Volunteers come out to help with Brick flood cleanup

<p>Dozens of volunteers were out in Brick Township Wednesday to help the residents of a senior citizen community clean up after a major flooding event.</p>

News 12 Staff

Aug 15, 2018, 8:38 PM

Updated 2,302 days ago

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Dozens of volunteers were out in Brick Township Wednesday to help the residents of a senior citizen community clean up after a major flooding event.
The volunteers included members of the Brick Dragons football team, the United States Coast Guard and members of the Key Club.
Brick Township Mayor John Ducey says that 114 homes in the Greenbriar 1 community were damaged by Monday’s flood. Several feet of water came through the community.
“Finally the boats came, took us out and took us to the clubhouse,” says resident Paulette Wainright. “I was just so thankful.”
The high school athletes that came to help say that it is their duty to help the community in a time of tragedy.
“It's most important for our team to be able to give back to the community and help [who] helps support us,” says team captain Jacob Wynkoop. “We have practice later, but we are going to help as long as we can; leave at the last possible second to go help things. If we have to come back, we will."
The flood victims say that they have to get as much cleaned up and dried up as quickly as possible before mold sets in. Anything still wet inside their homes, such as furniture or carpeting, will have to be gutted.
"One of our biggest things is being responsive and ready for these types of disasters, so immediately…we reached out to the mayor's office and came together in a unified effort,” says the Coast Guard’s Mike Kristiansen.
The residents and volunteers say that the flooding aftermath reminds them of Superstorm Sandy, but with one exception – there was warning before Sandy. This flooding seemed to come out of nowhere.
Mayor Ducey says that most of the Greenbriar residents did not have flood insurance. He also says that township engineers are already looking into why and how a flood of this magnitude happened