Twenty-two Hawaii Red Cross volunteers have been sent to the Gulf Coast to assist the American Red Cross response to hurricanes Gustav and Hanna and in preparation for Ike. More than 11,375 Red Cross volunteers have been mobilized in the effort with volunteers positioned throughout the Gulf Coast in South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.

Hawai'i's 22 volunteers will manage shelters for evacuees and returning residents in Louisiana, serve as Red Cross liaisons at Louisiana government emergency operations centers, provide crisis counseling to evacuees and those bracing for the storms in Texas and the Carolinas, conduct health assessments of shelters throughout Louisiana, provide disaster assessment of residences affected by Hanna, assist managing shelters of Red Cross volunteers from other states who have come to assist with the relief effort and provide communications for shelters, service centers for the community and headquarters operations.

The Hawaii volunteers, 11 of which are from Hawai'i County, have gained valuable experience about mass-care operations to assist Hawai'i with managing its own efforts to plan and provide lifesaving services at evacuation shelters when disasters strike here, Red Cross officials said.

Gustav was the second biggest disaster since Hurricane Katrina. Before landfall, the Red Cross housed 58,000 people in 574 Red Cross shelters in 12 states (this is more people than the second night after Katrina hit). Many areas suffered severe damage, including the destruction of major electrical transmission lines. As a result, about 600,000 households were without electricity. Even though most of the residents have returned to their homes, the Red Cross was serving 400,000 meals a day (as many meals as during the peak of Katrina) at a cost of $25 million to $30 million per week. Red Cross volunteers are running shelters, feeding people from mobile kitchens, distributing clean up kits, conducting damage assessment, and doing client casework, including mental health counseling.

Michele Liberty, a Disaster Action Team volunteer from Keauhou has been working and staying in the shelters in Louisiana. She was there when busloads of evacuees came from New Orleans and the surrounding wards. Many of the people who arrived had special health needs, including a gentleman who was in diabetic shock. His home had been destroyed and all he had left was his mailbox and his walker. Since he had no family to connect with, Liberty waited until the ambulance came and when it was time for them to part, he gave her a long strong hug to show his gratitude.

Andy Levin, a volunteer from Hilo who works for Mayor Harry Kim, is serving as a Red Cross government liaison at the Emergency Operations Center in Louisiana, coordinating with 54 mayors and police chiefs on the closure of the shelters in the area and the transfer of the shelterees on buses back to their home towns.

Esther Lau, a nurse from Honolulu, conducted assessments of Red Cross health services in shelters in Texas receiving evacuees from Louisiana and personally helped coordinate the transfer of bedridden people staying in the shelter back to their homes.

As of yesterday, 19 shelters remained open and 148,000 customers without power. Red Cross is currently providing 104,000 meals per day to storm weary residents of Louisiana to get them on the road to recovery. Caseworkers are actively meeting with families, conducting assessments and determining the losses to homes. The Red Cross also is using its Safe and Well website to reunite families and friends separated due to the evacuation. To date, 2,740 people have registered on the site.

Donors can go online to www.redcross.org or call 1-800-REDCROSS. Donations will help the agency operate shelters and provide meals for evacuees, victims and cleanup workers. The money is used for things like food, cots, blankets, toiletries, clean-up supplies. Donations also ensure that volunteers can be sent to regions to provide vital services like mental health and first aid.