Tropical Storm Henri wasn’t as bad as Irene––a wimp by comparison––but Henri served to remind all of Mother Nature’s power, and Irene in particular.
This Saturday marks the 10th anniversary of Irene, and Henri was a prompt to recall the courage and leadership of a decade ago.
The Times-Journal this week looks back at those desperate days and the hope and recovery that followed.
Sarah Goodrich, who as executive director of Schoharie Area Long Term, believes a 10-year look-back is an occasion to remember the devotion to communities.
“This is an opportunity to honor memories, the people who created those memories and pay them tribute,” she said.
“We can pat communities on the back for what they did. The strength people showed. . .take pride in that.”
The strength came early from first-responders, who up and down the Schoharie Valley saved families from high water, evacuated villages and rescued hundreds of people.
Those firefighters did heroic work, but at the same time, departments from neighboring counties pitched in.
“We usually go out to help people, and we did,” said Middleburgh Assistant Chief Mike Devlin. “But we were also the ones needing help this time.”
A decade anniversary also serves as a moment to recall the thousands of visiting volunteers and the hundreds of local volunteers who aided the visitors.
Loaves and Fishes, which provided meals to volunteers and families for two years, was a memorable effort to provide food and comfort. Emily Davis, an early Loaves and Fishes organizer, said moral support was perhaps more important than the good meals.
“People would come and say they were leaving, they couldn’t take it any more,” Ms. Davis said.
“But then, meeting others in the same condition, they decided to stay.”
That moral support persisted through recovery and continues today, Ms. Davis added.
“There’s a feeling of community stronger than it was before the flood, and friendships were introduced or made stronger by the flood.”
And although much was lost, including hundreds of homes and businesses through the Valley, many were rebuilt.
“I marvel at the resilience of so many people,” Ms. Goodrich said. “This is a farming community, and people are tied to the land and have pride in it.”
If property damage was substantial, so was the personal impact. Schoharie County’s population decrease in the 2020 Census was caused in part by Irene’s destruction.
But, said Ms. Goodrich, “The people that have stayed discovered strengths they didn’t know they had.”