(This story is written by Missourinet news director Brian Hauswirth and news director Patty Burns at Missourinet Lebanon affiliate KBNN Radio)
As hundreds of American Red Cross volunteers assist Hurricane Harvey survivors in Texas, others are staging in the East to prepare for Hurricane Irma.
Lebanon, Missouri Red Cross volunteer David Sewell is already in South Carolina. He spoke Thursday to Missourinet Lebanon affiliate KBNN Radio (AM 750).
“I’ve been doing this since about 2007 and the Red Cross is very strategic about limiting the number of leaders that come in ahead of time,” Sewell says. “It gives us a chance to be ready, from my perspective, to be able to deploy the technology right after the storm so we can get aid to the client.”
Sewell tells KBNN that the Red Cross is working to get South Carolinians to enter their information into a safe website, that would notify family members that they are okay after the storm.
CNN reports Irma could hit Miami this weekend. Georgia reportedly is also ordering coastal evacuations.
“We’re kind of in a holding pattern, and I’m no weatherman, but it appears that the size of the storm is going to be comparable to what the Harvey storm was,” says Sewell.
Sewell emphasizes the importance of preparation.
“The State” newspaper in Columbia reports South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster plans to order some South Carolinians to evacuate Saturday morning, as Irma moves closer to making landfall.
“The State” says the governor’s evacuation order is expected to take effect Saturday morning at 10.
