Washtenaw County Red Cross volunteers depart for Tropical Storm Isaac relief
Teams of American Red Cross volunteers from southeast Michigan are readying for disaster relief efforts as Tropical Storm Isaac moves deeper into the Gulf of Mexico.
About 17 volunteers from Washtenaw County left Friday with a team of Red Cross workers for Florida, and an emergency response vehicle from the Washtenaw-Lenawee County Chapter will depart about noon Tuesday for the Gulf Coast, according to the Red Cross’ southeast Michigan regional office.
A person braves the rain at Clarence Higgs Beach Sunday in Key West, Fla., as Tropical Storm Isaac hit the area.
Walter Michot | AP Photo/The Miami Herald
Sunday night, more than 560 people displaced by Tropical Storm Isaac spent the night in Red Cross shelters.
Monday evening, the National Hurricane Center projected Isaac would be a Category 2 storm with 100 mph winds when it makes landfall in Louisiana or Mississippi on Tuesday night.
Residents of low-lying coastal areas from Florida to southeastern Louisiana were ordered to evacuate ahead of storm surges and heavy rain.
Tropical Storm Isaac is following the same path as Hurricane Katrina did seven years ago -- nearly to the exact day.
To donate to the Red Cross for relief efforts, go online, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
GreenPus
Tue, Aug 28, 2012 : 5:08 p.m.
Many thanks to the Red Cross volunteers who donate their valuable time to become trained in disaster relief and leave home on short notice to serve without pay, often at great inconvenience to their loved ones back home. Many thanks also the the generous donors who make this work possible at no cost to the taxpayers. Hurricane response is a tricky business. If you wait until it happens you will probably get there too late. Roads will be choked, airports closed, etc. The Red Cross is responsible for alleviating human suffering in those critical first few days and weeks after a disaster. To do that, they must have shelters open and personnel in place from day one. Nobody can predict the weather, so it's inevitable that they sometimes mobilize for hurricanes that never develop, but they have to be prepared for anything that might happen. Even if it turns out to be minor, people have often already been evacuated and are trying to cope with the displacement. Those people still need to be fed and housed. The Red Cross is a large organization and it isn't perfect. But critics of the Red Cross are generally ill-informed. This is one charity that actually does what it says it will do.
Macabre Sunset
Tue, Aug 28, 2012 : 3:27 p.m.
The media is delighted to have a storm heading toward New Orleans - Al Gore promised us dozens and we haven't had any in recent years. Obviously, a strong storm in a low-lying area that should never have been built up in the first place is a serious situation. But it is the height of media hype and stupidity to even mention the name "Katrina" in reference to this storm. I'm sure the local shelters in Louisiana and Mississippi can handle this one just fine on their own. And if they can't, it's solely due to incompetence in local planning.
stevek
Tue, Aug 28, 2012 : 4:40 p.m.
Boy Macabre Sunset--you sure seem to know quite a bit about volunteering on disasters. Please let us know about the experiences that you have had. How was Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama when you were down there volunteering your own personal time? How was the shelter you had to live in for a month without electricity? Were the MRE's to your liking? How about the 15 hour days? Please let us know.
Macabre Sunset
Tue, Aug 28, 2012 : 4:17 p.m.
Sounds like you've consumed all the Kool-Aid. The story claims 560 Red Cross evacuations, and it's too late to order any new ones. We've paid tens of billions of dollars to protect a city built at sea-level from flooding - nothing's going to happen in the population center. We can waste money sending volunteers all over the world if we like, just in case, but the odds are extremely high that these "highly trained" volunteers will have very little to do. You have three times as many outsiders coming in as you have people to feed. Most of the cost will come from taking care of their own needs.
Fordie
Tue, Aug 28, 2012 : 3:56 p.m.
What an incredibly ignorant statement that completely disregards the commitment of the highly trained volunteers sent to help in a storm that has already displaced thousands of people.