Page 33 - Sheet Rock News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

On suer avenue on staten island. we're a mile and a half from the ocean, and the water was over my head. it was 12 feet high. the block behind me had just been cleared by sanitation trucks. there were huge pile of debris from people who emptied their homes of water-logged furniture and sheet rock ripped off the walls. they have picked up 130,000 tons of debris in new york city as of last night, so that job, obviously, continues. want to take you inside ivan and joanne's house. again, the water was up this high, 2-3 feet on their first floor. their basement was completely flooded. they've lived...

These aren't state or local people. these are volunteers, people from stat ten -- staten island and the surrounding boroughs. this is michael grille. >> if there's enough back-slapping and glad-handing to do it's these volunteers. they're unbelievable. in spite of everything. i do mean that. unfortunately, in spite of the government, this community has come together like you can never imagine. 250 volunteers in tottenville went basement to basement, cleaned people's stuff out and just unbelievable things. organizing crews to take elderly people's sheet rock out so they don't get mold. all citi...

Going to be sitting there for months to come, and what happens is mold begins to grow in these houses. so you've got to get the water out, you've got to dry it, and then where there's mold, you've got to be able to take the sheet rock out so the walls can dry out, and then you'll have teams to come back in and help them repair it. >> greta: when i said it was a finely-oiled machine, i've been down there, it's almost like firemen. you've got all those trucks ready, they're all stocked and ready to go. the tragedy or calamity happens, your volunteers show up, trucks go out the door and you're wa...

There's no other way you can do it. just buckets and shovels, and just some strong backs, and that's what these volunteers will do. we'll go into a home and help them actually -- we call it a mud out. you mud out the home. if you take places like atlantic city where you have these casinos and people think of those casinos, there are a lot of middle class and poorer homes in that community, and these people are just devastated. they've got to have help. if volunteers don't come and help them clean up, they're going to be sitting there for months to come, and what happens is mold begins to grow ...

Blocking myself. he said, jump over and i am going to grab you. i and got up from that and i started punching, kicking as hard as i can, until a little hole appeared in the sheet rock. i said, i see your hand. just yank me through, i said. and i jumped and i grabbed and i stuck my head through. >> i reached in -- nothing happened. i said, you must do this. up he went again. i reached in and somehow got under his arm or grabbed onto something and i lifted him up and over this barrier and we fell in a heap on the floor. >> this man -- he just gave me a headlock, with all of his might. he just pu...