Hundreds of Iowans with power companies and relief agencies are still on the East Coast helping residents recover from Hurricane Sandy. More than three-dozen volunteers with the American Red Cross chapter based in Omaha-Council Bluffs are deployed mostly in New York and New Jersey. The chapter’s CEO Tina Labellarte just returned from two weeks in the disaster zone and says more volunteers from Iowa are needed. Labellarte says, “Back here at home, there are new people saying, for the first time, ‘I want to do that and I want to be a Red Cross volunteer,’ so the next time there’s a big event or if this one continues, they’ll be able to go, too.” In our region, she says there are about three-thousand trained Red Cross volunteers who are ready to serve when called.

“Not all of those are in a position to be able to travel,” Labellarte says. “Right now, we have about 40 people from this area who are in New Jersey. We have to replenish the troops constantly. We need at least hundreds of people to come forward and I suspect that we’ll see a good response.” Labellarte says disasters like Hurricane Sandy show how many volunteers the Red Cross needs to provide important services at every level.

“Answer the phone, make coffee, set up cots, help selecting supplies, driving a forklift,” Labellarte says. “Everybody starts in the same place. They start with their local chapter. You go for orientation and training and learn about what kinds of courses, what kinds of experience you need to have to progress, to be able to go out.” The Red Cross’ office in Omaha will offer an orientation/training session next Monday, from 4:30 to 6 PM, while another session will be held at the Council Bluffs chapter office on December 19th. Check with your nearest chapter via www.redcross.org

(Radio Iowa)

A five-member team of local responders from Shelby County dispatched to assist with Super Storm Sandy, arrived home this week, after having spent more than three weeks riding out the storm in Farmingdale, NY.

Shelby County Emergency Response Team (the day they left for NY) – Jason Wickizer photo.

Two teams were sent out during the storm to insure that water and food were on the ground ready for use when the sun rose the day after the storm hit. Shelby County Emergency Management officials report the teams served millions of meals, and thousands of gallons of drinking water. Prior to coming home, the team paid a visit to “Ground Zero,” the site of the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

The team, comprised of Jason Wickizer, Shelby County Emergency Medical Services Coordinator, Chad Kroger, Jordan Sanders, Andrea Systad and Ryne Nelson, worked long hours under stressful conditions. They worked a total of 256 hours over a 16 day assignment, or approximately 16 hours per day. Many of those hours went by without a break, with the team being on their feet the entire time. In addition to riding out winds of 75- to 85-miles per hour during the height of the storm, the team worked as the snow fell the following week.

Officials say the experience they gained in Incident Command and Disaster Response will be used to assist in training other responders locally. The crew also made many new friends and contacts during their stint.

They left Des Moines on October 28th enroute to New York, and returned to Harlan, Tuesday. Many of those same team members assisted in fighting wild fires in the western U-S in early August and September, and had just returned to Iowa before being mobilized for deployment to the east coast.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency says it will discontinue the biweekly local Fire Danger updates. EMA officials say the decision was made after a general consensus of the majority of the Fire Chiefs of Shelby County recommended the move.

Field work in the County is complete, and although the quantity of fuel which would make control of fires difficult is greatly diminished, officials say the area remains very dry, and anyone planning a large burn is encouraged to contact the Emergency Management Agency and their local Fire Chief. 

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s unclaimed property, including rocks, people’s ashes and baseball cards, will be offered in an online auction beginning Nov. 26.  Iowa Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald says that 100 lots are being prepared for the eBay auction.  The state has acquired the property from abandoned safe deposit boxes and other sources after a period of time spelled out by Iowa law.

Fitzgerald says the state has returned more than $154 million worth of unclaimed property over the years. He says last year his office took possession of an estimated $27 million in unclaimed property.