Cross Blog

Disaster Diaries Part Three

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

American Red Cross volunteers and staff have been working to distribute cleaning supplies, food and water to those affected by the floods. Jim Sheely, a volunteer from Charlotte, N.C., describes his deployment and the Red Cross’ efforts in West Virginia in part three of his disaster diaries:

Saturday, June 26
“Hello” from Wild, Wonderful West Virginia,

There was a tornado in Weston, W.Va., Thursday evening, and that disaster has been added to our operation. My co-worker, Lance Bennink, from Athens, Ohio, drove a truck loaded with cleanup supplies up there on Friday.  Weston is on I-79 about 1½ hours from here.  I haven’t heard if we’ll send caseworkers or anyone else up there. We’re still getting caseworkers reporting in, and I think we’re still doing casework. 

Today was a slow day but didn’t end until about 6 p.m. Right now I’m watching Carolina vs. Clemson in the College World Series playoffs. Tied 1-1 bottom of the 3rd.

Carolina won 4-3 and will play UCLA Monday in the best-of-3 finals.

Monday, June 28
Slow days Sunday and today. We are still doing casework and feeding, but one of the three Emergency Response Vehicles went home today and another went into the shop for a leaky transmission.  Two or three caseworkers went home today and more will leave tomorrow.  They are to wrap up by Thursday and we will then clean, clear and close the Staff Shelter at the high school Friday. If all goes by plan, I may travel home around July 7.  We (Logistics volunteers) will be the last ones out.

The Logistics Administrator here is George Barron from Huntsville, Ala. George joined the Army the year after I was born and retired 24 years later after spending much of his later years in logistics and facilities. He’s brought that experience to Red Cross disaster, and I’ve learned a lot from him in a short time.  I hope I get to work with him again. 

West Virginia has flags at half-staff in honor of Senator Byrd, and I suppose they will place his body in the State Capitol and follow with a big funeral.  Probably declare a state holiday, too.  I don’t know yet if we’ll work on the Fourth.  It might depend on what we can get done if everyone else is closed up.  I’d rather work if it’ll get us home a day earlier.

Jim

Disaster Diaries Part Two: On the Ground in West Virginia

Monday, June 28, 2010

American Red Cross volunteers and staff have been working to distribute cleaning supplies, food and water to those affected by the floods. Jim Sheely, a volunteer from Charlotte, N.C., describes his deployment and the Red Cross’ efforts in West Virginia in part two of his disaster diaries:

I’m sitting in a Bob Evans restaurant having dinner and getting a lesson in West Virginia culture. Up here, chicken and dumplings on a mound of mashed potatoes seems to be a real favorite. Not much fried chicken to be found, though. I’ll be making a pilgrimage to the Chicken Coop soon after I get home.

Headquarters is still busy. Another group of caseworkers is coming in. A staff shelter is being opened because the few hotel accommodations the Red Cross has in Logan have to be vacated due to prior reservations. The staff shelter will be in the local High School gym and will house caseworkers, ERV crews and kitchen staff. They are using other areas of the school for a client casework service center.  My last job today was to load 75 cots and blankets at the Chapter, pillows from Wal-Mart and towels from Sam’s Club. They will be delivered and the shelter set up tomorrow morning by my coworkers. 

The week has flown by.

We made two trips to Logan on Wednesday: the first to deliver bleach, trash bags, paper towels, insect repellent, hand sanitizer and flashlights for distribution to clients, and the second, to deliver six pallets of food to the kitchen.  While we were unloading the food, another team was unloading 750 cleanup kits (approximately 23 pallet loads).  Those cleanup kits and a pallet of comfort kits were loaded the night before at the Charlotte, N.C., Disaster Field Supply Center by fellow volunteers Berkley Godehn, Davey Crockett, and Jim Cunningham.  Because of a trailer snafu they had to work late into the evening and loaded a total of 30 pallets on the trailer. The usual load capacity is 28 pallets so they obviously did a remarkable job. Some of the cleanup kits were dropped in Bluefield before the remainder came here. It’s unusually rewarding to know where our local supplies are ending up.

The Manassas Emergency Communications Response Vehicle (ECRV) blew its engine today and will be in the shop for several days.  The Ford dealership nearest Logan is 20 miles away and their diesel mechanic is on vacation until Monday. The Manassas ECRV crew will be replaced this weekend but won’t be needed much for the time being.  I took a van to Logan to bring all their ECRV equipment boxes back to headquarters for safekeeping since we have a security guard here at night.

Jim

Eight-year-old donates birthday money to the Red Cross

Friday, June 25, 2010

Most 8-year-olds wants video games or a new bike for their birthday.

Martha Connor wanted to make a difference.

On Thursday, June 24, 8-year-old Martha presented the American Red Cross with a check for $200. Martha celebrated her birthday in April. Instead of receiving gifts, she said wanted to make a donation to the American Red Cross. Martha asked all of her guests to make a donation.

“Martha has a big heart, and I hope she will be an inspiration to others,” said Hope Martin, volunteer coordinator for the Greater Carolinas Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Red Cross volunteer helping relief efforts in West Virginia

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

More than a thousand homes have been affected by flooding in Southern West Virginia.

American Red Cross volunteers and staff have been working to distribute cleaning supplies, food and water to those affected by the floods. Jim Sheely, a volunteer from Charlotte, N.C., describes his deployment and the Red Cross’ efforts in West Virginia:

I’m deployed here in South Charleston, W.Va., for floods that occurred about two weeks ago. I am assigned to the DR112-10 Headquarters as a Logistics Supervisor (Generalist). That means I do everything from emptying the trash to buying “stuff” and renting cars and trucks.

The areas affected by the flooding are in the vicinity of Beckley, Logan and Welch. Logan is 50 miles south of headquarters, Beckley about two hours away, and Welch is about … well, you can’t get to Welch from here. All the communities are in coal mining areas and the flooding is blamed by the locals on silt washing down from strip mining and filling the traditional waterways. When there is a heavy rain, the runoff finds new places to escape that aren’t friendly to the residents of the off-the-road-spots where people have always lived. The number of people affected jumps around as new populations, who were cut off by washouts, are discovered by our Red Cross Disaster Assessment workers. There is a field kitchen from the Red Cross Charleston Chapter operating at a Baptist church in Logan, and three or four Emergency Response Vehicles are doing mobile feeding. The feeding and sheltering numbers are unusually high because of the scarcity of alternative lodging and restaurants in the communities.

The Manassas Emergency Communications Response Vehicle opened the headquarters and then moved down to Verdunville, near Logan, yesterday to support Client Services. Bulk Distribution is in full swing giving out cleanup kits, trash bags, bleach, etc. They are distributing these supplies at at a fixed site, but volunteers are driving four-wheel ATVs distributing supplies where they are needed.

Most of us at headquarters are sleeping at a motel. It isn’t the Ritz, but it’s clean and cheap and convenient to restaurants. I miss home and family but it’s good to feel like I’m making a difference – that’s why I volunteered. 

Volunteers provide drinks and snacks for first responders

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Firefighters spent 2 and a half hours Tuesday morning fighting a fire at the former Burlington Mill in Mooresville.

Volunteers Bob Quick and Ed Walter from the Greater Carolinas Chapter of the American Red Cross responded to the scene to provide food and drinks for firefighters and other first responders.

No injuries occured.

Teen uses music to raise money for Red Cross relief in Haiti

Monday, June 21, 2010

Shortly after turning 14, Sam Heda, who goes to Porter Ridge Middle School in Monroe, recorded his first album. Sam has been playing the guitar since he was 3 years old. He wrote several of the songs on the CD himself, and he and his father co-wrote others.

During Black History Month, Sam participated in a concert where he sold copies of his CD for $10 each. He decided to donate all the proceeds from the sale of the CDs to the American Red Cross for its relief efforts in Haiti.

Thank you, Sam, for your generous contribution.

If you’d like to learn more about Sam or purchase his CD, please visit www.samheda.com.

Weekly Worldwide Wrapup

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Welcome to the Weekly Worldwide Wrap-Up, in which we consolidate the international Red Cross and Red Crescent news into one list of bite-sized links for you. It’s a non-comprehensive sampling of the larger and/or more intriguing aspects of our global work…

[The place names link to maps so that you can get a quick idea of the region.]

KYRGYZSTAN: Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes due to brutal violence. The ICRC and Red Crescent Society of Kyrgyzstan have assisted 16 medical facilities by caring for more than 1,130 injured people in the past week, and the American Red Cross has committed an initial $50,000 to the relief effort and stands ready to deploy staff and relief supplies, if requested.

TANZANIA: The IFRC is raising awareness about albinos in danger of being attacked for their body parts, which are sold as superstitious talismans.

GEORGIA/SOUTH OSSETIA: The ICRC organized a second round of family visits to detainees of Georgian and South Ossetian origin on both sides of the administrative boundary line.

TAJIKISTAN: Torrential rain, snow, avalanches, floods, mudslides, rock flows and landslides… the Red Cross is responding to the country’s worst disaster in over a decade.

SUDAN: The ICRC facilitated the handover to government authorities of 35 members of the Sudanese army, who were released by the Justice and Equality Movement. The ICRC has been working in Darfur since 2004, where it provides assistance for victims of the armed conflict and other violence.

GLOSSARY:
ICRC = International Committee of the Red Cross
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

American Red Cross assists families temporarily displaced by gas leak

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

A main gas leak in the area of Cloister Lane displaced up to 30 families in the subdivision of Morrison Plantation in Mooresville late Tuesday night.

The Mooresville Fire Department requested that the Greater Carolinas Chapter of the American Red Cross set up an evacuation site at the subdivision’s clubhouse. The Red Cross served water and snacks as well as set up cots and blankets for the families to use.

The leak was repaired at about 1:15 a.m., and the evacuation site was closed shortly afterward.

For more on American Red Cross Disaster Services, click here.

Hurricane Prediction Challenge

Friday, June 11, 2010

Scott Maxwell from the Orlando Sentinel thinks a monkey, his kids and a psychic can predict hurricanes as well as a meteorologist can.

Maxwell writes:
There. Now I’ve officially done my part, as a member of the media, to try to scare the pants off you for hurricane season.

Every year we do it — largely with the help of alleged “forecasters” such as Dr. William Gray, who supposedly look into their crystal ball and predict the number of storms we’ll get.

Usually they’re wrong. Often very wrong.

In fact, a few years ago, I got to thinking a monkey could do just as well. So I decided to test that theory.

I got a couple of monkeys from the Sanford zoo to make predictions — along with my then-4-year-old son. The monkeys beat Gray and my preschooler in a couple of categories. But Gray won the tie-breaker.

So, with Gray and the rest of the weather community screaming barometric bloody murder again this year, I thought it was time to stage another hurricane-prediction contest.

NOAA’s predictions are now out.

We suppose time will tell but encourage everyone in prone areas to go ahead and get prepared.

What are your predictions for this hurricane season? Are you getting ready?

Hurricane Safety Checklist

“The Red Cross is here because you are here”

Thursday, June 10, 2010

On Wednesday, June 9, the Greater Carolinas Chapter held its 93rd Annual Meeting, at which we honor volunteers and install new board members.

The highlight of the afternoon was honoring several outstanding volunteers with awards:

• Keeping the Program Alive: Susan Johnson
  
• Rookie of the Year Award: Beth Walters
  
• Sunny Day Award: Jim Hunter
  
• Weekend Warrior: Gayathri Vijayagopalan
  
• In a Pinch Award: Bob Quick and Troy Reed
  
• Red Cross Cheerleader: Kim Lasiter
  
• Breakthrough Performance Award: Sonia Tremblay
  
• Stealth Award: Ross Cahn
  
• Spirit of Cliff Andrews Award: Ellen Bacon

To read about the awards and view pictures, click here.

Outgoing board chair Mike Rash opened the meeting by thanking everyone in attendance. “It has been a rewarding experience for me personally and has helped me see the tremendous impact the American Red Cross makes in the lives of people every day,” Rash said.

Rash recognized the board members who have successfully served their board term and will be rotating off the board this month: Kourtney Bradshaw, Esther Park, Gilbert Peacock, Cutter Davis, Beverly Hammonds-Bold and Robert Gulliver. Coming onto the board will be Ben Dobson and Tracey Grooms.

The chapter installed its new board leadership: Iris Horton – Chairwoman, Randall King – Vice Chairman, Tate Ogburn – Secretary, and Obi Anyafo – Treasurer. 

Incoming board chair Iris Horton then introduce Amy and Arnie Jones, who shared their wonderful story of life and love. One night when Amy was 9 months pregnant, she began struggling to breathe, and Arnie was there to give her CPR until paramedics arrived.

Horton then recalled several outstanding accomplishments over the past year:

• The Chapter honored the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Hugo with a display at the Levine Museum
  
• Our Regional Tiffany Circle Society of Women Leaders was named “Circle of the Year” at the Tiffany Circle Summit in Washington DC
  
• We sent dozens of local volunteers to large scale disasters across the country
  
• Our region raised more than $2 million dollars in Haitian Earthquake relief
  
• We certified nearly 100% of our Board members in CPR

One highlight of the afternoon was honoring former Red Cross CEO Pamela Jefsen for her hard work with the chapter. “Pam on behalf of all those served under your leadership – we say thank you.  Thank you for your commitment and love of the American Red Cross and thank you for your 25 years of service to this great organization,” Rash said.

The meeting concluded as Rash handing the official gavel to Horton with a cheerful “Good luck!”