Findlay, OH: Thank you Red Cross

This sign, posted on the side of a condemned home in Findley, expresses the sentiments of many impacted by the floods in North Central Ohio.  Shown here are the Red Cross volunteer crew of ERV 2165, (l-r) Joseph Molnar, Sue Richardson, and Julie Bauer.

Photo credit:  Allen Crabtree, American Red Cross

Findley, OH

August 31, 2007

Findlay, OH: Thank you American Red Cross

Allen Crabtree

Southern Maine Chapter, Portland ME

Public Affairs Volunteer

Cell (207) 653-9271

 “Thank you American Red Cross for all that you are doing!” 

Friday, August 31, 2007 – FINDLAY, OH – The residents of the flood-devastated Brookside Drive neighborhood lay down their shovels and wheelbarrows when they hear the air horn on Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) #2155 coming down their street.  They walk out to the curb to meet the ERV and its crew, whom they are getting to know as old friends.  The Red Cross is here with a hot meal, some cold water, and encouraging words for them as they face the daunting task of digging out and cleaning up from the floods. 

“The Red Cross has just been wonderful for us,” said homeowner Faye Lane.  “We hear you coming along the street and we know it is time to take a break and eat. The first time my neighbors and I up and down the street heard the ERV air horn we didn’t know what it was, but now it is as familiar and welcome as a dinner bell.”

She continued: “There is so much to do to clean up.  I can’t tell you how helpful all the Red Cross support has been to help up get back on our feet.”

Lane said that the 28 years she and her family have lived on Brookside Drive these were the second floods they have experienced here, but that the 2007 floods came on particularly fast.  By 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday the water was waste deep in their basement, and by the time the fire department came in a boat to evacuate her husband and son at 9:15 p.m. the water had filled their basement and was coming into the first floor of the house.

The Lanes, with help from their family and neighbors have now cleaned everything out of the basement and ripped out drywall and insulation.   All that was damaged by flood waters on the first floor and in the garage has also been removed, “but we have two stories and weren’t as badly hit as some of our neighbors who have only a ranch.”

All dozen of the crew working on the cleanup have had their tetanus shots, and the Lane’s have been visited by a Red Cross case worker doing outreach.  One of their neighbors whose lawn mower was not damaged by the flooding has mowed all their lawns, just to help out.

The Lane’s are one of the more fortunate families in the flooded neighborhoods in Findlay.  Not too far away, James Bowling has lost everything.  He is a renter at East Main Cross Street and lost everything when the water rose to five feet deep in his apartment.  The building has been condemned as unsafe and the landlord has said that he is not going to repair it.  The building will likely be torn down.  Members of the Calvary Baptist Church have come to help Bowling remove flood damaged furniture and clothes from the apartment and to salvage what personal effects that they could.  Bowling has found another place to stay temporarily.

Despite this tragedy, he still is thankful for all the help that the American Red Cross has provided to him and the community since the floods.  He told Red Cross volunteer Joseph Molnar driving ERV #2165 that he had lived all of his live in Findlay and Toledo, and couldn’t say enough about the Red Cross. Bowling drew a large sign and posted it on the side of his building that said “Thank you American Red Cross for all that you are doing.”

Red Cross nurse offers assistance to Indiana flood victim

Red Cross Nurse Gail O’Neill-Merchant talks to Susan Goodman, a victim of the NW Indiana Flooding.

Red Cross Nurse offers help to Indiana flood victim

Four strong chicks provide Red Cross assistance to flood victims

By Courtney Miller, American Red Cross Public Affairs

 

            It’s been a tiring day for Belinda Tolle, a volunteer from the Ft. Kearney Chapter of the American Red Cross. Tolle and her team of three other Red Cross volunteers from across the country spent the morning driving through the streets of Lake Station, IN, meeting flood victims and making sure they had the proper means to get back on their feet.

            “These people are in desperate straits,” says Tolle. “This isn’t an easy story.”

            Tolle and her team, which includes Carole Raymundo, a client caseworker from the Southern Tier Chapter in Endicott, NY, Gail O’Neill-Merchant, a nurse from the Greater Steuban Chapter in Corning NY, and Susan Halford, a mental health volunteer from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter in Philadelphia, have been working together for two days and feel they have a strong team.

            “We work well together and we have a system that doesn’t overwhelm the people we’re working with,” says Tolle.

            “We’ve met some great clients and we’re happy that we’re out here with the ability to solve their needs,” says Raymundo.

            On Saturday, September 1, 2007, the team left the Northwest Indiana Chapter in their rental car and ventured out into surrounding neighborhoods that had been affected by recent flooding. They weren’t prepared for what they found in a small neighborhood in Lake Station, Indiana.

            One of first people they met in the neighborhood was Susan Goodman and her son Justin. Susan had two broken feet and was using a wheelchair to get around. Their home had been one of the hardest hit during the flooding and standing water remains in their basement.

            “The Red Cross provided the clean up kits and water and they’ve been the only organization to come out here to make sure we’re ok,” said Goodman, who sits in her wheelchair on the front porch to get fresh air and to take a break from breathing in the stench of mold.

            “We’ll be giving the Goodman family direct assistance to make sure they can get what they need,” says Tolle.

            Meeting families like the Goodman family is difficult. When asked how this group manages to keep their spirits up and those of the families they work with, Susan Halford, the mental health volunteer from Philadelphia says, “We’re a group of four strong chicks. We laugh a lot. These situations are tragic, but every one of these families is so grateful and so respectful, we go away feeling good.”

Quillins IGA Support Minnesota Flood Relief

Lori Thillen, Store Manager for Caledonia Quillins IGA helped to collect and send food deliveries to Rushford

Quillins IGA Responds to Rushmore’s Flood Disaster

Glenda Plunkett, RRT

American Red Cross

DR665-08

Quillins IGA Responds to Rushmore’s Flood Disaster 

Rochester, MN, August 27, 2007; Lifelong resident of Caledonia, Lori Thillen is the manager for Quillens IGA. She received a call from Rushford saying they need food. She heard about how hundreds of residents of Rushmore were forced from their homes in the middle of the night. Thillen knew that many would not be able to return because their homes had been condemned due to the damage incurred from the flood. Her heart ached for them.

Like many citizens she wondered how she and the business she managed could help. She decided that she would take up a collection to buy groceries for their affected neighbors. It was a resounding success. Local townspeople dug into their pockets to make a difference. Two pick-up trucks and over a thousand dollars later, they drove to Rushford to help.

“We took massive amounts of groceries to the Red Cross shelter. We thought they need food. Everyone has to eat! We sent 4 – 25# turkeys, boxes of stuffing, canned potatoes, industrial size cans of soup, 2 cases of hot dogs, canned hams, a case of peanut butter, grapes, cantaloupes, watermelons, toothbrushes, toothpaste, anti-bacterial soap, and personal hygiene products to name a few,” stated Thillen. “We just wanted to help the Red Cross help our neighbors.”

“I want to thank the residents of Caledonia for all of their support. Without their donations we could not have made this grocery run to Rushford. We still have funds left over and I am thinking maybe they should be used for school supplies.”

Contact: Laurel Goforth, 571-226-8267

RED CROSS SERVICE CENTER CLOSING IN RUSHFORD

Rochester, MN, September 4, 2007 – The American Red Cross is moving from the emergency phase of the flood disaster to the recovery phase. The Service Center in Rushford (Filmore County), MN, will close tomorrow, September 5, 2007 at 5pm. The American Red Cross will continue to help families affected by the flood by providing assistance and referrals. Red Cross operators are available 24 hours a day by contacting 1-866-GET INFO.There is absolutely no charge for any Red Cross disaster assistance. All disaster assistance is free — a gift from the American people. No repayment is required or expected.If you have been affected by the flood and need assistance, please contact the American Red Cross at 1-866-GET INFO.

 

RED CROSS CLOSES SERVICE CENTER IN RUSHFORD

Attention News Directors:

Please air this announcement immediately through September 5th, 2007

0:30 SECONDS

This is an IMPORTANT message from the American Red Cross for THOSE AFFECTED BY THE RECENT Minnesota/Wisconsin flood. The Red Cross will close its disaster relief Service Center IN RUSHFORD (Filmore county), minnesota tomorrow at 5pm. If you have been affected by the floods and STILL need assistance but have not been to a Red Cross Service Center, please do so as soon as possible. or call the Red Cross TOLL FREE at 1-866-GET-INFO.

Response Technology on the job in Minnesota

Rushford, MN

Inspired by the Red Cross

 By: Stephanie Carter

American Red Cross

It was August 18, 2007, and it had been raining heavily for days.

Bonnie Oldham was exhausted from a long day of working outdoors and had been sound asleep for several hours. Her husband, Roger woke her at 11:20 p.m. Her daughter was on the phone telling them their town, Stockton, Minnesota, was being evacuated.

It was too late for them to evacuate. The water was already lapping over the front porch and Roger decided it would be safest for them on the roof. He tried to open the door but it was stuck. The house was shifting and the doors were jammed shut.

Bonnie awakened her 72 year old mother, Audrey Ellinghuysen, who has on-set Alzheimer’s disease, and helped her gather her medications and a change of clothes.                                                                                                                                  

Both Bonnie and Roger’s cell phones rang. Bonnie’s son was heading to Stockton but she told him it was too late. Roger told his son they were stuck in the house. During these hurried conversations, the phones went dead. 

Roger pried open the door. He and Aubrey tried to use a glass patio table to gain access to the roof but the glass shattered. They dragged a desk and night stand out of the house and stacked the furniture. Roger boosted his wife and mother-in-law onto the roof. By adrenaline alone, Bonnie reached down, grabbed her husband and pulled him up along side of them.

Roger, who suffers from heart failure, began gasping for air. Bonnie realized she didn’t have his nitrogen pills. She climbed down and ran back into the home.

She saw her frightened cat, Sylvester sitting on the bed. She knew she couldn’t take him with her so she put him on the shelf in the closet. “I told him to wait until Mama comes to get you,” Bonnie said.

She grabbed two quilts and forgot the medication. Roger pulled her up on the roof and would not let her go back for the pills. “A wall of water was heading towards us. The sound was deafening,” Bonnie recalled.

They heard a loud snap and thought it was a tree but it was their house ripping away from its foundation. As if in slow motion, the house started moving with the current. Roger yelled, “Here we go.”

“We knew we were in for a ride,” Bonnie said. “We were level with the tree tops and had to duck under the power lines.”

They saw their neighbors also on the roofs of their homes yelling for them. Bonnie yelled back, “Tell my son I’ll see him later.”

The house was carried a few blocks through their neighborhood and grounded to a halt on the railroad tracks. Only a few more feet and they would be dragged under the tracks and into the woods. It was 12:50 a.m.

Throughout the night, they clung to each other and waited. Bonnie used the quilts to shelter them from the rain. They saw a car being carried by the water coming towards them but it became snagged on the tracks as well. They heard strange popping and hissing sounds and realized they were surrounded by gas tanks.

They were discovered at 5:45 a.m. Several firefighters arrived by airboat and a neighbor arrived with a ladder. They were taken to a shelter where they were told the American Red Cross had listed them as missing.

They arrived at St. Mary’s University and met with a Red Cross volunteer who told Bonnie her son had called 10 minutes prior desperately trying to locate his family. The Red Cross immediately called her son back and put them in touch with each other.  

Bonnie said, “The Red Cross volunteer instantly said tell us what you need. Roger needed medical assistance and they made sure he got it.” They rested at the shelter until family arrived.

On Monday, Bonnie returned to her house, which was still sitting across the tracks. A National Guardsman prohibited her from entering but Bonnie was determined to find her cat. With the assistance of the National Guardsman, she found Sylvester alive. “I called to him and he answered me with a meow,” she said.

On Saturday, employees of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation tried to remove their house from the tracks but it crumbled. Bonnie was able to salvage photos of her dad who passed away one year ago.

Bonnie has visited the Red Cross Client Service Center in Winona daily, seeking counseling and long term recovery referrals to get her life back on track.

Though exhausted, Bonnie said, “The Red Cross was fantastic out there. They put us in touch with our family; gave us food and water; and helped with Roger’s medications. I saw what the Red Cross did for the Katrina victims. And after all this, I want to help people too. I want to become a Red Cross volunteer.”

 Written by Stephanie Carter, a volunteer with the Rappahannock Chapter of the American Red Cross assisting with the Minnesota/Wisconsin floods