Some Hoosiers are heading to the area to lend a hand to any hurricane evacuees. Hurricane Irene is expected to hit the East Coast areas with winds as high as 109 mph. The hurricane was upgraded to a category 3 hurricane Wednesday.
"This is a big storm even if we don't get a direct hit,” said Warren Lee, Emergency Management Director of North Carolina. “The tropical storm force winds will be on top of us for an extended period of time. So I expect we'll have some infrastructure damage. I expect we'll have considerable power outage. Expect the worst, it can happen."
Two American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis disaster volunteers will drive an Emergency Response Vehicle to North Carolina Wednesday morning.
"This truck can haul up to 1,000 meals at a time, including water snacks, hot food and it's also used to deliver supplies," said volunteer Frank Kominowski. "Sometimes we're asked to look for people who may be unaccounted for in a disaster."
Kominoswki has been volunteering with the Red Cross for nearly 10 years and says he keeps heading back toward disasters because he knows how important it is for victims to feel like they are not alone.
The American Red Cross prepares for disasters by keeping supplies and equipment on stand-by all year to help those in need. On average, the Red Cross spends about $450 million on disaster relief each year.
If you would like to help those affected by disasters, you can make a donation to support the American Red Cross Disaster Relief. You can donate by clicking here for by calling 1-800-RED CROSS or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
