By Bethany Bray Patterson, American Red Cross Regional Communications Manager

Californians have begun the monumental task of cleaning up after severe weather caused more than a billion dollars in damage this month, including extensive flooding, sinkholes, landslides and damage to homes, highways and other infrastructure.

Red Cross of the National Capital & Greater Chesapeake Region disaster response volunteer Vic Parker said she’s seen entire neighborhoods flooded after weeks of drenching rain. Many residents have turned to the Red Cross to provide temporary shelter, meals and support.

Parker, a retiree from Newark, Delaware, deployed to California on Jan. 9 and stayed until the Red Cross shelters she was managing closed two weeks later. She was one of the more than 720 Red Cross volunteers — including 12 from the National Capital & Greater Chesapeake Region — helping throughout the state at more than 80 shelters.

Red Cross teams on the ground continue to conduct damage assessments to determine the impact of the storms and which communities will need additional support moving forward. Early assessments report as many as 126 homes were damaged or destroyed.

Officials estimate the recovery costs in California could rise to billions of dollars. This could be the first billion dollar disaster in the U.S. this year, following 18 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2022.

Parker, who has volunteered with the Red Cross for 12 years, said this deployment was a learning experience that demanded flexibility – a situation that came with its share of challenges and rewards. She comes away from the experience with an appreciation for the shelter volunteers she managed, who rose to the occasion to keep things running smoothly and meet residents needs during a stressful time.

“At the Camden Community Center [shelter in San Jose], the volunteers were amazing, they got very creative to keep the shelter organized,” said Parker.

As the shelter was closing, some of the residents gave the volunteers chocolates, a bouquet of flowers and a thank you card with dozens of signatures and notes of gratitude. Parker said that she was touched by the residents’ thoughtful gesture in the midst of dealing with intense stress and upheaval in their own lives.

Parker managed several Red Cross shelters in the Santa Clara County area, all of which had a capacity of up to 100 people per night.

She was proud to hear that afterwards, her Red Cross supervisor noted that Parker’s calm demeanor and decision-making skills were valued during this deployment, as well as the collaborative environment she fostered for the volunteers and staff at the shelters she managed.

Parker volunteers with the Red Cross and deploys to disaster situations like the one in California this month because she feels called to help those in need. She says this work feels like watering a plant that grows and blossoms.

Red Cross volunteers provide the “water” – sometimes literally in the form of drinking water, but also shelter, meals and extended support – that helps people affected by disaster go on to thrive and flourish, she said.

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California storms: How you can help

More and more people are depending on the Red Cross as the number of climate-related disasters increases. During 2020 and 2021 alone, we averaged a new, major disaster response every 10 days with Red Cross volunteers continuously on the ground, setting up shelters, arranging for hot meals and sheltering thousands of people with no place else to go.

You can help people affected by disasters like floods, fires and countless other crises by making a gift to Red Cross Disaster Relief. Donations for Disaster Relief enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

For those interested in helping people specifically affected by the storms and floods in California, we ask that they write “California storms & floods” in the memo line of a check and mail it to their local Red Cross chapter with a completed donation form to the address on the form or to their local Red Cross chapter. Find the donation form at redcross.org/donate.