Tom’s final Texas blog #7

Assignment: Hurricane Ike response, Workforce Planning and Acquisition manager, Texas, USA
Volunteer: Tom Windebank
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Hello blog, It’s me again.

Today’s my last full day on the relief operation. Tomorrow I hand over my responsibilities to Mary Ann, my very competent and energetic assistant from Mississippi. Then I’ll be out processing with Bill Ferris, my buddy from the Burlington, Ontario branch. We’re going to try to visit the art gallery in downtown Houston before we fly home. I’ve decided against taking an ERV back to its California chapter as part of the response to wild fires out there – I’m told the ERV I’d get is a really nasty vehicle and I’d end up stranded somewhere in the New Mexico desert!

Over the last few days I’ve been helping the lodging group get a handle on where some of our volunteers are staying, who they are and how many there are. Bill has been lending his people to the effort as teams of staff services folk have staked out hotels across the DR. Meanwhile Bill and I have worked with the various players - shelter managers, hotel managers, FEMA etc. Part of the chaos of a large moving operation can mean losing track of staff and then, as fast as possible, finding out where they’ve landed.

I’ve also been asked to get our volunteers out of some of the shelters, including Camp Tarmac, the FEMA camp at Galveston airport. Bill and I drive over with an armful of signs warning our volunteers that tonight is their last night at the camp.

Approaching the camp we’re challenged by men in black – part of FEMA’s “Response Force One”. I’m glad our cooks are being so well protected. Alice, Camp Tarmac’s manager, is very helpful in getting the Red Cross crews out of the shelter and moved to the Moody Gardens hotel – more than a hotel really – it’s a Las Vegas-style resort with a water park, aquarium, zoo and tropical forest, all contained in a series of giant glass Giza-like pyramids. Of course, the amusement part of the resort is badly damaged, only the incredible hotel is intact. Driving away from Camp Tarmac across Galveston airport, we see dozens of smashed light aircraft.

Talking to a local Galveston resident, he tells us that his neighbourhood has been severely damaged by Ike. The great wall of water pushed over Galveston Island left homes drowning in up to 22 feet of water says the man. His home is one of the few with power restored. At night he looks out over a sea of darkened houses where a few of his neighbours are trying to restart their lives.

The operation is shrinking by the day – for the first time we have less than 1,000 Red Cross volunteers on the job and staffing requests have slowed to a trickle. Three kitchens continue to pump out 13,500 meals a day; 31 ERVs and 9 fixed feeding stations distribute the food; 815 clients remain in shelters which are scheduled to close over the next 10 days and the operation is getting focused on finding alternative living arrangements for these people.

I’ve seen, heard and learnt a huge amount on this deployment. I’ve met hundreds of clients and Red Cross volunteers from across North America, some of whom have become my friends, many others I’ll remember for their amazing stories and hard work.

The Canadian Red Cross contingent has been warmly welcomed, given important roles in the operation and made to feel very much part of the family. I’m sad to leave the operation and its wonderful volunteers, but also very proud to have played a small part in helping the American Red Cross and the Great State of Texas start on the road to recovery from Hurricane Ike.

So I’m signing off blog. See you at the next deployment.

Tom