CLEVELAND — As Gov. Mike DeWine deploys a North Canton-based unit of the Ohio National Guard to North Carolina, multiple Northeast Ohio organizations are also sending workers to impacted areas.
“The damage is devastating,” says Mike Parks, the regional executive for the American Red Cross of Northern Ohio.
Parks arrived in Asheville, North Carolina Sunday morning.
“The destruction is just remarkable,” Parks explains. “We don't have any water, no power, no connectivity, very poor communications, and it's extremely difficult.”
According to NBC, Asheville, a city with a population of about 95,000, was left isolated after Hurricane Helen due to damaged roads and a lack of power and cellphone service.
“Obviously a lot roads are still impassable,” Parks adds. “It is definitely a catastrophic event here in the western North Carolina area.”
Parks was disconnected from 3News only minutes into an interview conducted via Zoom.
However, John Kaminski, a leader for Ohio Task Force 1, was able to stay connected from Haywood County, which is west of Asheville. His 82-member team arrived in the state Monday to begin search and rescue operations after completing work in Florida Sunday.
“As we were released from Florida, they're (Ohio Task Force 1 members) ready to help people from North Carolina get back on their feet as well, so they're excited to go to work,” Kaminski says. “Because we haven't been to our mission area yet, we really haven't seen exactly what has happened here, but we only can assume that stuff that we encountered before with flooding structures and mud slides, and that type of thing.”
As of now, there is no timetable for how long Ohio Task Force 1 will be assisting with relief efforts after Hurricane Helen.
The Northeast Ohio Division of the Salvation Army is also deploying two disaster relief experts to Florida.
“We were preparing response efforts before the storm made landfall, and we will be helping these communities recover long after the flood waters recede,” Robert Myers III, a coordinator for The Salvation Army USA Eastern Territory, said in a release.
According to representative from FirstEnergy, the company has sent 150 transmission workers from Ohio and Pennsylvania to help power companies in West Virginia and the Carolinas.