WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —
Eight volunteers from South Florida, including two from Palm Beach and Treasure Coast, are heading north to assist with disaster relief efforts as Hurricane Isaias approaches the Florida Panhandle.
The American Red Cross has activated disaster relief operations in Alabama, Mississippi, and parts of North and Central Florida. Among the volunteers are locals Robert McConnachie and Gary Pelletier, who bring years of disaster response experience.
Traci Mitchell, executive director of the Palm Beach and Treasure Coast Chapter, highlighted the team’s preparedness.
“With the experience that we have, we are able to literally flip the switch and go into action. We are able to be boots on the ground, delivering the services, the assistance that will be needed in the moment,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell explained that volunteers from different chapters collaborate as one disaster response team, with each person assigned a specific role.
“We go in and we work following our chains of command to ensure that we’re delivering the best, absolute, best mission services to those individuals that have been impacted by whatever the disaster is,” Mitchell said.
The Red Cross stated that the duration of their volunteers’ deployment in the Panhandle will depend on the extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Isaias.
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