When the storm clouds that would become Hurricane Gustav began swirling over the Caribbean in late August, hundreds of state and federal officials, along with an army of trained volunteers, sprang into action against what would become the nation’s first big test since Hurricane Katrina devastated much of the Gulf Coast in 2005.
But even before Hurricane Gustav hit, hundreds upon thousands of volunteers, hailing from organizations from Baptist Men on a Mission to the American Red Cross, descended upon the Gulf Coast to meet the needs of
people escaping the storm’s path.
In the days leading up to the hurricane’s landing, volunteers, emergency responders, and government officials worked together to protect vulnerable towns and shelter their equally vulnerable residents. Together, volunteers and residents hunkered down in shelters across the region, waiting for the storm to pass.
On the morning of Sept. 1, Hurricane Gustav touched down in southern Louisiana with less power than expected, paling in comparison to its more destructive cousin, Katrina. Still, the storm—fueled by 110-mile-an-hour gales—inflicted considerable damage on the area, ripping roofs off of houses, toppling trees, and flooding roads.
Less than a week later, the possibility of another hurricane manifested in the form of Tropical Storm Hanna, but soon dissipated. Shortly after that threat waned, Hurricane Ike rolled into the Gulf of Mexico. On Sept. 13, Ike barreled through Texas, swallowing dozens of coastal cities, including Galveston Island, in its rain-sodden path.
Undoubtedly, Ike hit Galveston the hardest; flattening island homes, sinking dozens of boats, and claiming at least 11 lives.
“Effects on Galveston were very close to the devastation seen with Katrina,” Janet Stanley, CEO of the Red Cross Santa Barbara County Chapter, told the Sun.
According to Stanley, the Red Cross Santa Barbara County Chapter deployed a total of 29 Santa Barbara County residents to cities in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida to aid in the relief effort for Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
Overall, Red Cross volunteers opened more than 100 shelters in 12 different states in response to the hurricanes. Since Hurricane Gustav hit, the Red Cross has provided thousands of shelter nights and millions of meals, Stanley said.
In Santa Barbara County, volunteers deployed to the hurricane sites came “in all different shapes and sizes,” Stanley explained.
For some volunteers, traveling to sites affected by hurricanes Gustav and Ike marked their second, third, or fourth humanitarian endeavor. Other people came in as “spontaneous volunteers,” walking in off the streets to aid in the relief effort.
Regardless of the number of trips under each volunteer’s belt, Stanley said that there seems to be a unifying theme inspiring people to offer their time and talents: compassion.
“If we were having a catastrophic earthquake or fire happening here, we’d want our neighbors on the East Coast to help us out,” Stanley said, conjuring up memories of the Zaca and Gap fires that ravaged the county over the past year.
Still, Stanley was quick to distinguish between fires and hurricanes.
“Hurricanes are so different from fires,” Stanley said. “They’re more similar to earthquakes. With fires, we’re able to fight and we know we’ll eventually be able to stop it at some point. With hurricanes, Mother Nature is in charge of the rains. We just have to be there afterward to clean up.
“That’s not to say that one is more devastating than the other,” she added. “I think that either is devastating when it happens to you.”
When it comes to disaster relief, the Red Cross provides volunteer training to ensure that people are prepared for deployment. First, volunteers attend a basic orientation. Then they’re trained to provide mass care (i.e. handing out supplies, administering basic first aid, etc.), and learn how to conduct mass feedings. Also, some volunteers are briefed on how to act as government liaisons in Emergency Operations Centers.
Volunteers are trained in several areas because regional Red Cross staff members usually assign them tasks after they’ve reached a disaster site. Assignments are given out depending on a volunteer’s expertise and the amount of training under his or her belt, Stanley said.
“All of the disaster relief provided by the Red Cross comes from the generosity of the American people,” she said, referring to the volunteers who donate their time and the people who donate the money necessary to provide services.
Volunteers, whether through physical work or financial service, “are the backbone of our mission,” Stanley said.
Still, the essence of volunteerism can never truly be understood until it’s experienced first-hand. In order to share with readers the volunteer experience, the Sun spoke with several of the Red Cross Santa Barbara County Chapter’s 29 volunteers and asked them to share their stories.
Volunteering is a full-time job
On Aug. 29, AmeriCorps/Red Cross employees Ally LeClair, Ashley Spoto, and Laura Parrott were deployed to Louisiana to aid in the Hurricane Gustav relief effort. Together, the women spent two weeks working in Red Cross shelters in three different Louisiana towns, including Shreveport, Natchitoches, and New Roads.
The women spent most of their time in Natchitoches (pronounced Nack-uh-tish), which served as the backdrop for the 1989 southern dramedy Steel Magnolias.
“The town has a nice charm. It’s what you’d think of when you think of the quintessential southern town,” Parrott said.
Before the hurricane hit, the women worked tirelessly with other Red Cross volunteers to prepare the shelter, register evacuees, and stock supplies.
“We were pretty full before the storm hit—about 650 to 700 people,” LeClair told the Sun.
Spoto worked mainly in registration, greeting evacuees as they came in and recording their information.
“The people coming into shelters were tired and hungry. They were worn out because of the traffic,” Spoto said, adding that a trip that normally would take someone about four hours ended up taking almost 10 because of the hurricane.
“Plus, the gas stations were running out of gas. It was insane,” Spoto said.
The next day, Hurricane Gustav descended on the town.
“It hit us at night, which was nice because it wasn’t as much of a strain on the people—everyone was asleep,” LeClair said. “Not that it was a walk in the park, but it was definitely a lot better than it could have been.”
The women spent most of the night patrolling the shelter to make sure that people were safe and dry. After the brunt of the storm passed, the women spent their time ensuring that the needs of the evacuees were met.
“The poor kids were so bored and they had nothing to do so I would walk around and give them stickers and play games with them,” said Parrott, who worked in the commissary handing out supplies.
Up in registration, Spoto soon became privy to the popularity of her co-worker’s efforts.
“Kids kept running up to the front with stickers on their faces and I’d say, ‘Oh, you must have come from the commissary,’” she said.
While working in registration might not have been as much fun, Spoto said it enabled her to witness first-hand the far-reaching effects of the hurricane.
“The hurricanes affected everyone,” she said. “The first day I was there I checked in a four-day-old baby and the last day I was there I checked in a 97-year-old man.”
“I remember seeing that and thinking, ‘Wow, the variety of people in the shelter is just astounding,’” she said.
Luckily, the damage sustained by Natchitoches was moderate compared to the devastation on Galveston Island.
And while the hurricanes have come and gone, Spoto said it’s important to remember that the effects of the storm are far less fleeting.
“Just because a disaster isn’t in the media anymore doesn’t mean it’s over and it’s no longer affecting people’s everyday lives,” she said. “People are still rebuilding both structurally and emotionally. Rebuilding in itself involves longevity.”
Average Joes to superheroes
Santa Maria residents Michael Southern and Herb Adams didn’t leave for the hurricane-stricken Gulf Coast together, nor did they know each other before being deployed, but their paths did eventually cross.
On Aug. 30, Southern was deployed to a rural community 60 miles south of Baton Rouge where he worked as a supply warehouse manager. As a former government and Santa Maria-Bonita School District employee, he had ample experience overseeing warehouses.
With four other men, Southern doled out mass quantities of supplies, such as cots, food, and water, to emergency relief vehicles. He spent nearly a week—except for the day the hurricane hit—working in the warehouse and staying in the nearby volunteer shelter.
Describing his experience, Southern said, “It was like being in a monsoon. The high winds knocked out the electricity ; and blew the duct off of the air conditioning. The sound of the wind was just horrendous.
“It was five days of hot, wet, muggy sweating,” he said, “but it was wonderful. In spite of all the hardships, it was quite an adventure.”
Southern stayed on at the warehouse a few weeks longer, overseeing supply disbursement and helping with other assignments
A fellow Santa Maria-Bonita School District employee, Adams was also deployed to Dallas Fort Worth. He drove a truck to Tyler, Texas, where he worked in the kitchens providing meals to evacuees. For their efforts, Adams and his fellow volunteers were presented with honorary coins from the head of the Texas State Guard.
After Hurricane Gustav hit and the shelter in Tyler shut down, Adams returned to Fort Worth, Texas, and was relocated to Baton Rouge, La. Out of Baton Rouge, Adams made his way to Southern’s supply warehouse, where he spent days “loading and unloading trucks in 100-degree weather.”
But it wasn’t until later, when they were staying in the volunteer shelter, that Adams and Southern got to know each other.
“That was pretty cool. I didn’t expect to see anyone from Santa Maria,” Adams said. “I had hoped to see the people I was deployed with, but that never ended up happening.”
After finishing up at the warehouse, Adams drove trucks into the more rural parts of Louisiana to distribute clean-up kits and water to residents recovering from the storm.
Of the volunteer experience, Adams said, “It’s rewarding. It’s a lot of hard work, and quite often it’s confusing out there. But when you have the chance to see the thankful looks on the faces of the people you’re helping, it’s really special.”
INFOBOX: Become a volunteer
Interested in joining the hurricane relief effort? The American Red Cross is still recruiting people out of chapters across the nation. The organization currently needs people to help with sheltering, providing mass care, and conducting mass feeding.
For people unable to participate in deployment, there are plenty of other volunteer opportunities in Santa Barbara County.
The costs of hurricane relief for the Red Cross alone are estimated at around $100 million. Currently, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties are involved in a national fundraising campaign. The tri-counties are aiming to raise $400,000 by Dec. 31. As a whole, California Red Cross chapters hope to raise approximately $8.7 million.
Volunteers are also needed to help educate local residents about disaster preparedness at home.
“We are not immune to our own disasters. We’ve seen the effects of what could happen and what happens when people aren’t prepared,” said Americorps/Red Cross employee Ally LeClair. “Disasters aren’t going to stay on the East Coast. Disasters can happen here.”
The Red Cross Santa Barbara County Chapter urges locals to “take a step back and look at their homes and at their families, and really ask themselves if they’re prepared should a disaster strike,” chapter CEO Janet Stanley said.
For example, locals can prepare for possible disasters and other emergencies by compiling disaster and first aid kits, and educating themselves about disasters common in their area, such as earthquakes and fires. The Red Cross Santa Barbara County Chapter offers a disaster preparedness quotient test on its website, www.sbredcross.org
“The more prepared each and every one of us is for a disaster, the more prepared we are as a community,” Stanley said.
For more information about the volunteering opportunities with the Red Cross, visit redcross.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS.
For more information about emergency services in Santa Barbara County, visit countyofsb.org and click on “Emergencies.”
Contact Staff Writer Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 9-16, 2008.