Two days ago, my wife and I were two of the several hundred volunteers assigned to help the ongoing preparations for Hurricane Ike’s expected landfall in Texas this weekend. We were originally deployed to Orlando, FL, but when Ike changed paths, we did too.

We arrived in Dallas yesterday, got our paperwork in order, and then formed a Red Cross team of six. From Dallas, our team drove about 170 miles south to Huntsville, where we are opening about five shelters. Some of the shelters will house 1,500, 500 and 300 people! As Hurricane Ike draws nearer, more evacuations are being called throughout the state. Right now, Houston, Galveston and some of the counties near Huntsville are beginning to evacuate. We heard they are even closing Interstate 45 southbound.

The last time we heard, the storm is expected to hit sometime early Saturday morning. Where we are, we don’t have access to the Internet, television or any other means to let us know what is going on. However, a Red Cross employee always comes to give us reports and updates on the weather. Since we are in the staging process, our team had a class last night on sheltering as a refresher.

We did run into another St. Louis Area Chapter volunteer, Patty Lee. She was on her way to San Antonio to help people in that area prepare for Hurricane Ike. Until next time…

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