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Recovery Continues in Southeast
Written by
Bonnie Gillespie
, Staff Writer and Photographer, RedCross.org
Monday, September 20, 2004 — MOBILE, Alabama – While Ivan’s remnants continued to plague communities in northern Appalachia, the death toll from the massive storm rose to 52 over the weekend, making it one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history. Dozens of people are still missing in the Florida panhandle, amplifying growing anxieties in the storm-stricken region.
A Red Cross volunteer offers support to a storm victim whose home was destroyed. |
More than one million people from 13 states remain without power, and even with crews working nonstop, officials report it could be weeks before electricity is restored to the some areas. Along the Gulf Coast, congested traffic diverted away from a collapsed bridge on Interstate 10 was altered even further – patrolmen opened one lane for only power trucks and emergency workers.
But even amid a plethora a disaster-related complications, the American Red Cross is on site, supporting victims of the recent rash of hurricanes in the largest storm-related response in the organization’s 123-year history. Since Hurricane Charley hit just over a month ago, Red Cross volunteers have served more than six million meals and opened 1,003 shelters for evacuees and storm victims.
And in Mobile, which was missed by Charley and Frances but battered by Ivan, Red Cross efforts are in full swing, as local and national volunteers were dispatched on both sides of Mobile Bay, including hard-hit Gulf Shores and Orange Beach where Ivan’s eye plowed ashore with 130 mph winds on Sept. 16
“We’ve got 10 ERVs working out of here and hopefully more coming, because we’ll have four mobile kitchens tomorrow and they can serve a lot of food,” said Patrick Keena, coordinator of Mass Care efforts for the Gulf Coast chapter of the Red Cross.
But supplies inside the Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) were far from scarce. When a line of ERVs and Red Cross vans pulled up outside the local Sam’s Club in Mobile, everything from Oreos and orange juice to baby formula and Fig Newtons were rolled out by the pallet-load, constituting a portion of the 25,348 meals and snacks distributed just yesterday to victims of Hurricane Ivan.
Red Cross support extends beyond food and other supplies, though. More than 7,000 people remain in Red Cross shelters, awaiting clearance from authorities to return home or because they have no home to return to.
Supplies are packed into Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles who canvass affected areas for distribution. |
“A tree fell on my trailer and I can’t even get in there now to get anything out,” said Natalie Ervin of Foley, Ala., who is staying at a local Red Cross shelter with her three-year-old son. “We would’ve died if we’d stayed there and not gone to the shelter. The Red Cross is taking good care of us. They’re such good people.”
Ervin’s sentiments can be easily understood when encountering volunteers like Lea Anne Hodges, who is working with her husband at a Red Cross shelter but is also a hurricane victim herself.
“I hear we have a hole in the roof and our car flooded, but I haven’t been back to see it yet,” said Hodges. “The way I think about it is that I can deal with my own situation later. These people here in the shelter now, they need us. Their welfare is my immediate concern.”
While Red Crossers like Hodges selflessly put their own concerns aside, other volunteers travel from across the U.S. to take part in disaster relief efforts. Almost 20,000 Red Cross volunteers have assisted victims of hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan, and many of them have served at more than one of those responses.
“Going into the areas that are so badly hit, that can be really hard,” said Carol Conrad, an ERV driver from Michigan that has worked on three disaster operations in recent weeks. “Each operation is different, but there are things you see and feel from each one that you’ll never forget. And it’s all worth it.”
You can help the victims of hurricanes, floods 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). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting our Online Donation Page.
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