52 hours. That’s how long I’ve been on the ground at the American Red Cross Little Egypt Service Center. We’ve seen the rain coming down in St. Louis, but the amount of water standing by the side of Highway 57 was astounding. It was about 8:00 p.m. when we rolled into Murphysboro, IL on Sunday, so I thought the water was near the road. Only in the daylight, did I see how close the water came to swallowing the roads.

 

While we’ve been dealing with tornado relief in St. Louis for a few weeks, the American Red Cross Little Egypt Service Center (staff of two, 50+ volunteers going strong) have been dealing day in and day out with flash flooding; meaning there’s been several voluntary evacuations and now mandatory evacuations for towns along the Ohio River. That’s why several of us from the St. Louis Area Chapter (the regional chapter) came to help provide additional resources and some much needed rest.

 

I have to say, that the work being done here is extraordinary. Between the St. Louis tornado relief effort and MO/IL flooding, we’ve had more than 1,000 overnight stays at Red Cross shelters and served nearly 30,000 meals and snacks. Like many of you, we know that this is the beginning of the road to recovery. Rest assured, the Red Cross will be here helping people as long as it takes.

 

Many thanks to all Red Cross workers providing help across the nation – you inspire me day in and day out, and encourage me to keep going. I can only imagine the comfort and care you’re providing to the hundreds of thousands that have been affected by tornadoes, floods and severe weather across the nation.

 

Kimberly