
Palmyre Seraphin, a ninth-grade teacher at Channel View School for Research in Rockaway Queens, expected the remnants of Hurricane Ida to bring heavy rain.
But she didn’t expect torrential flooding.
After hearing “a lot of commotion and yelling” the evening of Sept. 1, the United Federation of Teachers member hurried downstairs to the first floor of her Jamaica Queens home to investigate. What she saw stopped her in her tracks.
“Churning water, just coming down the street and breaking into the first floor of my home,” she said. “It was like in the Bible, just lots of water, you could see the waves and it just came rushing in breaking down the door and windows.”
Surrounding neighbors were yelling, crying and screaming. Calls to 911 went unanswered. Her three cars were destroyed and the first floor of her home was submerged in five feet of water. While the financial losses are bad, the lingering trauma might be worse. “I have a huge fear of it raining again; it gives me anxiety,” she said.
A bright spot is the help she’s received from her union, through both the NYSUT and the UFT Disaster Relief Funds.
As she waits for her insurance claims and assistance from FEMA, knowing her union cares provides some relief. So does talking about her experience.
“Having people listen to your story and to just be kind … that alone is a great help,” she said. “It’s so much to deal with.”
In addition to the NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund, NYSUT Social Services is available to help members through difficult times. To learn more about this free, union-provided benefit, visit nysut.org/socialservices.
Tropical Storm Fred swamps and closes Southern Tier High School
"Our NYSUT [Labor Relations Specialist] called and said, 'What do you guys need?' And I said to him: "Matt, I'm not kidding, we literally need everything." - Erick Potter, President, Jasper-Troupsburg Teachers Association.
After Tropical Storm Fred wiped out 20 years of his classroom supplies by swamping the Jasper-Troupsburg High School with three feet of floodwater in mid-August, Erick Potter developed a new appreciation for things like whiteboard markers and manila folders.
“I was giving out handouts the other day and a student asked if I had a three-hole punch and I said, ‘Well, I used to,’” said Potter, president of the Jasper-Troupsburg Teachers Association. “There’s so much we take for granted that you miss when we don’t have it.”
NYSUT created a special Jasper-Troupsburg Tropical Storm Fred Disaster Relief Application to reimburse members for up to $500 in non-district-supplied classroom materials lost to flooding, excluding furniture and other equipment.
The flooding left the school building unusable and forced a move to an unused middle school building in the neighboring Canisteo-Greenwood Central School District. Repairs will take an estimated two years. Once educators were allowed into the building to salvage what they could, Potter was shocked by the destruction. The floors were covered with inches of mud and the “gym floor didn’t even look like a gym floor, it was completely warped,” he said.
New Rochelle union leader plays key role in flood recovery
Flood waters damaged several district buildings, including the high school library.
When the remnants of Hurricane Ida caused severe flooding in the New Rochelle City School District in early September, Billy Coleman had his hands full.
As the executive vice president for New Rochelle FUSE, he helped lead the local union’s disaster relief response for impacted members. A secondary plant manager at Isaac E. Young Middle School, he was knee deep in recovery work after Ida flooded the building’s first floor. And as a member of the district-wide health and safety team, Coleman has helped members stay safe during flood cleanup.
“About 60 percent of our members live in New Rochelle, so the president and I have been sharing NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund information with those whose homes sustained damage as well,” said Coleman, noting that FUSE represents both teacher and SRP members.
At the middle school, the cafeteria and nearly 20 classrooms, including a weight room, a technology classroom and a music room, “had about three to four feet of water seep in, which got sucked up into the sheetrock,” explained Coleman. After administrators gauged the extent of the damage, outside contractors were brought in to help Coleman’s team with repairs.
Due to overflow and flooding from a nearby lake and backup from the City of New Rochelle sewer system, New Rochelle High School sustained significant damage. The floors, walls and the electrical and mechanical systems were damaged, forcing remote learning to continue until at least early November. “It’s frustrating; the kids were excited about returning to school,” said Coleman. “It’s an emotional blow for everyone.”