(Radio Iowa) – More than a dozen American Red Cross volunteers from Iowa are now on duty in several southern states that saw destruction from the powerful winds, heavy rain and flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. Josh Murray, spokesman for the agency’s Nebraska-Iowa region, says they’ve dispatched 15 people to a list of sites were they’re needed the most.

Murray says the Iowa volunteers will be performing a series of valuable tasks while they’re deployed, including those driving the big white emergency response vehicle, or ERV.

Once it’s safe, others will be doing damage assessments in neighborhoods to determine the extent of the storm’s fury and what Red Cross resources will be needed.

The storm’s death toll is expected to top one-hundred while hundreds of thousands of people remain without power. Murray says there are several ways in which Iowans can help the Red Cross to help storm survivors.

The Red Cross deployed more than 45 emergency response vehicles across the southeast with another two dozen ERVs enroute. Murray says some 1,400 agency disaster workers are already helping, with more on the way.