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Relief Efforts Making an Impact in Florida
Written by
Bonnie Gillespie
, Staff Writer and Photographer, RedCross.org
Wednesday, August 18, 2004 — PUNTA GORDA, Fl. – Even amid the sweltering summer heat, signs of recovery are starting to appear in southwestern Florida. Near Port Charlotte, residents packed the aisles of the local Wal-Mart store as soon as it reopened. A few miles away near Punta Gorda, a generator brought power to a neighborhood convenience store, opened to serve struggling hurricane victims. And in dozens of devastated communities, as Emergency Response Vehicles looped around neighborhoods, the sound of a kind voice called out over a loudspeaker, “Hot meals! Come have a hot meal from the Red Cross!”
Sachiyo Luker's daughter Leilani was thrilled to receive an armload of snacks for their family when an Red Cross ERV came through their Port Charlotte neighborhood. |
As a massive disaster relief operation continues to unfold, more than 120 American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) have been deployed to deliver hot meals, water, snacks and recovery supplies directly to Hurricane Charley victims. Nearly 400,000 meals have been served so far, and with well over 700,000 Floridians still without power, the food and shelter provided by Red Cross have been lifesavers for weary storm victims.
“These are the first hot meals we’ve had since the storm,” said Sachio Luker of Port Charlotte, when a Red Cross ERV delivered water and food to her hard-hit neighborhood. “My husband and daughter and I have been eating peanut butter for three days, so this is great! We are so thankful for all the Red Cross is doing.”
Through partnering with other organizations like the Southern Baptists, the Red Cross plans to distribute 100,000 meals a day to Hurricane Charley victims as recovery efforts continue, and with electricity restoration weeks away for many residents of Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Arcadia, hot meals will bring comfort in the aftermath of the storm.
Sheltering is also ongoing for displaced residents, including a large number of elderly Floridians, who are among the estimated 40,000 people with significant damage to their homes. Fourteen Red Cross shelters remain open, down from a peak of 249 with a population of 46,000 at the height of the storm on Aug. 13.
“Everyone has been pulling together to make the situation work since we opened,” said Sam Karean, a local Charlotte County Red Cross volunteer and a manager at the L.A. Ainger Middle School shelter in Englewood. “The officials have even suspended school until we don’t need the facility anymore. The volunteers have been tremendous. It’s been as a good an experience as possible for everyone.”
But even with hundreds remaining at Red Cross shelters, thousands more Floridians are camping out amid the remnants of their wind-pummeled homes, fearful of looters despite the presence of 4,300 National Guards. Charley’s ferocious 145 mph winds left little standing in its wake and many Floridians in the disaster zone feel their lives have been as splintered as the palm trees littering the ground.
A Red Cross volunteer surveys the damage to this waterside home on Sanibel Island, the first coastal community struck when Hurricane Charely roared ashore last week. |
“We had moved in 10 days before Charley came,” said Darlene Emery, as she sat on the trunk of a fallen tree that crushed the front of her Punta Gorda home. “My two kids and I had evacuated and gone to my mother’s so thankfully we’re all ok. But then we came back to find this. I haven’t heard anything from my landlord. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Like other Hurricane Charley victims, Emery soon found out she could call 1-866-GET-INFO to register with the Red Cross for disaster assistance. In coming days, the Red Cross throughout the affected areas to meet the needs of disaster victims.
You can help the victims of Hurricane Charley and thousands of other disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting our Online Donation Page.
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