I will make it

When Roy Splitgerber woke up about six in the morning of January 9^th after falling asleep on the couch watching a movie, he heard a bunch of crashing outside.

“I didn’t know what was happening! All of a sudden, my roof was ripped off along with a wall being torn away from the condo. Wind traveling about 160 mph came right through the back of my house, over to the [Legendary Marine] marina.”

Roy relived his tornadic experience that occurred in the Panama City Beach area on January 9^th when an EF-3 tornado decimated the two-story condo he and his roommate started renting about three weeks ago. Now he shares an American Red Cross shelter at the Gulf Beach Presbyterian Church after the tornado completely destroyed the condo.

Although he had heard about the Red Cross, the 59-year-old says this is his first time in a shelter.

“I didn’t understand at first all that the Red Cross does, but now I do. They have provided me a place to stay, food to eat and is helping the best they can, along with Bay County, to help me find a place to live. The Red Cross is great, and the volunteers are nice people!”

Roy, who has lived in the area for the past 50 years, says he’s experienced hurricanes but never a tornado. “With hurricanes, you can pretty much figure out where they are and what to expect. With tornadoes, sometimes you know and sometimes you don’t. It was mentioned the night before about a tornado but I thought it would hit someplace else. I never expected it would hit me directly.”

Roy adds he’s still in shock from the tornado which struck with less than a 10-second warning and was over in about 20 seconds. He was on the second floor of the condo when it happened. “The tornado, which was very horrific, lifted me a few feet off the floor! It was a rude awakening without a cup of coffee. I am glad that I survived it.”

Roy went back a couple of days later to the destroyed condo to salvage what he could. “I was able to find a few personal items including my phones, chargers, a hamper of dirty clothes and my tools that I use in my job as an electrician and in construction. I also found chunks of asphalt and pieces of boats that blew into the building during the storm.”

Because Roy recently moved into the area, he doesn’t know many of his neighbors whose homes were still intact, noting, “They were missing things like shingles from the roof of their homes or garages, but most of their homes are still standing. My roommate has friends in the area so he’s staying with them.”

Roy feels lucky to be alive and praises the Red Cross for their help.

“I have a long road to recovery; it may take a while, but I will make it. I am very appreciative of the Red Cross which is truly a blessing.”

Written by Phyllis Bell-Davis

Answering the call after a home fire

Home fires are the most common disaster we respond to here in North Florida, and the frequency picks up noticeably around the holidays. December is a peak month for home fires explains Barbara Langston, Disaster Preparedness Specialist Volunteer for the American Red Cross of North Florida, stressing the significance of taking a moment to prepare a fire escape plan. 

“I have experienced an increase in home fires in both single family and apartment homes, especially in home garages,” says Barbara. “The biggest disaster threat to families in the United States isn’t floods, hurricanes or tornadoes; it’s fire.”

Barbara is a committed volunteer of the Red Cross disaster services team. She joined the organization in 2017 as a disaster responder. In this role she goes to the scene of home fires to help with people’s urgent needs like food, lodging, and recovery support. She responds to home fires several times per month; in fact, this interview could not be completed until she responded to a recent call to a home fire. Fortunately, the cat woke up the resident in time to escape the fire that started by a lit candle. Standing outside the smoke damaged home Barbara offered hope, help, and compassion. 

“For me, volunteering with the Red Cross gives me a sense of belonging. Being able to help people during the worst times of their lives; showing them there is hope, and that we care has had the biggest impact on me as a volunteer,” says Barbara. “The Red Cross gives many people without a place to go an opportunity to stop, decompress, and formulate their next steps. They need some place to rest and get through it.”

Many of the homes she has seen after a fire do not have smoke alarms or the smoke alarms are not functioning properly according to Barbara. “I have experienced that people either are awakened by a pet who is behaving erratic; they may wake up because they smell smoke; a neighbor sees the flames; or sadly they sleep through it.”

In Barbara’s experience everyone is affected by home fires including children and pets.

“People often think that it will never happen to them. It is vital to prepare for a potential house fire by having smoke alarms that are functional and operating; and develop an escape route for all persons living in the house, especially for children. Children often panic and run into their closet for example, so it is important to develop a game plan and have them practice what to do if there is a fire in the home. You have just two minutes on the average to escape a house fire.”

HOME FIRE SAFETY TIPS: Follow these safety tips and visit  redcross.org/fire for more safety information, including a fire escape plan to practice with your family.  You can also download the free Red Cross Emergency app by searching “American Red Cross” in app stores. 

“Volunteering with the Red Cross is a way to make an immediate impact on people in one of their most vulnerable times of their lives. It is gratifying to let people know that you care.”

Thank you, Barbara for your devotion, compassion, and goodwill to give your time and service and uphold the mission of the Red Cross to alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies. 

To volunteer with the Red Cross, visit  RedCross.org/volunteer. 

Written by Lynn Seavey

Being the best part of someone’s worst day

“When you’re protecting and defending the Constitution as a military member, you don’t get to see the people and interact with the people you’re protecting every day, but in this role, it’s more direct feedback. You get to see the smile on someone’s face when you help them.”

Corey France serves an integral volunteer role as a response vehicle coordinator and driver, but his community service did not start here.

After Corey’s junior year of college, he joined the Air Force and flew the first generation of GPS operational satellites as an Air Force Officer. He went on to a national security career in Washington, DC and supported in various national intelligence missions. Throughout his career, Corey served others and he wanted to keep on with that type of work post-retirement.

“I wanted to continue to give back and this is a more direct way of giving back by being with the American Red Cross.” says Corey. As a response vehicle driver, Corey has more personal, firsthand interactions with the people and communities he’s assisting.

“The Red Cross offered me the opportunity of being the best part of someone’s worst day.”

Response vehicles are deployed during national and local disasters for the purposes of mobile feeding, relief supply distribution, and casework; and they are also utilized in community preparedness and outreach events.

Our fleet of response vehicles not only help us provide relief during disasters, but they symbolize our presence and hope in the face of emergencies.

If you would like to join the team, please visit http://www.redcross.org/volunteer to learn more.

Written by Lauren Hodgkins

Delivering meals along her route

U.S. Mail carrier Katie Doyle delivered some hot meals along with the mail after Hurricane Idalia made landfall.

Doyle knows of several households along her route that have residents who are elderly and shut in after Hurricane Idalia downed trees and damaged infrastructure in the area. When she saw that the Red Cross was giving out hot meals from an emergency vehicle parked at a community center in Greenville, she pulled over and picked up several meals to bring to the shut-in residents along her route.

“Thank you for doing what you do,” Doyle said to Red Cross volunteer Diane Webber, as she accepted a bag of meal containers packed with pork chops and green beans.

Recovering Emotionally

Mental health is important at every stage of your life. From childhood and adolescence through adulthood, our experiences heavily impact our emotional, psychological, and social well-being.

American Red Cross disaster mental health volunteers use their professional skills as licensed healthcare providers to deliver hands-on care and education to people who have experienced disasters and emergencies such as Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall in Florida and Georgia, leaving many families devastated. These volunteers work in emergency shelters and on outreach teams as they listen and talk with disaster-impacted clients about their experiences, stress levels, and coping skills.

Joyce Burns has been a Red Cross volunteer for five years and traveled from Connecticut for her sixth deployment to provide comfort to families and individuals impacted by Idalia. Burns works directly with families, including children, to navigate through the emotions that come with such loss.

“I think it’s important for people to get back to their norm as soon as they can but to also understand that it is okay to grieve after a loss even if no one died. Losing your home, your car, [and] your valuables is a loss that can bring grief and that is okay,” she said.

Carol M. Jaxson-Jager, Ph.D is a retired counselor and speech and hearing therapist and was inspired to join the Red Cross after working closely with the Department of Defense during Hurricane Katrina. She deployed to Tallahassee, Florida to assist with the disaster response for Hurricane Idalia with the Disaster Health Services unit as a Disaster Mental Health provider. Carol also assisted the Disaster Cycle Services team with feeding and distributing supplies. Her biggest takeaway from this operation was “driving around the neighborhood, going door-to-door handing out pamphlets and talking to people in distress.”

When asked about a piece of advice she’d give affected people she came across she said, “if you’re healthy enough to be talking to me, the fact that we’re talking means you’re willing to move forward.”

Thousands of people in the Southeast face a long road ahead to recovery as they continue cleaning up the devastation left behind by Hurricane Idalia. Recovery not only involves the physical aspects, but mental and emotional as well. There are several ways you can help to recover those affected by Idalia. For more information, visit redcross.org/volunteer,

Written by Dariana Molina & Jerrica Williams

“This is why we are here”

Ricky Christmas evacuated to an American Red Cross shelter after Hurricane Idalia knocked the power out and damaged the air conditioner at his Tallahassee home.

Christmas lives with medical issues that require him to live in air conditioning and use a walker to help with mobility. Without a working air conditioner, it wouldn’t have been safe for him to return home. And, in the chaos of the storm and evacuation, his car had run out of gas and he couldn’t travel to get what he needed.

Red Cross workers at the shelter passed this information to the Red Cross health services team, who got to work to help Christmas find the items he needed to return home safely.

Red Crossers Elizabeth Quinn and Richard Zlotnik picked Christmas up from the shelter this week and took him to several stores. They were able to find and purchase a new walker for him; however, they couldn’t find any portable air conditioners. So, they ordered him one online to be delivered to his home address. Once it arrives, they’ll follow up with Christmas to install it and make sure it’s working properly.

Zlotnik, a medical doctor from Greenville, South Carolina, assembled the new walker for Christmas so he could begin using it immediately.

“This is what we do. This is why we’re here,” said Quinn, a nurse from Winchester, Virginia, breaking into a smile. “He [Christmas] was just so lovely, and so thankful to be helped by the Red Cross.”

Christmas had been in a Red Cross shelter for more than a week after Idalia made landfall as a category three hurricane on Aug. 30, damaging homes and infrastructure. Zlotnik and Quinn are two of the more than 730 Red Cross disaster workers who are in Florida and Georgia to help people affected by Hurricane Idalia.

Many people who evacuate or whose homes are damaged by natural disasters find themselves without medication or other essential medical supplies. The Red Cross health services team, Zlotnik explains, helps connect people with much-needed medication and medical equipment – from wheelchairs and nebulizers to eyeglasses and CPAP machines.

Red Crossers who manage shelters during disasters are trained to ask residents what they need, and pass that information on to the health services team, Zlotnick says.

Written by Bethany Bray Patterson

Sheltering the whole family

A Taylor County resident was staying at Red Cross shelter in Perry, Florida after Hurricane Idalia made landfall Aug. 30, damaging homes, infrastructure and the power grid.

She wasn’t sleeping well for the first few nights she was there, so she asked the shelter staff if she could move her cot next to where her dog, Buttercup, was staying in a crate. That made all the difference, says Sandi Poreda, a Red Cross volunteer who is pet liaison for the Red Cross shelters established in Florida for residents affected by Idalia.

Once the woman was next to Buttercup, a basset hound mix, she was able to sleep through the night. “You could see how calm they were together,” Poreda says.

“Pets are family members,” says Poreda, a board member of the Capital Area chapter of the Red Cross of North Florida. “Imagine if you had to evacuate from a disaster and you didn’t know where your child [or another family member] was. How would that hinder your recovery? By keeping pets and their owners together, there is an emotional benefit – and that’s even more important to maintain during a disaster.”

Poreda is embracing a new role the Red Cross has established, pet liaison, as animals are being allowed in certain Red Cross shelters during disasters, when circumstances allow. A longtime “dog mom,” Poreda volunteers both for the Red Cross and the local humane society in Tallahassee. “This position was made for me,” she says, smiling. “It combines my two passions … I will always love the Red Cross, and animals.”

During the Hurricane Idalia response, dozens of pets were allowed in a few, select Red Cross shelters – including, cats, dogs, gerbils and even a squirrel that was being rehabilitated after an injury. Poreda has been traveling between all the shelters since the storm made landfall to check in and ensure that everything is running smoothly with the pets and their owners.

“Some people don’t feel safe without their pets,” says Poreda. “I understand. If I have to evacuate, my dog is my kid and he’s coming with me.”

The Red Cross requires animals to be restrained or kept in crates at shelters and it’s made clear that the owners, not Red Cross workers, are responsible for feeding, walking and cleaning up after the animals, Poreda stresses.

The animals are usually kept in an area that is separate or away from shelter residents without pets. If a resident raises a concern about being housed in the same building with pets, such as allergies, Red Cross workers will do their best to accommodate them, either moving them to another part of the building or relocating them to a shelter without pets, Poreda says.

It’s a new system, and Poreda admits that everyone is adapting and learning the best way to accommodate and help both two- and four-legged residents during disasters. However, the benefits are clear, she says.

When people are separated from their pets during a disaster, they worry about whether the animal is safe – and that worry and stress impedes their recovery, Poreda says.

“I’ve seen what happens when people are afraid to bring their pets to a shelter and leave them behind,” she says. “This is an incredible opportunity to help humans and animals that are affected by disasters.”

Animals in Red Cross shelters

• When possible, Red Cross shelter workers will do all they can to accommodate domesticated pets comfortably, however, depending on the situation, pets may need to be housed in a different location with support from animal welfare groups.
• Service animals are always welcome in Red Cross emergency shelters and are not considered pets.
• People who are evacuating to a Red Cross shelter can check redcross.org or the Red Cross Emergency app to see which shelters allow pets. Pet owners should bring food for their pet and a crate, pet carrier or other means of keeping their pet restrained at the shelter. Dog owners should also bring proof of their dog’s vaccinations, if possible.

Written by Bethany Bray Patterson

Partners in compassion

Hurricane Idalia made landfall on Aug. 30, leaving a swath of destruction across the Southeast. Thousands of people face a long road to recovery as some households remain without power and clean-up continues.

American Red Cross disaster workers are with them, providing comfort, support and relief – and will be in the days and weeks ahead.

From opening shelters and providing hot meals to setting up portable laundry and shower facilities for residents affected by the hurricane, this essential work would not be possible without the support of Red Cross partner organizations.

‘Everybody has to eat’

The American Red Cross has been sending mobile feeding vehicles out into communities that were hardest hit by Idalia, providing hot meals to people affected by the storm.

Mercy Chefs has cooked and provided several thousand meals for distribution by Red Cross teams in local communities through the last week. The Virginia-based nonprofit partners with local churches during times of disaster to prepare free meals for those impacted.

Since Idalia made landfall, Mercy Chefs has been providing lunch and dinner to local residents and first responders every day by using the kitchen facilities at Westwood Baptist Church in Live Oak, Florida. In addition to the residents who drive up to the front of the church to receive food, Mercy Chefs has been loading meals onto Red Cross mobile feeding vehicles from a side entrance.

“Our mission is simple: To feed people,” said Joel Cauley, director of church partnerships at Mercy Chefs. “Everybody has to eat, and our job is to provide meals … We are happy to partner with great organizations like the Red Cross during times of need.”

Mercy Chefs has collaborated with the Red Cross during disasters in the past, and it’s a trusted partnership that allows both organizations to reach and feed more people, Cauley said.

“Partnering with the Red Cross has been great because they have the capability to go out and reach the communities we may not be able to,” he said. “The Red Cross has been instrumental in helping with [meal] delivery after Idalia, and we are very appreciative of it.”

Shelter after the storm

Dr. Ronnie Mathis, senior pastor of the Crossing Jordan Baptist Church didn’t have to think very long about how to answer when the American Red Cross asked about opening a shelter in his Valdosta, Georgia church building.

Many in his congregation hadn’t had a hot shower or a hot meal in days after Hurricane Idalia tore through the area, damaging homes and infrastructure and disrupting utility service.

“I knew there was a need for help in my community, and the Red Cross came to our rescue,” said Mathis.

Mathis said his heart “fluttered” with joy when he saw Red Cross vehicles arrive in his church parking lot and begin to unpack shelter equipment and supplies. In the Valdosta area, many of the people in the places hardest hit by Idalia live in poverty. Support from the Red Cross means they have access to much-needed supplies and resources that they might not have otherwise, he said.

“I don’t’ need to say [to the community,] ‘help is coming.’ I can now say ‘help has arrived’,” said Mathis, smiling. “I’m just so thankful for the Red Cross.”

Written by Bethany Bray Patterson

I’m so glad that God sent you to help me

Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida’s “Big Bend” as a Category 3. Bringing a life-threatening storm surge, major flooding and wind damage to the region, the storm has affected several counties in Florida in Georgia. This became Richard’s opportunity to make a difference. 

Since landfall, more than 700 Red Cross disaster workers have provided comfort, support and relief to people impacted by Idalia. With the help of partners, the Red Cross has provided more than 209,000 meals and snacks and we’ve assessed damage in several counties.

The Red Cross currently has volunteers on the ground in affected areas, dedicated to conducting detailed damage assessments. Using cutting-edge technology that deploys advanced mapping and detailed demographics, teams are working diligently to locate and survey heavily damaged homes in the affected areas. Once damage is assessed, the Red Cross may be able to provide additional resources through recovery casework. 

One of the volunteers deployed for Idalia focusing on damage assessment is Judy Giacomino from Verona, Wisconsin. Judy traveled a long way to North Florida to be a part of the disaster response operation. She is working with our Damage Assessment Unit as a supervisor, where she is accessing hard-hit neighborhoods, going door-to-door and surveying homes and their damages, in order to determine the needs of each community. Once these factors are analyzed, it gives the organization a better understanding of the assistance required. 

While out in the field, Judy had an unusual encounter with a resident of Valdosta. A man waved at her from his screen door as she was surveying his neighborhood and when she approached him, he was in tears and told her he couldn’t reach anyone and that he was running out of oxygen and needed help. Judy, ready to help, replied saying “certainly, let me call 911.” Moments later, an ambulance showed up to the residence and took the man to the nearest hospital, for which he was incredibly grateful.

His last words to her before getting into the ambulance were “I’m so glad that God sent you to help me.” 

If you also want to experience your first deployment with the Red Cross, visit redcross.org/volunteertoday to sign up for opportunities with your local chapter. Our most-needed disaster positions include supporting shelters and providing health services. 

Written by Dariana Molina

“May we not ever forget”

An 11-foot steel beam from the South tower of the World Trade Center sits in the center of a new Sept.11 memorial at the Red Cross office in Tallahassee, Florida.

While the weight of the large, heavy beam is considerable, the weight of what it represents is far heavier, noted Florida State Fire Marshall Jimmy Patronis, who sent remarks to be read at a ribbon-cutting and memorial ceremony at the site this morning.

The steel beam is installed at an angle so it acts like a sun dial, casting its shadow on plaques placed in a circle that mark the events of the day, including the exact moment each of the hijacked airplanes met its tragic end.

Close to 3,000 people died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In the days, weeks and months that followed, 57,000 Red Cross volunteers deployed to help respond to the multi-location disaster, including 32 Red Crossers from the Tallahassee area.

That spirit of giving back and helping people when they face the worst “is what makes the Red Cross who we are,” said Sharon Council Carraway, executive director of the Capital Area chapter of the Red Cross of Northern Florida during the ceremony. “May we never forget.”

Red Crossers who have deployed to Northern Florida to help with Hurricane Idalia response joined first responders and local officials at this morning’s ceremony. The Florida State University marching band played the National Anthem to begin the ceremony and a bagpiper played “Amazing Grace” as a capsule with some of the fire-retardant foam that enveloped the beam, embedded with dust from the World Trade Center disaster site – including particles that include human remains – was lowered into a vault at the memorial.

Throughout the day, each of the close to 3,000 Sept. 11 victims’ names were read aloud and a bell was rung in memoriam.

“The Red Cross mission is stronger than planes that go into buildings,” said Judy Nicholson, a longtime Red Crosser who was part of the Red Cross response in New York City in 2001, after the ceremony. “It’s stronger than those of us who have served and are gone now. It’s something that I want to be a part of until I’m gone.”

“Whatever was needed”

Every year on Sept. 11, Randy Barkley wears his Ground Zero ballcap and takes time to sit down, reflect and remember the many lives lost on that fateful day 23 years ago.

In 2001, Barkley was the manager of a Red Cross warehouse that was just a few blocks from the World Trade Center in New York City. He was one of the first Red Crossers to reach Ground Zero and begin to help.

In the weeks and months that followed, supplies poured into Barkley’s warehouse from all over the world, he recalls. He helped ensure that search, rescue and recovery workers had whatever was needed.

Each disaster the Red Cross responds to has different needs and challenges, said Barkley, however, they all have a common thread: Fulfilling the Red Cross mission of relieving pain and suffering. The Sept. 11 response was no different, he said.

“So much love and kindness”

Judy Nicholson deployed with the Red Cross both to Washington D.C. and the New York City area in the months after Sept. 11, 2001, including helping establish a family assistance center in New Jersey to support the families of those who were missing or deceased.

Nicholson and her team escorted families to the Ground Zero site every day so they “could see what they needed to see” to find closure, she recalls. Even 23 years later, she chokes up when she describes hearing the signal that meant they needed to leave the area because human remains had been found.

“There was just so much love and kindness, tenderness and respect for everyone” among the Ground Zero response, said Nicholson, who is chief of the Red Cross Disaster Mental Health team. “I did not run across anyone who wasn’t there for the exact right reasons. We were not there for ourselves. We were all there to put our arms around the wounded and the suffering and help ourselves [humanity] become better and stronger.”

“We knew what we had to do”

Red Cross volunteer Doug Paugh was a police officer in Mine Hill, New Jersey on Sept. 11, 2001. The day after the attack, he and several of his fellow officers got permission to make the drive to New York City to help.

“As soon as we saw the attack, we knew what we had to do,” said Paugh, who is currently deployed with the Red Cross to Tallahassee, Florida to help with Hurricane Idalia response. It was eerie to find the Holland Tunnel empty and quiet, he said, and when they emerged into the city, they knew they had “just walked into hell.”

The scene was “breathtaking,” he recalls. There was dust everywhere and the pile of rubble from the World Trade Center spanned multiple blocks. Workers were removing beams from the building, cutting them into smaller pieces and loading them onto trucks to be removed around the clock.

Paugh spent 30 years as a police officer and joined the Red Cross in retirement to continue helping people. At his home chapter in New Jersey, he manages teams that respond to local emergencies such as home fires.

“I’m a boots on the ground guy. Volunteering with the Red Cross allows me to continue [helping others]. It keeps me going,” Paugh said. “Every Sept. 11, I take time to remember and it brings me back to that day. It gets to you.”

By Bethany Bray Patterson