As National Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, the American Red Cross in Greater NY today released a podcast episode (available here) that features Red Cross team members who were on the front lines of Hurricane Maria relief, as well as two news reporters who covered the storm’s impact and aftermath — all with a personal connection to the island. The following individuals are featured in the episode:
- Gaby Acevedo is a reporter at NBC4 New York and Telemundo 47. He was on a special assignment in Puerto Rico when Hurricane Maria made landfall and covered the storm’s aftermath in the days and months that followed.
- Steven Colon serves as Disaster Program Manager with the American Red Cross National Capital and Greater Chesapeake Region. Colon, who is half Puerto Rican, deployed to the island from New York, where he lived at the time, for six weeks to support recovery efforts.
- Nelson Lopez is a volunteer with the American Red Cross in Puerto Rico as well as a social worker. Lopez, who was personally affected by the storm, supported the Red Cross response as part of their Disaster Mental Health team.
- Lisa Mateo is a reporter at Bloomberg Business. Working for PIX11 at the time, Mateo, who is Puerto Rican, traveled to the island in December to shed a light on response efforts and to talk directly to the people to hear what they were going through.
- Winnie Romeril is a volunteer with the American Red Cross Western NY Region. In her time with the Red Cross, she has deployed to disasters across the country and around the world—including the 2010 Haiti earthquake and Typhoon Haiyan (2013) in the Philippines. Romeril deployed to Puerto Rico with the Red Cross about three weeks after landfall to capture stories about recovery efforts on the island.
The third season of the American Red Cross in Greater New York podcast provides a unique, behind-the-scenes look at some of the emergencies that shaped our nation and New York City over the past 20 years. Past episodes—about the 2003 Northeast Blackout, 9/11, and Hurricane Maria, provide diverse testimonials from a variety of voices including first responders, volunteers, news reporters and survivors. Future episodes will look at the Miracle on the Hudson and the 2018 Paradise Wildfires. Episodes can be found on Podbean as well as on other podcast platforms like iTunes, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts and Spotify by searching, “Red Cross NY.”
Seasons 1 and 2 of the Greater NY Red Cross podcast are available here.