The Red Cross shelter in Dallas is making room for more Harvey victims from south Texas, while the nation turns its attention to Hurricane Irma.
Volunteers are already preparing for another disaster and The Red Cross headquarters in Dallas is buzzing.
As volunteers respond to one disaster, they’re keeping an eye on a storm bearing down on the east coast.
“The truth of the matter is, we know there are folks that will back us up in our own backyard.”
Gary Olivero survived Superstorm Sandy and knows firsthand what Harvey victims are dealing with.
“The waters have receded, we’re ready to go. It just doesn’t work that way,” explained Olivero.
More than 3,000 volunteers are deployed or on standby to help the Harvey relief effort.
Cuthbert Langley will soon head home to South Carolina, right know he’s scouring Twitter and Facebook to help those in need.
“People will be messaging us saying I need food in this area, so we’re connecting our ground crews to them,” said Langley.
For the Red Cross – Irma’s path is a signal to get ready, making sure the needs of the community are met when disaster strikes.
“We’re pre-deploying volunteers and assists – emergency response vehicles over to the Florida area,” said Regional Communications Director Nigel Holderby.
When Irma does make landfall, the closest volunteers will be called first.
A nationwide network of volunteers helps Red Cross respond to a number of large scale disasters across the country and handle ones we see every day.
“We just got notification that there’s an evacuation shelter opening in Montana for the wildfires happening there. We also respond once a day, every eight minutes to a home fire,” explained Holderby.
For workers Hurricane Irma is a threat, but the Red Cross will be ready.
“It’s really encouraging knowing the Red Cross is going to be there, wherever Irma may strike,” said Langley.
It's a challenge they’ll be ready to meet...to help another community get back on its feet.
So far, more than 40,000 people have volunteered with the Red Cross to help respond to Hurricane Harvey.
