Hurricane Sandy is blamed in over a dozen deaths in the U.S., while leaving more than six-million homes in 12 states without power. Allison Roach, with the Red Cross office in Omaha-Council Bluffs, says some volunteers from her chapter are already on the East Coast.
“We have many, many more who are on standby who are ready to go at a moment’s notice as soon as flights to those areas resume,” Roach says. Several hundred disaster services volunteers in the region are offering a wide array of skills that will be needed in storm-damaged areas.
Roach says, “They will sign up and say ‘I am capable of going out’ and we will get a message from our national organization saying, ‘We need this many volunteers with these skills,’ and they’ll ask for these volunteers by name.” Roach says the best way Iowans can help is to make a donation to the Red Cross or by giving blood.