Two volunteers from the American Red Cross of Northern Ohio hit the road Wednesday to head to North Carolina where they will help with disaster relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Bill Andrews said that he and John Lavelle, are taking an emergency response vehicle to Charlotte to help those impacted by the Category Four hurricane.
“The mission of the Red Cross is to alleviate human suffering and there are so many people who’ve been affected by this disaster and what we’ll be doing will be feeding them,” Andrews said. “We go to neighborhoods and as many areas as we can. Our help is necessary, and we deliver hot meals, water, snacks and whatever they need to those out in the area.”
Helene made landfall on Sept. 27 in Florida and quickly made its way to North Carolina. Cities like Asheville were severely impacted by flooding caused by heavy rains from the hurricane.
“It sounds like the utilities are pretty much out,” Andrews said. “No water, no electricity, no cell phone service and the clean up, I think just based on what I’ve observed, looks like it’s going to take a while.”
Andrews said one of the jobs the Red Cross is tasked to do is help assess damage caused by the hurricane.
“We have teams that do damage assessments to neighborhoods and asses the damages to houses and businesses,” Andrews said. “Our primary clients are homeowners, so it’s mostly residential. Our teams will go out into the neighborhood and see how much damage is done and whether the house is inhabitable, completely damaged or completely destroyed.”
According to Andrews, the Red Cross is also helping provide meals and basic necessities.
“Other organizations are generous enough to provide the meals, prepare the meals,” Andrews said. “We take them from large containers and divide them up and start our distribution on small Styrofoam plates.”
Andrews said that there are steps people should take to be prepared for emergencies.
“Having an escape plan in case of a fire or an emergency,” Andrews said. “Being sure to heed all the advice that are rendered from officials about evacuating or sheltering in place.”
Andrews and Lavelle expect to be stationed in North Carolina for the next two weeks.