Bethany Shelter Relocating to Town Hall

On day six of the power outages following Hurricane Irene, the steady stream of residents flowing through the shelter at the Bethany Community School has slowed to a trickle, but the volunteers manning the station remain devoted to their task. Bethany CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) members, wearing bright yellow shirts and welcoming smiles, pass out hot coffee, MREs (Meals, Ready to Eat) and information, as well as guiding residents to the shower (“Please keep it to 10 minutes!”)

“It’s not a sleepover shelter,” said Clark Hurlburt, who has been coordinating the effort. “It’s been more of a comfort shelter.”

During the first 72 hours following the storm CERT members assisted residents with getting water for drinking as well as to flush toilets. They provided use of the single shower in the school nurse’s office as well as snacks, coffee and charging stations for cell phones and other electronic equipment.

“Once it had been 72 hours (after the event,) the commodities kicked in,” Hurlburt said.

That’s when the MREs and cases of water arrived to be passed out to those in need.

Nicole Philibert, CERT member, has been helping at the shelter nearly every day.

“It’s been a good experience,” Philbert said. “I’ve met a lot of new people in town. It’s hard work but I’ve had a great time.”

And, she added, it’s been convenient that it’s summer and the weather has been good; had it been a snowstorm that caused the outages, things would have been far more desperate.

CERT member Bill DiFrancesco agreed.

“I’ve been doing community service one way or another for a long time,” DiFrancesco said, “and as soon as I heard about the CERT team I signed up. This has been a great experience.”

Not that there haven’t been some crotchety people arriving at the shelter; the volunteers have seen their share, but they have been few and far between, and once the testier visitors have been immersed in CERT’s “comfort experience” they tend to leave a little calmer, and, well . . . comforted.

“One man came in very agitated and fidgety,” said CERT member Bruce Loomis. “He said he didn’t want to come near anyone because it had been days since he’d had a shower and he smelled bad. By the time he got out of the shower he was relaxed and smiling.”

All the volunteers agreed – the shower did the trick for many, many stressed out, power-deprived Bethany residents.

Today, Hurlburt said, will be the last day the CERT shelter will operate out of the school.

“We’re going to move down to the town hall for the weekend,” he said, “and we will assess what the needs are as we go along. The only thing we will lose is the shower, but other places are offering them now [Planet Fitness, JCC, Amity Regional High School]. We will continue to offer bottled water and MREs.”

Those still without water and power can look for the CERT trailer at Bethany Town Hall starting tomorrow, and as always, expect to see a bright yellow shirt and a smile.