To Stan Rosenzweig, Hurricane Harvey, which has battered south Texas communities along the Gulf Coast, feels a lot like Hurricane Katrina did in 2005.
“It is almost exactly that to me,” said Rosenzweig. “We don’t even know yet what the damage will be, but I’ve got an inkling.
Harvey made landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas late Friday, its 130-mph winds and pummeling rain leaving widespread flooding and damage in its wake.
A volunteer and board member for the Utah Red Cross, Rosenzweig deployed to help with response work for the international humanitarian relief agency for the first time when Katrina hit 12 years ago. Rosenzweig, a retired business owner spent weeks on the ground in New Orleans, using his managerial expertise to oversee 12 shelters for thousands of displaced residents.
As of Saturday, two emergency response vehicles and 18 volunteers from the Utah Red Cross had deployed to Texas to help provide shelter and other services and cleaning supplies, he said.
“Some are doing feeding support, some are doing logistics,” said Rosenzweig. “There will a tremendous need for muck-out-kits and disinfectants after the flooding.”
Flooding causes significant damage because it comes, but doesn't go, he said, leaving behind many problems, including mold.
Child care, pet care, medical care and mental health services will also be in high demand, Rosenzweig said.
Utah’s Red Cross was put on alert weeks ago and volunteers were called out for deployment within the past few days, said Rosenzweig, who so far has remained at home, but expects to head south in the weeks ahead.
On Saturday, he said, an email from national Red Cross headquarters said the agency needs 1,000 volunteers over the next “weeks, days and months.”
“I think the recovery is going to take months, in some areas years,” Rosenzweig said.
The Red Cross isn’t the only Utah-based organization extending help.
On Friday, the humanitarian services arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints loaded pallets of drinking water and other critical supplies on to three trucks bound for a church storehouse in Houston.
“This allows us all to come together,” said John Hopkins, manager of the Bishop’s Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City. “I know that when these supplies come, they’re going to be received in a gracious way.”
Want to help? Here’s how to donate to the Red Cross
- Go online, www.redcross.org
- Call 1-800-REDCROSS
- Text the word HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
- To volunteer or get free disaster preparedness and response training in Utah, go to <a href="http://www.redcross.org/local/utah">www.redcross.org/local/utah</a> or call 801-323-7000.
