Hurricane Helene leaves behind catastrophic damage that has uprooted lives and communities forever. Tens of thousands of homes have been affected across a huge area. Entire communities have become unreachable, isolated by flooding as well as damaged roads and bridges. Around 1.3 million customers, approximately 4 million people, remain without electricity supply
The American Red Cross has launched a massive response to ensure no one faces this difficult time, focusing only on providing safe shelter, meals and support for those affected by the storm.
Red Cross photographer Marko Kocik recently visited a Red Cross shelter in Florida. When talking to some of the people who were forced to evacuate, they all have something in common: they have lost everything and have nowhere to go. Here are some of their stories:
much love
Jennifer Walker and her husband were forced to evacuate after Hurricane Helene’s storm surge rose almost to the roof of their home. The couple escaped the storm by taking shelter in a Red Cross shelter in Clearwater, Florida.
“I was standing on the kitchen counter as the water was rising, and when it got up to my waist, I knew we had to go,” Walker said. “We could feel our home shifting on its foundation, and some of our neighbors’ homes were pushed several feet into their yards, as if they had just been pushed by a giant bulldozer.
Being in this shelter has made a big difference in our lives. “Everyone here is like a big family,” he continued. “The volunteers have been very kind to us, I have seen affection in this place.” Walker and Kimberley Heater of the Red Cross have formed a true bond. “Even on my day off from volunteering, I had to go check on them,” Heater said. “I care a lot about these people.”
There’s no other place to go
Gerald Tietz was a bricklayer for almost 40 years in Pennsylvania and when he retired a few years ago, he moved to Florida. When Hurricane Helene’s storm surge flooded his home, he sought refuge at an American Red Cross shelter in Clearwater, Florida.
I had never seen anything like it,” he said, “I had to go somewhere else. I’m so glad I found this refuge because I had nowhere else to go. I arrived hungry, and these volunteers fed me and have met every need I have since I have been here. “They have checked on me, given me a place to sleep and kept me up to date on available services.”
Malia Funaki (left) also sought refuge there after storm surge forced her to evacuate her home. “I had nowhere else to go,” he said. «They have treated me as if I were family. “I feel safe here, and I know they’re not going to close the doors until they know I have a place to go.”
They have given me a little normality
Years ago, Amanda was a journalist who covered the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans. After Hurricane Helene devastated her home, Amanda Lemond also sought safety at the American Red Cross shelter in Clearwater.
“I lost my car, I lost everything,” he said. “I grabbed my laptop and some stuff, and then I thought, where am I going to go?” And where will I be allowed to take my dog? From the moment I entered the shelter, I have not felt like a number. Within five minutes they already knew my name and the name of my dog. “They calmed me down so I could sleep that night.”
“We’ve become a community here,” Lemond said. “They even put up a TV and we watched Monday night football together. “When my world is anything but normal right now, you have brought some normality to my life.”
I couldn’t escape the storm
In the face of overwhelming devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, it’s all hands on deck at the Red Cross across the Southeastern United States. Red Cross Central Florida Chapter Executive Mike Brown volunteers at the Red Cross shelter in Clearwater. He has spent time talking with Joan Hawk, a local resident who sought protection at the shelter after evacuating her flooded home.
“I’ve donated to the Red Cross for years,” Hawk said, “and now we’re here in a shelter.
Joan has numerous health problems, and the Red Cross disaster health volunteer has monitored her closely. “I stopped my prescriptions,” he said, “and they have given me the medications I need.”
The storm surge caused by the hurricane rose at his home at an alarming rate, more than four feet high. They went to the garage to escape, but the water reached the hood of their minivan and the car was destroyed. The police took them to the shelter. “I want to seriously thank the Red Cross for helping us,” Hawk said. “Everyone has been wonderful, I don’t know what we would have done without them.”
I lost everything
“I went to an evacuation shelter the night of Hurricane Helene,” said Tina Jackson, a resident of Tampa, Florida, “and the next night they brought me here to the American Red Cross shelter.”
In my house, the water was up to my waist, and a lot of it was sewage that was backed up through the system,” he said. «I went to the bedroom to pick up some clothes and things, but the drawers expanded and wouldn’t open. “I saved very little, I lost everything.”
“You have been wonderful,” he told Red Cross volunteer Victor Amsdell. «I had nowhere to go. “I have always donated blood to the Red Cross, but now I see all the good the Red Cross does when people really need help.”
