TheBanyanTree: on the edge of the storm...

[Sachet]

Blowing lots. Some branches down, again. The wind and rain come in 
spiral bands which now seems normal as we've adjusted to hurricane storm 
patterns. Regular storms blow and hit consistently hard. With the bands 
you can get surreal moments of sunshine/stars and/or relative calm followed by 
wicked winds and stinging sheets of rain. The house makes a different 
sound with the wind coming from the northeast due to the spiral pattern 
of Frances and we're to the left of the eye this time. Charley's winds 
came from the southwest since we were to the right of the eye.

We're still under a Tropical Storm Warning here in Lee County (SW FL). 
Which sure beats a Category 2 Hurricane Warning, which was what we were 
expecting here inland as of last night. Frances is currently stalled 
about 50 miles off the east coast, near West Palm Beach, FL, moving 
slowly closer with 105 mph winds. Half a million people without power so far.

The Red Cross is amazing! They are already set up in Georgia with over a 
1000 volunteers and massive amounts of relief supplies due to come in 
once the worst passes over. Zach and I worked on an ERV (Emergency 
Relief Vehicle) the week before last. Our team leaders were from 
Louisiana. The base was created in the parking lot behind a large 
Southern Baptist church in Ft. Myers. The Southern Baptist's have huge 
portable kitchens where they prepare incredible amounts of food for the 
Red Cross to disperse in Cambro's. 
( http://us.cambro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/MainView?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001 )
They look like super-sized red coolers with special lid clamps to hold the lids on 
tight and side clamps to secure them onto custom made shelves for them 
in the back of the ERV's. We were sent out with 300 hot meals and that 
was considered a light run. They had been serving over 700 meals twice a 
day per ERV and there were dozens of ERV's from all over the country. 
(http://threerivers.redcross.org/ERV.html)

While we were waiting our turn in line to load up our Cambro's, we 
loaded up with other supplies; ice (tractor trailers filled with bags of 
ice were regularly brought in), drinks (mountains of bottled water, 
Capri sun, Hi-C and juice packets), snacks (chips, cookies, etc.), fresh 
fruit, plastic ware, clamshells (styrofoam plates that open like a 
clam) and plastic bags. It was a bit alarming to be told that we had to 
make sure that every drink and snack was the same because there had been 
fights because one person wanted what another person was given if they 
were given different items. We were being sent into a high tension area.

Once everything was loaded and secured, Zach and I buckled up into 2 of 
the jump seats in the back of the ERV. It was disconcerting to ride in 
the back and only be able to see out the side serving window and back 
windows. It surprised me that I had a hard time figuring out where we 
were since things appeared out of their usual context from my vantage point.

When we arrived at our first dispersing area (of three), we set up shop 
in a matter of minutes. ERV's are all about fast efficiency. Clamshells 
to the right, three cambro's loaded with a hot nourishing selection of 
green beans, spaghetti and cold diced pears to the left all lined up to 
be served efficiently and rapidly down the line until a full clamshell 
was handed off to David who sat at the serving window. We all had to 
wear gloves and hand sanitizer was plentiful. I ladled pears, Zach green 
beans and Joyce ladled the spaghetti. As each person arrived at the 
window, David first asked them if they wanted water, a Capri-sun and a 
snack, which gave us time to fix their plate. Things were hopping for 
awhile and it was hard to keep up, but people were polite. The most 
appreciative and well-mannered people were the homeless contingent, who 
live under one of the bridges at the Caloosahatchee River in downtown 
Ft. Myers. Their fervent thanks were humbling to say the least.

The only negative was the sweltering heat. The A/C didn't work in the 
back of our ERV, only the serving window opens and we had to keep the 
back doors locked. We all sighed with relief when clouds moved in. I had 
packed frozen wipes and they felt heavenly on the backs of our necks.

I was in awe of Joyce (in her early 50's) and David (in his early 20's). 
They had driven over in ERV's all the way from New Orleans and arrived 
the day after Charley hit and were scheduled to be in our area until 
September 4th. The out of state Red Cross groups stayed wherever they 
could find room. One night they ended up on the floor of the local Red Cross office.
I don't understand why in the world Holiday Inn, Days Inn, Marriott or any 
of the other major motels/hotels don't provide free rooms for the Red Cross 
volunteers who care enough to dedicate countless hours, miles away from home! 
It seems it's the least they could do. And it would certainly be good PR.

Zach and I were hot and exhausted after only one run and Joyce & David 
were still on duty for the evening run. And they had been doing two runs 
for 12 days! Amazing, incredible people are the Red Cross volunteers. 
They live a life on the edge, serving endlessly in ways we don't even 
realize.

http://www.mplsredcross.org/emergency_response_vehicle_drive.htm

http://www.redcross.org/index.html


 ...Sachet