A volunteering experience on a National Disaster
American Red Cross Disaster Action Team
If you are like me, I always have an interest in the post-disaster affects on a community. I myself have been involved in helping victims of disasters numerous times. I was a volunteer for my local American Red Cross Disaster Action Team. I have helped victims of mostly housefires in the local area. Our team would actually be dispatched to the scene by request of the fire chief. We were with the victims as the disaster occured and we would simply help them to secure shelter, food, and clothing immediately. We would then meet up with them the next day if our services were needed further, or perhaps refer them to the local chapter.There was a time whereas I had the opportunity to work on what is called a National Disaster. This is a disaster of such magnitude that a State-of-Emergency had been called by the Governor or the president. When working on a National Disaster, you live on scene for a minimum of two weeks. It is this type of volunteer work that you get fully immersed in the disaster and it’s affect on the community. This type of volunteer work is the hardest to be a part of and to be able to work the long 16 hour days. The one National Disaster that I was involved in, my chairman and I was first on the scene. It was in New Jersey and many towns had been flooded by the Atlantic Ocean and some surrounding bays. We had our work cut out for us, much of the scene was still under five foot of water.
Being the first on the scene we had to secure buildings for our Service Center, Shelters and Food Storage for distribution. Others were arriving from around the country and that local chapter called in all their Disaster Action Team and set up headquarters in their chapter building. I didn’t sleep for the first two days upon arrival. We found some land in Atlantic City where the ocean waters had returned. The other half of the island was still under water as well as the surrounding islands. We started a service center in a building that the fire department had provided for us. The building was a few floors so the first floor we set up for the Federal Government such as FEMA, the SBA etc. The food storage was on the second level which was ground level and our service center was on the third floor. We set up shop and divided off areas of services such as food, clothing, shelter, emergency medical, mental health etc.
We then were picked up by the National Guard in a troop transport vehicle that we needed a ladder to get into the back. We drove
Photo courtesy: en.wikipedia.org
into the island of Barnegat in four to five foot of water. We were rescuing people from their homesin the still flooded areas. I remember the look on one victim’s face when we pulled up in this vehicle, a look of fear like you never seen before. This person was more afraid of getting in the truck then he was being stuck on his roof. This truck was massive and powerful. We ran over a fire hydrant and if it wasn’t for the force of teh water shooting up when the pipe was broken, we would of never opf known we hit it. We drove up and down what we were to belive to be streets, however, they could not be seen in the flooded waters. We rescued numerous people from their flooded homes that day. It was an experience and from what I have been told, one that the Disaster Action Team does not normally participate in. We drove around the island mapping out our Damage Assessments. This only took a couple of hours and when I returned the local chairperson had organized our next task of Damage Assesments in the surrounding islands which were still partly underwater.
I assembled my Damage Assesment team together knowing that where we were going, the island of Ocean City and also parts of Egg Harbor, was still reported as being underwater. Not the whole entire area, just sections. For the purposes of our service center we needed to know exactly what areas were affected and how much. We had to log in every single house and the amount of damage as well as the water levels. Our DA team cosisted of one other Red Cross member, a ham radio operator and a driver who owned the four wheel drive vehicle that we traveled in, street by street. Some homes, the ones on the coast were easy to know the damage because we could see the water level stain on the side of the house or on the roof. If we could not see the level we had to go into each and every property to make out our report. The area of Ocean City that we assessed was easy in the aspect that we only had about two blocks off of the coast that was flooded. We traveled to this area near Egg Harbor, they wanted us to check out this one particular street. As we drove down the road toward the coast, it looked wierd like a mirage or something, the closer we got to the coast the deeper the water was getting and we realized what we were seeing down the road was just chimneys the houses were underwater. There was only four houses but just knowing these poor families lost everything but thankfully they were alive.
The reports that we produced are used by the service center to provide benefits to the victims when they arrive at the service center. However on many we had to go to their individual homes and assess and provide services on the location.
I was called to the service center to assemble a team to open new shelters and to close one. I met this member from Maryland, Bunny, she had brought up an Emergency Response Vehicle and she had one other person with her. We loaded the ERV with food to take to a high school in Atlantic City and to take to our new shelter that we were to open. When we pulled up to the school as we were backing up to the doors to unload I saw three members, who drove up from North Carolina the day before, running across the parking lot to get into their ERV. I got out of our vehicle and they pulled up to me saying that they were from N.C. and had not been relieved since they arrived the day before plus all the driving time. So they left us responsiblwe for this shelter. I couldn’t blame them. When a member is in charge of a shelter they are not allowed to sleep, unless you have police or security personell on duty. We cooked up dinner and got all the people together. Many of the victims needed the phone to call family and we were able to get permission from thte principle to allow them to. This school was open and classes were taking place. We had taken over the auditorium for the displaced disaster victims.I got in touch with the Mayor of Egg Harbor Township as well as the Chief of Police and set up a meeting. I left to go to the meeting while the other two members with me stayed behind. In the meeting I had found that there was a closed elementary school so with the township’s permission we opened up that closed school building. I then went back to the other shelter and found that many victims were being picked up.
We gathered together the remaining victims and we got a school bus and transported them and all the supplies to the vacant
photo: en.wikipedia.org
school. We put people into groups for organization. One group were cleaners of one section others the other sections. We had a group that was for the kitchen to cook our meals. It was a small building but it served as an emergency shelter perfectly. The first level from the rear was the cafeteria with the kithchen to the right. down the hall were bathrooms and there was a faculty lounge complete with sofa’s and seating as well as a TV. On the three floors above were the classrooms. We had two families per classroom. Each floor also had an office. That was where us members slept, on a loveseat. I had arranged for the township to provide a police officer during the night for security purposes, it also allowed us members to get some much needed sleep.
We had relief members come in during the day so that we could go perform other tasks. While Bunny and her partner went on to doing food distribution. I went to work out of the service center doing house interviews. For the first week I had a partner who was a member from Georgia. She was a very nice person and lived a sheltered life, she was not familiar with a city such as Atlantic City. Her family actually owned department stores back in Georgia. The city of Atlantic City can be very dangerous once you leave the Casino’s properties. We went out to victim’s homes that needed damage assessments and we distributed dispersement orders for food, clothing, furniture, mattresses, eyeglasses etc. Whatever was needed we took care of if there was not another agency providing for that service and of course we investigated the need so as to not give away money frivalously. The Red Cross at that time was bankrupt, but now that was also normal though. Those type of agencies are always bankrupt, they depend on donations. The American Red Cross Disaster Services Division is actually mandated by the U.S. Congress to operate their services and therefore, can and will, never stop performing their purpose. They could actually shut down the blood services division but never disaster services. They may have changed since I was a volunteer.
not the one, but nice
I never did return to that shelter, I ended up in a hotel in Pleasantville, NJ. It wasn’t needed I only needed a mattress somewhere safe. I was working 16-20 hour days. I worked with the Georgia member for about a week but I worked much longer hours than what she did and we ended up seperated. There were many victims of this disaster. I wanted to help as many as possible. I would work at the service center until dark and then deliver food and supplies to the shelters and eventually end up back in my room where I would just pass out from sheer exhaustion. I was doing home interviews by myself for a few days until I got scared one too many times. I actually got into situations that I thought my life was in life threatening danger. Some victims aren’t really victims but instead impoverished and desperate. Twice I had to talk my way out of a home stating that I would go to my car to get them voucher’s for clothing and furniture and stuff. Of course soon as I got outside I got on the phone for security reasons and never returned. The file for that house would be tagged so that another member would not get into that situation. These occurences are the very reason why members are not allowed to work by themself. In fact three members is the preferred team.
It was a lot of work and very emotional to see all the damage and the victims. When a house is flooded like many feet, many feet above that has to be gutted and replaced. All the furniture is no good except maybe solid wood finished products. How many people can afford solid wood nowadays. If you go to any regular furniture store now, you will find mediocre quality. Veneer with pressboard. Soon as it gets wet it is destoyed. All the bacteria and other things such as mold, mildew, fungus that is brought in by the bay and ocean waters destroys all the drywall, framing, outer shell, carpeting etc. Floods do a ton of damage even when they aren’t as bad as ones such as Hurricane Katrina.
Volunteering is an extreme amount of work in a National Disaster. However, it is extremely rewarding as well. All the “Thank You’s” are worth all the effort. The disaster I have been speaking of occured during the week of Christmas. Through the help of many of the local businesses we were able to organize a Christmas Party for all the victims. It was a full banquet in a hall loaded with food and festivities including a visit from Santa giving out gifts to all the children.
Us volunteers were treated like royalty from the Mayor, the Police (somewhat) , the Fire Department and the local family
Bally's Hotel & Casino
businesses and the casino’s. I say, somewhat, by the police because the Mayor gave an order that us volunteers were not to be ticketed during our time of service to the community. It was me that asked the Mayor for that benefit when we first opened the service center because parking in the city was so hard and out of the way. The casino’s helped by feeding my team members and myself along with another team every night that I was there. This came about by me arriving at a request for help at a motel where one of the three people that shared a room worked for Bally’s Park Place in the comps department. She had offered us buffet dinners and the hotel could write it off. Other casino’s that were charitable to us volunteers was; The Showboat Hotel & Casino, The Claridge, Resorts, Ceasar’s Palace, The Golden Nugget and Harrah’s. The only casino’s that would not feed us was all three of The Trump Organization Hotel’s & Casino’s. Perhaps they knew that us volunteers of the American Red Cross were not permitted to be in Casino’s or Bar’s.
Contact you local chapter of the American Red Cross and ask about volunteering opportunities. In a local chapter, which each county has one, you mostly do calls to housefires, however, there are other events as well. They provide a lot of training at no cost to the volunteer. It is a wonderful experience to give back to the community. Click here for volunteering opportunities in your area- VOLUNTEER MATCH
As you may have noticed I am long winded in my stories. However this one has been shortened by a lot.
May God bless you.
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