> Features > Pg 2 Feature Stories > Locals helps others in wake of disasters
|
Locals helps others in wake of disasters
|
| |
|
A refinery oil spill contaminated the flooded Verdigris River. Photo courtesy of National Weather Service - Wichita, Kansas
|
By Natasha Clark
Assistant Managing Editor
EAST LONGMEADOW Over the last few weeks hundreds of American Red Cross volunteers have been distributed to the southwest region to assist families whose communities have been overwhelmed with floods and wildfires.
Sixteen counties have been plagued with record-setting torrential rains near Texas. Near Coffeyville, Kan., a flooded refinery spilled thousands of gallons of oil into Verdigris River. And up until last Thursday, five of the nation's top priority wildfires were in Utah, consuming more than 399,610 acres collectively.
Five local volunteers Bill Pruyne of East Longmeadow; Dorrie Durand of Holyoke; Kerry Schoeffel of Holyoke; Jean Jack, of Springfield; Sharon Wood of Belchertown and Angela Orlich of West Springfield have been deployed to assist in disaster relief operations. The Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross urges others to sign up to volunteer before a disaster so they can be ready to go when one occurs.
"Disaster preparedness is key to good disaster response. When there is a large disaster on the news we get an influx of responses from people who want to help," Brenda Brouillette, director of Disaster Services, said. "I need to know the volunteers that I send out. I need to know that you are mentally and physically capable of handling the job. Every six months we have a large disaster somewhere in the country. There's always something going on. It's too late to walk in at the time of a large disaster and expect to go in."
Pruyne returned home July 10 after 12 days of volunteering in Health Services as a supervisor in shelters and in service centers for flood victims in Texas.
"What we do is shelter people and take care of immediate needs eyeglasses, medication prescriptions, dentures. We check vital signs and do basic health screenings. Anyone with injuries is referred to local hospitals," Pruyne, a nurse by profession, said.
Volunteers trained in disaster response work 12-13 hours per day when on location and have to make a commitment for at least two weeks. The average deployment is three weeks.
"I worked in two different sites. Initially I went to Gainesville, Texas, and worked in a shelter and service center there. And that was for the first five days. And then I was transferred to Wichita Falls and worked there for a week," Pruyne explained.
Brouillette said it is not unusual to move volunteers to other areas or states in crisis. "If they get there and things start winding down maybe something nearby is getting bigger. Flexibility is the biggest word in disaster vocabulary. You have to be willing to roll with the punches."
Pruyne said the rains were moving on by the time he was leaving Texas. "They are still having a few showers but not to the extent to cause flooding."
Pruyne said a major part of his job was trying to get those with uninhabitable houses placed as quickly as possible.
"We provide first month's rent and a deposit if they find a place to rent. We try to get people back into their own homes as much as we can," he explained.
Schoeffel is still in Coffeyville, Kan., managing staffing operations in a town where crude oil from a flooded refinery has been carried into flood waters. This is her ninth time on a disaster relief effort and she said it continues to remind her of how lucky she is.
"I was laid off in June 2005 and I took the summer off. But then [Hurricane] Katrina hit and I knew I had to do something and I've been with [the Red Cross] ever since," Schoeffel said, adding that she is now employed as a coordinator with the organization.
"There's a bunch of reasons [why I continue to work here]. One is the people I work with are incredible. It keeps my life in perspective. Even though I was unemployed I realized how lucky I was to have a roof over my head, to have my family," she said.
On Thursday when Schoeffel called Reminder Publications she said that it was still raining. The National Weather Service forecasted dry conditions for this week which is good news for residents where flooding is more severe.
Schoeffel said some residents "were just allowed to go back to their homes yesterday or maybe the day before to see if they could recover anything. Many of them are condemned ... it looks like the water has receded and things are dry. The forecast said rain tomorrow and after that just cloudy."
Schoeffel is due to return to Massachusetts on July 21.
"She's one of our highest level volunteers," Brouillette said. "She's been out more than any other volunteer we have."
Disaster training will begin in August at the Pioneer Valley Chapter. Interested volunteers can contact Brenda Brouillette at 737-4306, ext. 911 or via email at brouilletteb@usa.redcross.org.
|
|
|
|
> Features > Pg 2 Feature Stories > Locals helps others in wake of disasters
|
|
