metro
- Yad Ezra volunteers who
braved the storm: Daniel
Stettner, Manny Schane,
Mel Hersch, Arnie Weiner,
Sam Finegood, Ron Kepes,
Saul Margules and Howard
Wittenberg.
Disaster experts, volunteers and Jewish agencies battle snow and sub-zero weather.
Robin Schwartz
JN Contributing Writer
M
eteorologists called it a polar
vortex, a huge counter-clock-
wise swirl of frigid air that
gripped Metro Detroit and other parts
of the country for several days last week
bringing record-breaking cold and wind
chills as low as -30 degrees. To make mat-
ters worse, significant snow fell, with accu-
mulations of up to a foot in some places.
Schools were closed for days, flights were
canceled and driving was nearly impossible
at times, but through it all a small army
of workers and volunteers kept Michigan's
only kosher food pantry up and running.
Yad Ezra in Berkley remained open even
during the worst of the storm, distributing
food to more than 50 needy families in the
midst of snow, ice, wind and treacherous
conditions.
As an emergency food provider, I felt it
was imperative that we be open," Yad Ezra's
executive director Lea Luger said. "I alerted
our staff and told them, 'If you can get in,
fine, but no heroics: They all made it in
because they're so dedicated and committed
to the work we do:'
A photograph of Daniel Stettner of
Huntington Woods, Manny Schane of
Southfield, Arnie Weiner of Royal Oak, Sam
Finegood of Berkley, Howard Wittenberg of
Clawson and Ron Kepes, Mel Hersch and
Saul Margules, all of West Bloomfield, was
posted on the Yad Ezra Facebook page with
the caption: "HUGE shout out to our eight
volunteers who braved all the winter ele-
ments ... They are AMAZING! We couldn't
have helped our clients without them!"
Four of the volunteers came from at least
20 minutes away, and three who don't usu-
ally come in on Mondays made the trek
anyway because they thought extra help
would be needed. Luger says, fortunately,
three out of five full-time staff members live
12
January 16 • 2014
'AM
Adam Becker of Statewide Disaster Restoration stands amid a flooded supermarket.
within five miles of the warehouse on 11
Mile Road.
"We were lucky our warehouse manager
and client coordinator could get there Luger
said. "We had snow removal and, thank God,
we had heat, so we were in business:'
Not everyone who was signed up to
receive a one-month supply of food was
able to get there, but plenty of clients
showed up.
"A huge thank you to those who braved
ridiculous weather conditions:' Luger said.
"I'm so proud to be part of this team:'
At Jewish Family Service of Metropolitan
Detroit, about 30 equally dedicated employ-
ees reported to work in Oak Park and
West Bloomfield during the storm. Offices
remained open, but roads were so bad that
kosher Meals on Wheels could not reach
about 75 Oakland County seniors.
"We were not able to deliver Monday or
Tuesday, and all of the clients were called
on Sunday:' JFS chief program officer Shari
Goldman explained. "Earlier in the season,
these clients were given a number of emer-
gency meals [three days' worth of food] in
case of such an event:'
Geriatric case managers reached out to
clients to make sure they had food and heat
and knew it was not safe to go outside. An
agency psychiatrist was also in the office to
handle scheduled appointments.
Flood Of Distress Calls
At Statewide Disaster Restoration in
Southfield, the phones started ringing
with distress calls as soon as tempera-
tures dropped. Owner Adam Becker of
Bloomfield Hills says an unprecedented
number of pipes froze and ruptured dur-
ing the storm, causing severe flooding and
water damage at schools, hospitals, apart-
ment buildings, businesses and homes.
"It's been the most unbelievable experi-
ence Becker said. "Pipes are freezing when
the wind is blowing. Air is getting into
every area that's not properly insulated:'
His crews began working around the
clock on Sunday; 50-100 calls came in
each day. There was so much flooding,
50 additional temporary workers were
called in to help operate flood trucks and
portable units. Becker says his company
alone handled floods at 19 different schools
in Birmingham, Livonia, Lincoln Park,
Warren, Detroit and other locations. The
volume of calls became so overwhelming
that he had to start turning away business.
"This was a large-scale catastrophe,"
he said. "We haven't seen pipes break like
this in Michigan — ever!"
Becker and his wife, Jodi, have three
children ages 6, 10 and 11. He serves on
the boards of JARC and Temple Beth El in
Bloomfield Township and on the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit real
estate board. He started the disaster resto-
ration company 20 years ago; 72 full-time
employees now work in four locations:
Southfield, Grand Rapids, and Sarasota
and Pompano Beach in Florida. The com-
pany often does repair work during hurri-
canes and other major weather events.
"We knew the cold was coming; we
braced for the storm; we knew we were
going to have broken pipes in these tem-
peratures, but we didn't expect the volume
and size of the losses:' he said. "Every res-
toration company I know is running out
of equipment. It's truly like a hurricane
every day of the week and it just doesn't
stop:'
Becker says the only thing that can
prevent pipes from freezing in this type of
bitter cold is to maintain the temperature
inside a home or business at or above 60
degrees. He says pipes in exterior walls
are the most vulnerable. People can open
cabinet doors to allow warmer air to get
in. If your water suddenly stops running,
that's the first telltale sign of a freeze.
As of Monday, more than 2,500 pieces
of drying equipment were still in use
across Metro Detroit. Workers spent the
week putting in 18-20 hour days. Becker
was on the scene of many of the cleanup
and repair sites himself in the middle of
the night.
"Our dedicated staff has continued to
work extremely long, hard hours to keep
up with the workload:' he said. "This deep
freeze has been one of the most stressful
and demanding events I can ever remem-
ber in our local area:'
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