It Takes a Village | Update from the field: East Georgia Red Cross on the front line

Hurricane Irene’s furry and flooding were more than enough for New Yorkers, but when Tropical Storm Lee blew through the Southern Tier of New York only nine days after Irene, dumping more than eight inches of rain, you have a recipe for disaster.

Binghamton, New York suffered the effects of the double-dip storm waters in unprecedented ways.  With the torrent came the immediate evacuation of 20,000 residents and the need for a very fast response by the American Red Cross.  Binghamton University stepped up immediately and made their Event Center available to the Red Cross, along with local and state agencies, to make ready for a flood of residents seeking safe haven. 

When 1,800 area citizens sought shelter, literally from the storm, critical partnerships with the American Red Cross, bonded together to create not only a “mass shelter” on the grounds of Binghamton University, but a temporary residence that provided safe, secure and substantial refuge for the citizens of Binghamton and the surrounding region.  The American Red Cross works hard throughout the year, throughout every state, to make sure that we have partnership agreements and relationships in place. When all of our partners work together for the humanitarian and compassionate care for all citizens, the results are a marvel and inspiration to behold.

Upon arrival to the nerve center of the mass shelter operation within the Event Center, I discovered the fruits of collaboration to be remarkable and effective.  I walked into the gigantic even center and saw scores of Red Cross volunteers busy caring for the residents with excellent care, offering hope, health services, and mental health services, hot meals, and snacks, activities for children, cots and blankets. Soon I was led into command center where the Red Cross Shelter Managers joined ranks with the University Law Enforcement Officers, local and state Law Enforcement Officials, Incident Commanders, Public Information Officers, County Health Officers, volunteer medical professionals, and members from the New York Fire Department.  The professionalism of the collaborative efforts between all agencies worked seamlessly;

I now realize first hand why the Red Cross Community Chapter Disaster Service Directors all across the country work so hard to develop lasting and growing relationships with key stakeholders in every community. It really does take a village to offer the best in care and protection of our neighbors, and the American Red Cross volunteers understand and appreciate this at every level.  The Red Cross appreciates the support and the privilege of partnership, particularly observed in Binghamton, NY, but known across the country.

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Jeff Taylor, Executive Director of East Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross is currently on the front lines of the Hurricane Irene aftermath in upstate New York. For daily updates from the field, follow Jeff on Facebook at Red Cross East Georgia and on Twitter @RedCrossEastGA or @taylorjeff7.

Thank you to our volunteers and donors--you are the lifeline of our organization.

Hurricane Irene Update

An American Red Cross shelter at Nassau Community College in Long Island, New York

on August 27, 2011

Thousands of people from North Carolina to New England have turned to the American Red Cross for help in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, as flooding, widespread power outages, and wind damage have devastated communities. Since the night before the storm, the Red Cross has operated or supported nearly 500 shelters and provided more than 52,000 overnight stays.

A Red Cross volunteer comforts a Lost Valley, Maryland resident who has survived five floods, with Hurricane Irene being one of the worst, on August 30, 2011.

More than a thousand trained disaster workers, including 76 from Georgia, are engaged in relief operations in a dozen coastal states. Every Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) east of the Rocky Mountains – more than 260 vehicles – has been mobilized to support recovery efforts. Georgia’s entire fleet of ERVs has been deployed, and the Atlanta-based Emergency Communications Response Vehicle, capable of powering essential equipment for a relief operation under disaster conditions, is being utilized in North Carolina.

Ten kitchens, capable of serving about 140,000 hot meals each day, are operating or being set up in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and New York. Arrangements have also been made to have approximately 1.3 million meals available in North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and New York through Red Cross partners, and thousands of relief items such as clean-up kits, rakes, ice chests, and tarps have been shipped affected areas.

While many states are still assessing the damage, the Red Cross expects to be helping people in hard-hit areas for the next several weeks.

You can help provide Red Cross relief for the families impacted by Hurricane Irene by making a donation to American Red Cross Disaster Relief today. Your gift enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling, and other emergency assistance. The Red Cross is not a government agency, yet we are guided by a Congressional Charter to respond without hesitation to disasters across the country and around the world. To carry our mission, the Red Cross relies on public generosity.

Each year, the Red Cross responds to nearly 70,000 disasters nationwide each year and spends on average $450 million on disaster readiness and relief. The costs of our comprehensive response to Hurricane Irene have not been fully realized but are anticipated to be in the tens of millions.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Call To Donate: the local chapter at 706-353-1645 and talk to Jeff Taylor, Executive Director
Text A Donation: Text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 by phone
Mail A Check: Mail a check to
                          American Red Cross East Georgia Chapter
                          490 Pulaski Street
                          Athens, GA 30601
Donate Online: American Red Cross East Georgia Chapter Website