Locals aid Floridians in hurricane aftermath

When a disaster strikes, particularly those of colossal proportions, the lives of those immediately affected rest in the hands of generous communities and organizations nationwide. \nThe American Red Cross, a volunteer organization that depends on donations, played a huge role in helping with the aftermath of the disastrous hurricanes that struck Florida and surrounding areas in the past couple of months. Some Bloomington residents made the trip south as part of the national organization.\n"We've had a total of seven volunteers from the Bloomington area to help the victims in Florida," said Maria Carrasquillo, director of emergency services for the Monroe County Chapter of the American Red Cross. "We've had a great response from the community in terms of new volunteers, and people are being trained right now not only to respond to situations, such as the hurricane response in Florida, but also to respond to incidents that occur locally."\nTracy Young, an IU staff member, recently returned from volunteering in Florida. Although she has spent 3-1/2 years with the Red Cross, she had never dealt with a situation of such magnitude. \n"This was my first national disaster, so I had no idea what to expect," Young said.\nShe described the appearance upon her arrival as unbelievable and disastrous. \n"We would see a house and it just looked like it was standing in the middle of a lake. You really can't imagine the destruction. It was amazing," Young said.\nOne unforeseen roadblock was the lack of housing for the Red Cross volunteers. \n"A lot of times the Red Cross will stay in hotels, but all the hotels were either destroyed by the hurricane or filled with insurance agents," she said. "We ended up driving two hours each way every day."\nOriginally, Young traveled south to help with the damage produced by Hurricane Frances. However, near the end of her two-week trip, Hurricane Ivan made an unexpected appearance to add to the trip's surprises. \n"The hurricane was coming right at us," Young said. \nIn addition to the training she received to deal with the hurricane's effects, she also learned how to deal with actual hurricanes.\nAfter surviving the hurricane, Tracy's group drove for two hours in one direction and saw absolutely no electrical power. The coast was not the only location affected, Young said.\nBuilding on the theory that disaster brings people together, Tracy grew very close to her group in Florida. \n"It was almost like we were a family," she said.\nAfter going into the situation unaware of what could be expected, Young admits her biggest surprise was how much she experienced personally, and her willingness to stay in Florida after Hurricane Ivan. \n"I didn't want to go home. I knew there was still more work for me there," she said.\nBloomington residents can still contribute to affected hurricane victims without travelling to the state. \n"Right now the best thing that people can do is give a financial contribution, which can help benefit not only the residents in Florida, but also victims of disasters nationwide," Carrasquillo said.\nYoung also said generosity does not go unrewarded. \n"You never know, you could be the one needing help next time."\nTo contact the Monroe County Red Cross, visit http://www.monroe-redcross.org/ or call 332-7292.\n-- Contact staff writer Teri Rosenbaum at terosenb@indiana.edu.