Red Cross volunteers leave to help victims of Katrina

Three local Red Cross volunteers leave today to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Kristi Thurman, director of emergency services for the local Red Cross, said that Adam Moore of Oak Ridge, Tina Bles of Cape Girardeau and Tina Pattengill of Scott City will land in Miami and from there will be sent to where they are needed.

Katrina, now a Category 3 hurricane, landed at Fort Lauderdale Thursday night with sustained winds of 75 mph with gusts up to 95 mph. Trees and power lines fell, and at least seven people were killed.

Thurman said that she alerted Pattengill, Bles and Moore Thursday night that they may be needed. The Red Cross in Florida called Saturday morning, she said, and asked for volunteers to come help as soon as possible. They will be gone for as long as three weeks.

Bles said it will be her first time to respond to someone in need.

"I'm excited about going and apprehensive at the same time," Bles said.

Bles, who worked 20 years for Procter & Gamble, said she believes in helping others in need whenever she can.

"I've had a lot of luck in my life," she said. "I know when people get in a situation like that they really depend on others to help them."

Thurman said the volunteers will most likely be assigned to mass care, helping feed people displaced by the hurricane, and seeing to it that their immediate needs for shelter, clothing and other basic necessities are met.

"We work closely with Southern Baptist churches," Thurman said. "They have kitchens and can get food. They help prepare the food and can feed thousands of people at one time."

People who volunteer with the Red Cross must be trained and able to pick up and leave on short notice.

"People can't come in off the street and say, 'I want to go down to the hurricane,'" Thurman said. "But we are always looking for volunteers. We hope to get them in and train them before we need them."