Augusta volunteers help with recovery efforts in Florida

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Crews in Florida are working around the clock as people and businesses are dealing with life-altering situations.

One of those hard-hit areas is Daytona.

Now local Red Cross leaders are down in Florida helping with clean-up efforts. We talked to a volunteer who was relocated from Valdosta to Florida to find out how critical it is to have extra help during relief efforts.

Food, water, and essentials are slowly coming in. Communication with others is difficult because of little to no Wi-Fi.

Executive Director of the American Red Cross of East Central Georgia Susan Everitt was able to have stable Wi-Fi in one area so she could tell us about the Daytona area damage when she first got there.

“There were boats all tangled up all around each other. It was quite a literal mess,” she said.

They’re located at a mega-shelter with more than 300 people.

“There’s a lot of babies. There are a lot of little kids. There are quite a lot of elderly people that have many, many, many needs. You can think about it. They literally left there with nothing, so they need food. They need water. They need clothes. They need diapers, baby formula,” she said.

With so many kids, there are parents who have to work even harder in order to get them to shelters.

“She quite literally gave birth six days ago, right at Hurricane Ian, and was discharged, and her home was flooded,” said Everitt.

This wasn’t the only difficult case.

“She is out deployed in south Florida. She is helping others while her home here is flooded,” she said. “You don’t have your spouse here. You have three little babies who don’t have a car anymore because they got flooded.”

Even through that, morale is still high as they fight to get back to normal.

“They’re in such good spirits. It’s amazing. It’s so very grateful for what they do,” she said.

Everitt says that if you’re trying to help out here, the three ways you can do so is to volunteer, give blood and make a financial contribution.

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