KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The American Red Cross says it is in need of volunteers in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, and Cathy Gordon, a Shawnee resident who is volunteering with the organization in North Carolina, can attest to that.
"We have a lot of volunteers but we are desperately in need of more volunteers," she said.
Gordon is a nurse practitioner and took her experience to a mass shelter near the Asheville, North Carolina, airport where 275 people are currently staying.
Gordon has witnessed everything from cars in creeks to mud-filled streets.
"I've heard some amazing stories from people that have survived those floods, and it's incredibly sad," she said.
Gordon says a "young, married couple" told her the story of how they couldn't rescue their infant in the flooding.
"They had a two-month-old and a tree fell on their home, it crushed the baby’s crib, the baby was in the crib, they had to leave the baby behind because they were getting washed away in the river," Gordon said.
"They're now trying to find their little baby," she continued.
Gordon works 12-to-16-hour days and sleeps on a cot at the shelter where she is volunteering. Alongside her are 23 veterans, their communal home was washed away in the flood.
"They have nothing," she said.
Gordon says the American Red Cross' priority is getting people food, water and shelter, and its next steps are to help people return to their everyday lives. That next step includes finding new homes for people, helping determine if their homes are safe to return to, or relocating survivors with family members.
But, conditions in North Carolina — where search and rescue missions are ongoing — are making that next step a leap.
“The roads are out, the power is out, the cell towers are out," Gordon said.
Gordon said it took her over an hour to travel 11 miles from one shelter to another because of washed-away bridges.
According to the American Red Cross, 12 volunteers from the Greater Kansas City and Northwest Missouri Chapter are on the ground helping in affected areas. However, the organization says it is in "urgent need" for more.
“You know, Kansas City is really good at that, for filling the need, and there’s a huge need for us to just surround our neighbors in North Carolina and help them," Gordon said.
KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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