Four volunteers from the UW-Madison chapter of the American Red Cross are currently deployed to assist with preparation and response to Hurricane Ike.

The team traveled to a staging area in Dallas until areas of need could be further identified. Once volunteers receive their assignments from the operations center, they were sent out across the impact region.

“We can’t go to Galveston because they’re evacuating,” Jane Richardson, director of Red Cross marketing and communications, said. “We try to get people as close outside the impact area as is safe.”

As of Sunday, Robert Hoekstra, a volunteer with Red Cross public affairs, said the volunteers checked in with local Red Cross representatives, but their exact location was unknown.

Pam Meyer, a Red Cross volunteer, did similar work in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.  She said responders set up shelters to feed displaced persons, provide showers and supply cleaning kits and safe drinking water.

“I drive an Emergency Response Vehicle, and we do feeding out of that,” Meyer added. “We’ll be able to accomplish feeding sometimes 1,000 people a day through the ERV.”

The National Weather Service downgraded Ike to a tropical storm over the weekend, and the hurricane will weaken to a tropical depression as it moves farther inland.  

However, rescue efforts continue in search of thousands of survivors across the Gulf region.

“This is what we call hardship duty, which means they’re going to have to be taking precautions because of the situation there,” Hoekstra said.

Richardson emphasized the scope of efforts the Red Cross contributes, adding they spent an estimated $40 to $70 million on relief efforts for Hurricane Gustav.

“We can serve as many as 500,000 meals a day, and offer tens of thousands of cots and blankets,” Richardson said. “It’s our responsibility to provide food, shelter, clothing and even counseling.”

Richardson said the Red Cross is still serving thousands in Louisiana, even though the media may have moved on to the next disaster.

Hoekstra also said that three additional trained volunteers were sent to Baton Rouge on Sunday, adding that they were looking for a total of 3,000 volunteers nationally.

The Red Cross is actively seeking donations for relief funds, to combat emergency situations on the scale of Hurricane Ike.

On a more local level, the Red Cross helps with small-scale disasters such as house fires, including the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house fire last May.

The Red Cross volunteers have undergone extensive training and will work 12- to 14-hour shifts each day they are on duty, Hoekstra said.

“It takes just a little time to do the training, but what comes out of it is a very rewarding experience,” Meyer said. “It feels good to help people in need.”

Madison volunteers are expected to spend three weeks volunteering in the wake of Ike.