“Over a million dollars and 2 years of work ahead of us” Maryland VOAD asseses short and long-term damage on Smith Island
SMITH ISLAND, Md – With the community on Smith Island still reeling from a devastating Tornado, non-profit groups and volunteers are looking to get themselves, supplies, and donations to the island.
Phil Huber of Maryland VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster) says, with limited access to and from the island by boat, they are working with Smith Island United to make sure services don’t overlap and donations meet the needs on the ground.
“If you don’t have coordination it quickly becomes mayhem and you simply add to the chaos and the disaster that has occurred, ” he said adding “the situation changes from hour to hour and what we might need early in the day isn’t by the end of it.”
That’s why he says for those looking to donate, financial donations are always better than supplies, as they can be spent on the ground to whatever the need shifts to. But he says at the moment a need exists for volunteers to help move debris.
“Those volunteers will help pick up that up and get it into piles along the road so the county can pick it up and dispose of it,” Huber said.
But he says as the recovery shifts to the more long-term goals, his organization will look to include Smith Island in the mission of the Eastern Shore Long Term Recovery Committee, which helped to repair and upgrade homes after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and in Crisfield after coastal flooding in 2021.
The organization currently has 4 homes under construction in the town, with each totaling around 100,000 to rebuild in replace, but he expects that cost to rise when it comes time to work on Smith Island.
“Given the cost of transporting materials over to the island I don’t know how much more that process increase cost but it will no longer be 100,000 it will be more,” he said.
Huber tells us he expects that 8 houses will need rebuilding, as well as a dozen others in need of repairs. He says he would also like to see the houses outfitted with pylons or stilts to help them weather the stronger winds and rising tides that the next storm could bring.
“I mean when you total that up it’s upwards of a million dollars,” he said adding ” I anticipate we will be involved for a year to two years to get the island back on its recovery.”
