See more reporting from In Focus Martin Sheen
The producers of In Focus Martin Sheen have already announced reporting covering how innovative approaches to disaster relief are helping after hurricanes, but the specific circumstances of Hurricane Sandy pose unique challenges.
In the Northeast, the dense population centers and the cities positioned on the water mean that widespread flooding will impact millions of people. Tunnels and highways are impassible in some areas because of the storm surge, and this will make moving supplies and manpower more difficult. This means that there is very little room for error in bringing in the right resources to the right communities.
Relief organizations will be communicating with officials in government to ensure that the places that need certain types of help the most also get them first. Areas that are hardest hit with downed trees for example will need more teams to clear the roads. Areas with the worst damage to power lines will need more line crews and so on. The key is not to send too many of one type of help into an area because they can actually bog one another down. Sending the right supplies and manpower in the right amounts makes all the difference.
In Focus PBS will be watching along with experts to see how relief efforts work in the coming days. The producers can be reached at (561) 826-0675 so that others may offer their own ideas about how disaster relief should be conducted. In Focus with Martin Sheen will feature the new report in the coming months on public television and the website at www.infocusptv.com.