Volunteers from Mid-Missouri respond to Tropical Storm Debby

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri residents are ready to step in to help with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Debby this week.

Debby made a second landfall Thursday morning in South Carolina after initially making landfall Monday on Florda's Gulf Coast. The Associated Press reports seven people have died. More flooding is expected in both North and South Carolina.

In anticipation of the storm, the American Red Cross and Missouri Task Force 1 both deployed large groups to assist with Debby.

The American Red Cross has sent 16 Missouri volunteers to the Georgia and Carolina area, including three people from the Central and Northern Missouri Chapter, according to a spokesperson for the organization.

Montgomery City resident Jolene Davis got notice of the deployment on Sunday night and arrived in Augusta, Georgia, on Tuesday. She and other volunteers are now waiting to be assigned to areas hit by the storm.

"Any time we go out, they always put us inland or away from any damage or harm because we need to be ready to go once they assess where the need is," Davis said.

In the meantime, Davis said volunteers are taking inventory of supplies and inputting data. Once assigned, she said they'll go around in their Emergency Response Vehicle to provide food and water to people affected by Debby.

"We'll be given an area to travel around and go house-to-house and jut go on the P.A. system and say, 'We have food for you,'" Davis said.

Meanwhile, almost 50 Missouri Task Force 1 members are also in the area awaiting their assignments.

Boone County Fire Protection District spokesperson Gale Blomenkamp said 45 task force members were deployed Tuesday and arrived in Cary, North Carolina, on Wednesday as part of the Type III task force team activated by FEMA. Two other task force members are stationed in Macon, Georgia, as part of FEMA's Incident Support Team.

He said the MO TF-1 members in North Carolina took over 100,000 pounds of equipment to prepare for any scenario. Since arriving, he said they've been repacking their equipment, doing updated training and getting rest while they wait to be assigned.

He said the group put an emphasis on water rescue with extra boats, swift water rescue technicians and boat operators. But, the group will do whatever is needed.

"They could be doing a wide-area search, they could be doing water rescues, they could be doing humanitarian-aid type things," Blomenkamp said. "It's really whatever that local need is and whatever the state needs them to do."

Blomenkamp said the task force is currently on the backside of the storm and is experiencing some of the heavy rainfall making its way up the East Coast. That rain could cause the flash flooding which Blomenkamp said the task force is prepared to assist with.

Both MO TF-1 and the American Red Cross deployments are around two weeks.

Davis has been an American Red Cross volunteer since 2012 and said this situation has been somewhat unusual compared to her previous 14 deployments with the American Red Cross.

"Usually within a day or two, we are on the ground and going fast and furious. This one, the storm is moving so slowly that it's hard to get into a lot of those areas," Davis said.

Blomenkamp said no matter the situation, it's important for Missouri to assist others in time of need.

"I think it's important that every state helps each other," Blomenkamp said. "These people train very hard, they're some of the best of the best out there in the business. For us to be able to go help them, when the time comes that Missouri needs it, they'll be here to help us, too."

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