Marines begin Hurricane Sandy relief work in Queens and Staten Island

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Marines begin Hurricane Sandy relief work in Queens and Staten Island

Posted By: Susoni [Send E-Mail]
Date: Monday, 5-Nov-2012 15:59:30

Isn't this what FEMA was created for?? What a waste of taxpayers money (FEMA.) They’re storming the beaches! A wave of Marines hit the most hurricane-battered sections of Queens and Staten Island yesterday to bring much-needed assistance and supplies to increasingly desperate residents. Armed with high-powered water pumps and sophisticated surveying equipment, the Leathernecks, aided by Navy sailors, began their attack on floodwaters from Rockaway Beach in Queens to Midland Beach on Staten Island. “It’s what Marines do. They just go running,” said Marine Sgt. Justin Armstrong, who returned from Afghanistan about two months ago. “It’s pretty nasty,” he said of the Rockaway wreckage. “It’s a lot of sewage. Pretty much anything you’d flush down the toilet, that lays on the ground, that’s trash. It’s pretty vile stuff.” His work was appreciated. “I was just speechless when I saw them,” said Priscilla Smalls, 53, who lives in the Ocean Bay Houses in the Rockaways’ Arverne section. “I’ve never seen Marines anywhere before, let alone over here in the projects. It’s a great, cool thing. We need the big guns after what happened here. I’ve seen the National Guard, but the Marines are a whole different thing.” Marine engineers did a block-by-block assessment of Staten Island’s Father Capodanno Boulevard to determine the manpower and equipment required for today, when 50 to 100 more corps members are expected to come ashore. Meanwhile, Marines and Navy sailors were hard at work with hammers and hacksaws, doing any construction and cleanup they could. Link http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/the_marines_have_landed_ClmNWXOqmaGYS967gz5YcJ