I've been a Red Cross volunteer for a little less than a year and had done several jobs prior to this deployment, but that's another story. This is just a bit of my experience as a volunteer in TN after the tornados of Feb 5, 2008, DR# 136-08 (that's the number disasters the Red Cross has responded to already this year).

On the morning of Feb 6, I was called and asked if I was prepared to go to TN if needed. I was called because I had trained in jobs that might be needed and my name was on the list of people who had made themselves available for this month. That evening I was called again and still had the opportunity to turn down the assignment, which required a commitment of three weeks in the field. I agreed and was packed and in the Tampa office ready to go at 9:30am the next day. This is typical of what Red Cross volunteers are expected to do, be ready to drop their life and rush off to help people in need. The victims needs can't wait for a convenient time.

Within a couple of hours I, as well as about 300 others from around the country,  was on a plane headed for Nashville where I would report to the local headquarters, go through orientation and briefing, be assigned a job, a car and a cell phone if needed and sent to a hotel for the night with instructions of where to go in the morning. The disaster headquarters was located in a facility donated by a company about an hours drive northeast of town. Most of us were to commute there for the next few days before housing could be provided nearer to where we were working.

My assignment for this operation was Damage Assessment. This involved visiting the homes affected by the storms, determining if and how badly each home was damaged relative to livability, not the cost of repairing or replacing; that's FEMA's job. The Red Cross' mission is to relieve the suffering and provide shelter, food and financial help for the short term needs of the victims. By the way, the Red Cross get NO money from taxes, it is all from donations and about 90-95% of staff is volunteers.

The information gathered by the DAs then had to be entered into the system so that Case Workers could determine just what was needed on an individual basis. Sounds simple, but it involves dozens of different jobs, from setting up the headquarters, creating a computer network from scratch, contacting local vendors for supplies, trucking supplies for disbursement to the victims, providing food for the staff, opening offices such as Nursing, Mental Health, Logistics, Staff Care, Mass Care, Information Services, and the list goes on and on. I continue to be amazed at how this is done in such a short time.

I had previously gone to CA in October in relief of the victims of the wildfires and as devastating as that was, the tornado damage in TN was much worse in my mind. The toll in human suffering was almost incomprehensible. 

The following is the most moving moment of the nearly two weeks that I spent there: While doing my clothes in a laundromat on Friday, a young man of 40 approached me and started a conversation when he recognized me because of my vest and cap. As it turns out, he had just buried his mother and his aunt and wanted to vent his remorse. We were able to spend maybe twenty minutes chatting and he expressed the deepest thanks that I was there to listen to him. The hugs I was able to give him and his thanks make what little effort I made well worth it.