Lisa McGee is preparing for a trip that will take her thousands of miles away to the other side of the country.

McGee is a part of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Region of the American Red Cross and is now one of many responding to the disaster zone in Alaska.

“I am going to help out with some of the initial phases of this emergency operation,” she said. 

McGee is joining a critical disaster relief operation after the remnants of Typhoon Halong slammed into the coast last weekend, causing widespread flooding while also leading to mass evacuations. More than 1,500 people have lost their homes due to the strong storm, and at least one person was killed.

“These people lived across 40 villages that were inundated by water. Their infrastructure is obsolete at this point. There are no roads, their utilities are down and they lost everything,” McGee said. “This is a situation where they are going to be displaced for the foreseeable future.”

McGee said the American Red Cross will have a few mega shelters in Anchorage. Adding that one that’s already up and running is helping 2,000 people, and they’re expecting more in the days to come.

McGee said she’s ready to get to work and is looking forward to making a difference.

“We become that light in the darkness that leads them to that next step as they navigate their new normal because they’re experiencing circumstances that they didn’t expect,” she said. 

McGee said she will be in Alaska for at least three weeks or for as long as she’s needed.Â