An Island United
Most of you know the song, “What a Difference a Day Makes.” Since the hurricane, one wakes up to a chorus of birds accompanied by the comforting music of chain saws. We are grateful that there were no lives lost and, by some miracle, most houses survived. The howling winds and torrential rains have been replaced by a renewed appreciation for our neighbors and an intense commitment to help our wounded island heal. We are Daufuskie in mind and heart and spirit.
Immediately after the winds and rain subsided, various groups of people set out to work. No one told them to. They just did it because it needed to get done. Greg Hutton, the one County employee and long-time island resident, got on his backhoe and started to clear a path down Haig Point Road. There were four groups of men that coincidentally set out at the same time. Dave Hutton's crew worked on opening up Haig Point Road and the public roads. Chris Candau's team worked mostly in Haig Point. Mike Davis' crew worked mostly in Melrose, and Mike Loftus' team worked on Bloody Point and the southern end of the Island.
Four days after the storm passed, when US Congressman Mark Sanford, and SC State Senator Tom Davis saw the damage first-hand, they both expressed amazement at the staggering devastation. Then they met the first-responders and emergency crews and expressed greater amazement at the organized recovery efforts that were already underway.
A make-shift emergency response center had been organized. Cell phone communications were established. Chief Boys of the Daufuskie Island Fire Department was the island’s lifeline to the EOC (Emergency Operations Center). Ed Havrid from Palmetto Propane provided daily lunches. Haig Point staff members, Scott Hamm, Director of Golf Course Maintenance and Grounds, and Ferry Mate John Schartner had joined the remaining islanders in providing emergency relief and essential services. Across the island, bobcats and backhoes, powered their way thru the debris and men and women of every age laboriously cleared paths branch by branch.
By the time Sanford and Davis arrived, most of the major roads were already passable.
A Body of Resilient Individuals - Greater than the Sum of its Parts.
At Haig Point, roadways had been completely invisible under blankets of impenetrable branches. Winds had been so strong that trees were literally torn out of the asphalt at their base. Chief Boys and the Fire Department had helped clear Haig Point Road from the Mansion to the back gate so that our volunteers could get to work. Members used their own chain saws to reduce towering trees to manageable pieces so that other members could begin to pile the debris beside the roads.
Initially Doug Egly and Chuck Hunter provided the leadership that Haig Point needed to be able to respond effectively. They were soon joined by other volunteer leaders (including Mike Clemons, Opie Lember, Dennis Sutcliffe, Nancy Owens, Jeff Morgan, Mark McNiff, Kris Kelley, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Devine, Bill Tait, Kathy Aurichio, Jorgen Moller, Jeremy Quinn and Mary Ellen Hill to name a few) who formed more-focused recovery teams with names like:
the chain saw gang,
the road crew,
the roofers,
the cleaner-uppers,
the picker-uppers,
the house checkers, and
the leaning-tree spotters.
Now, these Haig Point teams are assisting recovery efforts at home and across the island.
Pictures are worth a 1000 words. These two before-and-after photos illustrate what the “Picker-Upper” crew accomplished at Haig Point’s back entrance:
The next photos illustrate what the roofer crew (under the direction of Dennis Sutcliffe and with the help of volunteer professional roofer, Ty Hunter) was able to accomplish:
Free lunches for volunteers and for workers from the relief organizations such as SCPG&E continue to be provided at Haig Point’s POA facility under the direction of Chef Jim and Tammy Kelley.
Every evening Chuck Hunter leads a meeting to assess the challenges and assign the next day’s priorities.
And every evening we learn of new heroes.
There are many heroes at Haig Point. As one member was leaving with a crew to go over to Melrose, he was asked how long he thought the clean-up efforts would continue. He responded, “Until everything is fixed that needs fixing.” That’s hero thinking.
An Island Whose Tomorrow is only a Day Away
As Doug Egly put it, “We are committed to emerging better than ever. The unity and camaraderie we are experiencing is unprecedented. We are blessed to be a part of Haig Point and to be a part of the infectious spirit that bonds the entire island.” Everyone agrees. Everyone feels it. “What a difference each day makes.”