Iowans Mike Case and Juan Trujillo drove a Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle to Louisiana.Photo: Red Cross Iowa-Nebraska Chapter
(St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana) -- More than a dozen Iowa Red Cross staff and volunteers from Iowa are in Louisiana, helping people impacted by Hurricane Ida. Leslie Schaffer of the Red Cross office in Des Moines says the disaster response is extensive, and ongoing. She says volunteers have been busy operating shelters, providing food and water, and handing out cleaning kits.
Schaffer says there continue to be numerous challenges, due to flooded roads and gasoline shortages. She says the wait time for fuel can be hours-long.
Thousands of utility crews continue efforts to restore efforts. As of today (Monday) there were still nearly a half million outages remaining.
Schaffer says Iowans can help by donating to the Red Cross. She says they can also always use new volunteers.