Just about any other week, the sinking of the HMS Bounty and the drowning of one of its crewmembers would be the top news story in the country. This hasn’t been any ordinary week, however, as superstorm Sandy caused unthinkable devastation across much of the Northeast and shut down dozens of airports.
I’m from New Jersey but spent the week in Orlando at the NBAA Convention, where attendance was noticeably lighter due to the storm’s impact on travel from the North. I was personally affected by the storm when Teterboro Airport flooded, submerging my truck parked at Jet Aviation under four to five feet of water.
I found this YouTube video showing the flooding of the airport from the air. (My truck is down there somewhere.) It looks pretty bad, but when the camera pans south over the surrounding towns, that’s when you really begin to understand how bad Sandy truly was. Homes and businesses have been wiped out, especially along the coast where the storm surge caused total destruction in many areas.
As it has in every natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, NBAA has stepped up by activating its Humanitarian Emergency Response Operator (HERO) network. The HERO database is a list of people and companies throughout the business aviation community who have volunteered to assist with disaster-response mobilization efforts.
The association is already working with national emergency agencies and personnel to assist with post-storm relief efforts using business aircraft as airports including Teterboro reopen. It’s becoming clearer by the day just how serious a storm Sandy was. The people affected by the storm will need help. Thanks to the business aviation community, they’ll get a little more of it.
If you’d like to learn how you can help, visit NBAA.org.
