Letter from Tennessee River Executive Director, Katy Hagstrom - November 2018

The 2018 Hurricane Season brought many opportunities for deployments to the Tennessee Region and the Tennessee River Chapter of the American Red Cross. On September 14, Hurricane Florence made landfall on the East Coast bringing significant flooding to several areas across the Carolina’s. On October 10, Hurricane Michael made landfall with 155 mph wind speeds on the Florida Panhandle and continued, causing substantial damage throughout Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.

The Tennessee River Chapter is proud to have deployed volunteers in many capacities of Preparedness, Response, and Recovery for both Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael. Our volunteers have served as Emergency Response Vehicle drivers, sheltering, feeding, Health Services, Casework, Distribution of Emergency Supplies, External Relations, Reunification, Disaster Services Technology, Disaster Assessment, Life Safety Asset Protection, and Transportation.

This Hurricane Season, the Tennessee River Chapter had 32 deployments and some volunteers who deployed multiple times. During their deployment, volunteers committed two or more weeks serving the mission of the American Red Cross and supporting communities devastated by Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael. We would like to personally thank each of these volunteers for their dedicated time, service, and hard work while away.

From the bottom of our hearts thank you to the following volunteers who deployed this Hurricane season:

Angela McLaughlin: ERV Driver, NC
Joey Monroe: ERV Driver, NC, LSAP, FL
Amber Hillis: Shelter worker, NC, GA
Garry Hillis: Shelter worker, NC
Don Zimmer: Shelter worker, NC
Rose Caltrider: Shelter worker, NC
Tracy Yerkey: Shelter worker, NC
Joyce Work: Shelter worker, NC
Charles Thomas: Feeding Supervisor, NC, Feeding Lead, GA
Pam Turner: Health Professionals Direct Deployment Coach
Phil Barletto: Casework Supervisor, NC
John Price: Distribution of Emergency Supplies, NC
Lisa Lohrman: Distribution of Emergency Supplies, NC, FL, ERV Driver, FL
Marvin Williams: Distribution of Emergency Supplies Supervisor, NC, FL, Transportation, FL
Jim Shaw: Health Services, NC, FL
Ed England: ERV Driver, GA
Mark Turner: ERV Driver, GA
Tami Wright: Reunification, FL
Montalilita Ruffin: Shelter worker, FL
Lee Loggins: DST, TX
Jeannie Decker: Disaster Assessment, GA
Vincent Hernandez: Disaster Assessment, FL
Alisha Perkins: Shelter worker, FL

If you would like to volunteer with the American Red Cross, please visit RedCross.org or call our office at 931-645-6401