Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 23, 1994 TAG: 9401230082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
She was dispatched to the flood-ravaged Midwest last year and to south Florida, where Hurricane Andrew struck, the year before.
When the Red Cross called last week, Patterson packed her bags again.
This time, she was told, her destination would be the Los Angeles area, rocked by an earthquake.
"I've been in tornadoes, hurricanes, floods," she said. "But this is my first quake."
Patterson and co-volunteer Kaki Cormany of Boones Mill are the first disaster workers from the Roanoke Valley Red Cross chapter to be called to the disaster relief effort in the quake-hit region of California.
Cormany was called Tuesday;Patterson Thursday. Both were iced-in by the closed Roanoke Regional Airport but finally flew out Saturday.
Neither knows precisely where they will be assigned. Cormany, 54, said she will be working in mass care, ensuring that quake victims get food and shelter. With relief agencies in Southern California scrambling to find shelter for people who have been forced to live outdoors, Cormany said she expects mass-care efforts to be in huge demand.
Patterson, 38, said she will work in family services as a case worker, meeting the needs of families on an individual basis.
The American Red Cross is housing more than 6,000 people in 31 shelters in Southern California and estimates that more than 25,000 families have been affected by the disaster. The Red Cross has 27 emergency rescue vehicles on site and 23 en route.
Patterson said she wasn't sure the Red Cross would call for volunteers from as far east as Virginia. But the call shows that Red Cross volunteers close to the quake region may need some relief, she said.
"You run short of staff after so long," she said. "And many of them may have been affected by the quake themselves."
Terri Lewis, communication director for the Roanoke Valley Red Cross, said the first tier of volunteers is always made up of those in the local disaster area.
"Some have been on 24-hour calls," she said. "And once these workers need to be relieved, they start looking across the country to fill those positions."
The Roanoke Valley Red Cross chapter has a pool of about 20 volunteers whose names are kept in a national computer bank. All have completed training in disaster specialities, Lewis said.
"Generally, we'll have people who will walk in and say they want to volunteer," she said. "But there is so much chaos at any disaster site that when you get there, you want to make sure people know what they are doing and will be effective once they get there. That's what training is for."
Lewis said Patterson and Cormany will likely "be in a place with no electricity, no water. But they know how to operate under those conditions."
The Roanoke Valley Red Cross expects to send as many as 15 volunteers to the quake region, Lewis said. Other volunteers are on standby and will leave when requested.
Cormany said she is looking forward to working with the quake relief effort, despite the cross-country trip. Patterson, who manages a small restaurant, says working disasters is becoming almost commonplace.
"There have been so many disasters lately," she said.
by CNB