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Disaster Response We'll be there because help can't wait. Disaster can strike quickly and without warning. It can force an evacuation of a home, a neighborhood, or an entire community. Perhaps your first thought is "Why bother thinking about this? Disasters don't happen here." But they do! Just ask the six families in the apartment fire on east Broadway, the residents of Lewiston who experienced a tornado, the residents of Bass Camp or Stockton who were flooded out of their homes, or the residents of Winona who had flood damage last spring. Disasters are all too real to the many people in Winona County that sustained fire, tornado, or flood damage. The Winona County Red Cross served all these people when help was needed. Help comes in many ways. When a fire strikes a family home, or a tornado or a flood hits a community, the victims of the disaster usually need help. Even if they have insurance, most often the company cannot help them for three or four days. The Red Cross is always there to help. While the flames are still licking at the dwelling, Red Cross volunteers are there providing the family with their immediate needs. When disaster strikes a community, teams of trained Red Cross workers are prepared to open a shelter, if needed, or to serve food and beverages to the victims and the emergency responders. It takes a special kind of person to get out of bed in the middle of the night to make sure that a family whose home is being destroyed by fire has a place to sleep, some clothes to wear, and something to eat tomorrow. Are you one of these special people? Or could you give a few hours a day to help run a shelter in your community when one is needed? The work you can do is perhaps the most rewarding you will ever do. Get involved. It is so easy. A current schedule of Winona County Red Cross Disaster Services activities can be obtained at the chapter. The fire response teams in all our communities are in urgent need of more members. Please consider helping your neighbors in times of disaster by becoming a Red Cross Disaster volunteer. All disaster training is free and most of it is offered locally. For more information just call the Winona County Red Cross at 452-4258 and ask for Disaster Services. Every Disaster Is a Personal Experience The American Red Cross is committed to Helping Make Families and Communities Safer. We in the American Red Cross know first-hand that in a burst of destructive fury, floods, tornadoes, and fires rob families of their homes and belongings, cause major disruptions to businesses, and cost billions in property damage and economic losses. We also know from experience that the soaring social and economic costs of disasters can be dramatically reduced if families, businesses, and communities take proactive steps to reduce their vulnerability. Therefore, disaster preparedness and mitigation are top priorities of the American Red Cross. We have joined forces with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the insurance industry, businesses and other partners that are concerned about the increasing, and often unnecessary, losses caused by disasters. Together, we are leading efforts across the nation and here in Winona County to do more, before disasters strike, to build an awareness of prevention and to limit the harm inflicted on our families, our businesses and our communities. The primary way we can do this is through Community Disaster Education programs. We can provide groups of individuals as well as businesses throughout Winona County with presentations to first educate people on what they can and should do to better protect themselves and their property; and second to motivate them to take those steps. If you are interested in a presentation on disaster for your group, call us at 507-452-4258. © 2002 Kristen Ann Althoff. All Rights Reserved.