One of New York’s Finest was finally able to return to her Coney Island home a year to the day after Hurricane Sandy drove her out, with a little help from a hardware giant.
The Home Depot Foundation — the charitable arm of the tool, paint, and lumber chain — repaired the damage the superstorm wrought on the first-floor apartment of People’s Playground policewoman Petlyn Job, finishing on Oct. 29.
Officer Job said that she was scheduled to work the night shift at Downtown Brooklyn’s 84th Precinct as the disaster approached Sodom by the Sea. The storm drains were already overflowing outside, and Job decided to drive her mother and two kids to a friend’s home in East Flatbush before heading to the stationhouse.
“Mermaid was full of water, Stillwell was full of water,” recalled Job. “It was devastating to come back home and see everything all over the place.”
Job did her 12-hour shift, only hearing updates over the radio about the storm’s impact on her home neighborhood. She got off work at 8 am the morning after the storm, and found that five feet of water had inundated her home and left it in utter disarray.
“I didn’t believe water could do such damage. I thought somebody had come and ransacked the place,” Job said.
The storm surge destroyed Job’s photographs, flooring, electrical wiring, plumbing, and appliances, and left behind huge deposits of mud behind. Job — who owns the building — stayed with friends for the next several weeks, then moved temporarily into one of the spaces upstairs.
A friend recommended that Job contact the New York City Says Thank You Foundation, a charity aimed at helping police, firefighters and paramedics in need. The group connected her with Home Depot, which dispatched trained store associates to make Job’s home livable again.
The workers tore out the sheetrock and floors, replaced damaged studs, treated for mold, replaced the windows and appliances, and repainted everything. The project wrapped up on the one-year anniversary of the superstorm.
“They fixed it up really nice,” Job said.
The Home Depot Foundation said that repairing Job’s home was part of a $1 million commitment to helping New York recover from Sandy, — one of 100 projects in all — aimed especially at aiding police, firefighters, and ambulance workers.
“This is a chance to support and serve those who support and serve those in need during tragedies,” said foundation spokesman Ty Hodges.
