Postcard From Moore, Oklahoma

Dear Red Cross in Minnesota,

I’m in Oklahoma working with teams on Community Partnerships that connect with local and visiting agencies and organizations responding to the May tornadoes, including the one that hit Moore. We’ve found more than 300 contacts, from major corporations to families, that have “pop-up” sites responding to these disasters.

We’re operating out of a Multiple Agency Resource Center in Moore. It’s similar to FEMA Disaster Response Centers, but being operated by volunteer, non-government organizations.  Here, clients check-in with a Red Cross relief worker and then move from table to table to access recovery service referrals on site. The process works well. If anything, it’s slowed by the high volume of cases. More than 3500 families are impacted.

The Oklahoma Red Cross is well prepared with strong community support and presence. From what I can see, Red Cross disaster relief functions are going strong in all functions.

We’re expecting severe weather the rest of this week and have had to interrupt Red Cross work because of it early Tuesday and probably today. Being aware and prepared starts with each of us!

From,
Pj Doyle

P.S. I’m including a photo of the disaster in Moore and a picture of me (left) with Becky Tsongen, who’s also a Red Cross community partners relief volunteer from Minnesota.