Optometrist Robert Snyder almost lost his “third and favorite child”—the term his wife and two actual children have named his beloved office in the small seaside town of Ship Bottom, N.J.
Robert Snyder, O.D., performs the heart-breaking—and noxious—task of cleaning up his office after Hurricane Sandy.
That “child” was severely damaged and nearly destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, which flooded and ravaged Ship Bottom and other towns on Long Beach Island, a narrow 18-mile-long barrier island along the New Jersey coastline.
Before the “Frankenstorm” hit the East Coast on October 29, Dr. Snyder had heeded the warnings. He filled about 100 sandbags to barricade water from entering the doorways. He taped up the cracks around his front and back doors. He picked up all his computer equipment and chairs off the floor and stacked them on tables.
“But I could have done better,” he said afterward. “I was thinking, the water will never get in here. It never has in my 32 years of practice.”
But it did get in. Up to a foot of murky seawater flooded into the building, located a block away from the beach but only a few feet above sea level.
“It’s amazing what that much water can do,” Dr. Snyder said. “You open up a drawer, and the whole drawer is full of dirty, stinking water. All of the carpeting and flooring is ruined. Everything is warped—not one door will close properly. All the cabinetry is starting to delaminate. All my frame displays are shot. The motors in my [exam] chairs and stands are finished. Twelve inches of water got into the walls, so they need to be torn out, cleaned out and replaced. The sewer backed up and the bathrooms are a mess.”
To add insult to injury, he had renovated the office only a few years ago. So all the work and expense of the renovation is literally down the drain.
But that’s not all. “We’re beginning to go to EMRs, but we’re not there yet. So we still have thousands and thousands of files, and unfortunately the lower rack got hit. So if you’re a patient whose name starts with a W, you’re screwed,” he said, only half-joking.
Workers from a cleaning crew tear up carpets, baseboards, drywall and anything else that got soaked in Dr. Snyder’s Ship Bottom, N.J., office.
Fortunately, Snyder Eye Group has a smaller satellite office in the “mainland” town of Tuckerton, N.J. Dr. Snyder, along with his staff and the other optometrists in his practice—his wife Lauren Scharf-Snyder, O.D., and his associate Freddie Davis, O.D.—moved as many frames, files and exam and lab equipment as they could to the satellite office so the cleanup of the Ship Bottom office could begin. “In my [Tuckerton] exam room right now, I have four slit lamps in one corner, four phoropters in another corner, and I brought more instruments to my home,” he said.
His home is another story. It suffered no serious damage, but it too is located on Long Beach Island, which has been closed to inhabitants since a mandatory evacuation before the storm hit.
At press time, more than 12 days after the storm, residents were still not allowed to return to live in their homes—they were permitted only short “grab and go” visits. Electricity and water service had not yet been restored, and natural gas for heat is shut down indefinitely to prevent fires and explosions.
So, the Snyders have been living in a Holiday Inn across the bridge from the island. But also at press time, their reservation was up, the hotel had no other rooms, and they are effectively homeless. Their cars are stuffed with whatever clothes and necessities will fit.
“I don’t know what to do,” he said. “Every day there’s a new story, a new rumor. That’s the frustrating thing—I don’t know what to do next.”
It
doesn’t take a superstorm—any office can be hit by a disaster. So Dr.
Snyder, who has now learned the hard way, offers this advice for every
practice.
• Get organized.
“Put every insurance policy you have in one place so you can grab them
if you need to leave in a hurry,” he says. “Don’t wait until the last
minute to start looking for your flood policy in one place, your
homeowner’s policy in another and your business owner’s policy somewhere
else.”
• Get one agent.
Dr. Snyder says the agents he has have been great so far. But still, he
has a different agent for almost every policy. “It’s too many phone
calls, too much to keep track of,” he says. “If you can have all your
policies with one agent, then you only have to talk to one person.”
That said, he’s got his hands full trying to connect with patients—most of whom are also residents and are now displaced—and following up with several different insurance companies. (See “Emergency Advice for Every Practice,” right.)
Emergency Advice for Every Practice
Meanwhile, it can take hours to perform everyday tasks that used to take minutes—buying gasoline, finding somewhere to do the laundry, tracking down the mail, even getting food to eat.
“I’m the last person to think I would ever need help from the Red Cross,” said Dr. Scharf-Snyder. “But the Red Cross fed me last night because there’s no restaurants—no place to eat if you want to be on the island.”
But, she said, “I know we’re going to be OK. Many other people have it much worse. Our receptionist lost her house.”
Nevertheless, the staff—and their spouses—are pitching in to keep the practice going.
“It’s very upsetting,” Dr. Snyder said, unable to hold back the emotion and the tears. “Just like that, your life is turned upside down. But my staff and everyone has been great. People are with me. They’re trying to help Snyder Eye Group keep moving.”
The Snyders were pleased to report that many people have come forth to offer them assistance. If you want to help, Dr. Scharf-Snyder recommends donating to the American Red Cross ( www.redcross.org/hurricane-sandy). Another way to help: Donate to Optometry’s Fund for Disaster Relief ( www.aoa.org/disaster-relief.xml).
