I saw that there was a meeting that was reported on YNN tonight. I see how Mr Tonko decided that he needed to go and check out the horrible scenes that occurred over in Rensselaer County, but I saw nothing as far as him coming to this meeting, which is in one of the areas that has ben said to have been hit the hardest out of all areas. This is just down Route 5S from his home in Amsterdam. Was Mr. Tonko there today, or was he unable to be there, since he was checking out other more important things?
Surveying the damage with political prowess, several of New York's leaders turned their observations to offerings, trying to help a city in need. Our Erin Vannella reports.
TROY, N.Y. -- "We had a landslide here last night and thankfully everybody got out okay," said Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian. "But we thank the state and federal officials who are here today because we're going to look for them to help."
State Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressman Paul Tonko toured Troy Tuesday with county and city leaders to assess Irene's aftermath.
"There's been significant flooding," said Gillibrand. "A lot of roads have been completely knocked out, destroyed. We've obviously seen some structures that have been destroyed because of mudslides."
"This is when government, effective government, steps up and gets things done," said Tonko.
Uprooted but not out of luck, leaders say Troy is bruised, not broken. While millions worth of damage is devastating, it should be recoverable.
"Both Senator Schumer and I wrote a letter to the president to make sure that he also adds Rensselaer County in terms of the damage that's been done here," said Gillibrand. "But the standard and the threshold is the amount of damage per capita so I encourage all viewers if you've experienced any damage, document it, photograph it, and report it to FEMA right away."
But in the meantime, there's help on the ground.
"We're happy to respond with technical experts," said Army Corp of Engineer Colonel John Boule. "With debris, whatever the corp can do to help the community recover, we're on board to do it."
"We're grateful that no one was hurt," said Tutunjian. "Properties can be replaced and rebuilt, but lives can't be so we're very grateful."
At the time of this posting, the story from the meeting at RJVFD is not available on-line, but check out the story on YNN inthe first half of the half-hour segment.
Mr. Tonko.....the sympathiser/empathiser of the masses.....he's like part of the 'holy trinity'......"there there now. we can fix it. I will do something 'atleast' for you." he is the best salesman of the 'atleast' in all of history. I am in awe at his ability to remove the 'fight' from folks so that they allow others to do for them what they rightfully thought they should have been doing to begin with.....He is really good at taking away one's survival instincts and reasoning.....oh, he can pick 'em......and he picks 'em at the most opportune time....I wonder what his harvest for the 'machine' will be after this disaster?
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Rotterdam residents return to uninhabitable homes By: Innae Park
Residents of Rotterdam Junction returned to their homes Tuesday, only to find many were cited uninhabitable by officials and flood waters still covered the area. Innae Park reports.
ROTTERDAM JUNCTION, N.Y. -- Main Street of Rotterdam Junction remained closed off for most of Tuesday, with residents only allowed to return to their homes if accompanied by an official after Tropical Storm Irene swept through and the rising Mohawk River flooded the hamlet. Throughout the day, building inspectors and Niagara-Mohawk crews checked close to a hundred homes, citing around 60 of them uninhabitable, according to Rotterdam Police Lt. Thomas Culbert.
"Earlier in the day there were gas leaks, so we didn't want explosions to happen," said Culbert. "Some of the foundations have collapsed, some houses have moved off their foundations completely. Some cases are minor, some serious."
Young Justina Natalie, who lives on Main Street, said, "Now we have to pack everything and go, and I'm sad we have to leave my house." Her home has seen some of the worst damage in the village.
Her mother Katrina almost broke down in tears at the nightmare her dream house had become.
"We just finished painting the living room, and were getting ready to put the new windows in," said Katrine Natalie. "We just did everything for nothing. To be taken away from us in a day."
The new windows were leaning in the garage, covered in shrink wrap, but also coated in mud.
The flood waters that have receded in many other areas of the region still linger in Rotterdam Junction.
Jim Troiano's front yard remains flooded, with his fence fallen over due to weak ground. "I haven't been in my basement. I haven't been down there because until the water goes down, I don't think it's safe and I don't want to be there. As for whether or not I'll clean it all myself, I really don't know."
With so many questions, town and county officials have opened a Joint Assistance Center at the firehouse at 1215 Main St. A meeting was held Tuesday night to alleviate the panic, even providing information on how to apply for FEMA aid.
However, residents are still in pain.
Natalie said, "We just lost everything we worked very hard for," fighting back tears.
Her son Brennan said, "We felt sad because we couldn't do anything to stop the water."
At this point, authorities are allowing residents to return to their homes by car, though more building inspections will be conducted Wednesday.
Officials say they have requested FEMA aid for the area. The Department of Social Services is also expected to be available to meet with people as early as Wednesday morning.
Mr. Tonko.....the sympathiser/empathiser of the masses.....he's like part of the 'holy trinity'......"there there now. we can fix it. I will do something 'atleast' for you." he is the best salesman of the 'atleast' in all of history. I am in awe at his ability to remove the 'fight' from folks so that they allow others to do for them what they rightfully thought they should have been doing to begin with.....He is really good at taking away one's survival instincts and reasoning.....oh, he can pick 'em......and he picks 'em at the most opportune time....I wonder what his harvest for the 'machine' will be after this disaster?
His harvest will be calling for higher taxes, even though we already have the highest.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
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