American Red Cross Disaster Newsroom

This story is written by Red Cross worker Chuck Gibson.

Sharon Aswad, chief program officer of emergency services and Rick Larson deputy director of emergency services for the South Central NY region Red Cross look over the damage to their offices.

Rick Larson deputy director of emergency services for the South Central NY region Red Cross finally had a day off from Hurricane Irene relief efforts. Or so he thought. It was Wednesday and chapter leadership was transitioning from Irene to pre-planning for Tropical Storm Lee.

“There was one of those orange traffic cones in the parking lot,” recalled Sharon Aswad, chief program officer of emergency services for SCNY. “I looked out the window and saw water was up to the cone. It never got that high in 2006.” They began moving all the rental cars. Sharon called Rick. It was about nine-thirty Wednesday night. Rick’s off day was over.

By midnight all the electrical equipment was moved to the second floor of the chapter offices on Main Street in Endicott. Then it was time to start moving blankets. “We didn’t have any cots left,” Aswad said. At the same time flood waters began threatening the home of the SCNY Red Cross, they were opening shelters. Rick stayed with the chapter to get the gas and electric turned off.

Four Red Cross volunteers were stuck there. Two cars remained in the parking lot with water up to their tires. They got out before the flood waters flowed into the Red Cross offices rising to about a foot on the first floor of the building. All files were wet, shelter surveys were wet. When water comes up that quick, “what can you do,” Aswad wondered aloud.

She called her husband, Mike Aswad, chief of the Hillcrest fire department, and told him they were heading to the Hillcrest Fire Station. He didn’t believe her until he woke up Thursday morning. “I felt like I was abandoning ship,” Aswad said. “I was worried about the community – being able to provide Red Cross services to the community.”

Michael Dickson helps clean up the Southern Tier Chapter offices, in Endicott, N.Y., which suffered flood damage.

Suddenly Hillcrest Fire Station was headquarters for the SCNY Red Cross and the disaster operation center for relief efforts to assist the community. Throughout the loss of their own home on Main Street in Endicott, the staff and volunteers of the SCNY regional chapter continued to respond delivering Red Cross disaster relief to the Southern Tier community.

Sharon Aswad says they “haven’t taken a breath yet.” The hardest part was leaving the chapter thinking they might not be able to maintain services. The most remarkable thing, the best thing is SCNY Red Cross did maintain services to the people affected. “The Red Cross could not function without the exceptional staff we have here,” said Aswad. “The everyday things we normally use are gone. This won’t sink in until we are back in our office.”

Twenty days later Rick Larson finally did get that day off. He also had the chance to reflect on the experience of losing the chapter office and managing a major disaster relief effort. “I have learned so much,” Larson said. “What I’ve learned can’t be put into words.”