From: Behling, Barbara <Barbara.Behling@redcross.

org>
Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2017 8:05 PM
To: Jessica Priest
Cc: Phillips, April M.; Murphy-Luera, Debra
Subject: Victoria Advocate

Hi Jessica,

Below are your questions provided to April Phillips & the American Red Cross team.
Our
answers are below.

Barbara Behling
Public Affairs team - Harvey
920-642-9404

In the last six weeks, the American Red Cross has launched a wide-ranging relief
effort
to help people devastated by three historic, back-to-back hurricanesHarvey, Irma,
and
Maria. More than 1,000 Red Cross disaster workers are on the ground in Texas now,
and
as many as 160 emergency response vehicles are helping to deliver meals and relief
supplies across the hardest-hit areas. Our response in Texas and Louisiana
includes:
* Providing more than 426,000 overnight shelter stays along with community and
government partners. As of Friday night, nearly 900 people remained in 7 Red Cross
and partner shelters across Texas.
* Serving more than 4.1 million meals and snacks with the help of our partners.
* Distributing more than 1.4 million relief items like diapers, bug spray,
cleaning
supplies, coolers, and comfort kits containing deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste
and other hygiene items.
* Providing more than 116,000 mental health and health services to support and
care
for people.
* Authorized payment of $400 to more than 380,000 households severely affected
by
Hurricane Harvey. Thats more than $150 million in direct financial assistance, and

we continue to process applications.

1. How many shelters did the Red Cross have in Victoria, Calhoun, Refugio,
Goliad,
DeWitt, Jackson and Lavaca counties? How many volunteers did it have in the
above counties?

The Red Cross opened multiple shelters in the Coastal Bend area, including two in
Victoria County, two in Refugio County and two in DeWitt County. We also supported
several community-operated shelters with supplies, including one in Jackson County.

We do not yet have data at the country level for our response in Texas. Statewide,

nearly 9,000 Red Cross volunteers and staff responded to Hurricane Harvey.

2. The DeWitt County Judge said county employees had to drive in 40 mph and over

winds to Victoria to pick up supplies the Red Cross had left at the Victoria
Regional
Airport for a shelter in Cuero on Aug. 25. Why were the supplies left at the
airport
and why couldn't a Red Cross volunteer or employee driven them to Cuero?

On August 25, Hurricane Harvey made landfall near DeWitt County as a Category 4
Hurricane: the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States in more
than a
decade.

The DeWitt County Emergency Manager initially indicated that the Cuero Shelter
would
open on Saturday, August 26, and the Chapter planned accordingly. At midnight
August
24, the Emergency Manager decided to open the shelter the next morning (August 25)
at 08:00AM.

The Red Cross provided cots, blankets and water on Friday, August 25; additional
comfort kits and blankets on Saturday, August 26; and, additional supplies
including
ready-to-eat meals on Sunday, August 27. On Saturday August 26, while the
provisioning
included an additional 125 cots, the County representative indicated that
additional cots
were not needed.

The safety and well-being of our staff is one of our top priorities. The decision
was made
by both the County and Red Cross that if additional supplies were needed, emergency

responders from DeWitt county would transfer the supplies from the Red Cross office
or
another location within city limits. The Red Cross did not have supplies at the
airport.

As the DeWitt County Judge stated, the winds were over 40 mph at the time
additional
supplies were requested. Below is a message from the DeWitt County Emergency
Manager Debbie Ellsworth (email received from Cyndi Smith, EM Thu 8/24, 11:22
PM):

DeWitt County officials have been monitoring the development of Tropical Storm
Harvey and believe that its development into a hurricane is a cause for concern for
the
public safety and welfare of the citizens of the county. Therefore, the Emergency
Operations Center will activate at 8:00 am on Friday morning 08/25/17 and remain
open
throughout the Hurricane Harvey incident. Hurricane strength winds could reach the

county after sunset on Friday and flooding from tropical rainfall is a major
concern into
Wednesday of next week. Isolated tornadoes in the rain bands is a potential
threat. Please take precautions now to protect life and property. If you live near
a creek,
stream or river that is prone to flood, take precautions. When sustained winds hit
35
40 miles per hour, first responders will suspend operations. Rescue operations will

cease until hurricane force winds have ceased. Do not cross high water over the
roads
and highways. Remember to Turn Around, Dont Drown. Emergency Management will
communicate through the Facebook page. Please Like and Follow DeWitt County
Office
of Emergency Management Facebook page.

3. The Goliad Emergency Management Coordinator said Debbie Ellsworth, who she
normally works with, was unavailable to her after the storm because she went to
Houston. Is this true?

No, this is not accurate. Debbie Ellsworth as well as our Disaster Response team
and
volunteers were readily available to the DeWitt County Emergency Manager.

4. In 2015, the Crossroads chapter of the Red Cross merged with a chapter in
Corpus
Christi. At the time, Red Cross said this would reduce the nonprofit's overhead
costs and enable it to keep the same level of services in the area. Do you think
this
has been true? Has Red Cross or will Red Cross reevaluate this merger after
Hurricane Harvey?

Right now, the Red Cross is focused on responding to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria

and Nate. Were not going to speculate on what may happen in the future.

5. The DeWitt County Judge indicated a Red Cross official spoke at a county
meeting
on Sept. 25 about a lack of volunteers in the area to respond. That officials said
Red Cross needed to recruit more volunteers. Is this true and how will the Red
Cross do that?

As a non-profit organization that depends on volunteers to carry out our mission,

the
Red Cross is continually recruiting and training new people. At the September 25
meeting, an Emergency Manager voiced concerns about it taking 2 hours for the Red
Cross to respond to a single-family fire. A Red Cross official, Debra Murphy-Luera
responded that the key to reducing the response time for home fires, is to recruit
additional volunteers to serve on Disaster Action Teams throughout the Coastal Bend

area. Its important to note, that a response time of 2 hours is well within the
Red Cross
standard for single-family fires.

6. We've seen Red Cross driving its mobile kitchen in areas of Victoria that are
more
affluent or were not as hardly hit by the hurricane. How are the routes
determined?

The Red Cross constantly adjusts and refines the routes of our mobile feeding
trucks to
make sure were providing assistance in areas where it is needed. As part of this
process, we work local residents, emergency management, government officials and
community partners. We also use damage assessment data to make sure were
targeting areas that sustained significant damage.
7. We've heard from readers whose requests for $400 assistance is pending after
providing both copies of their lease agreement and drivers license to Red Cross.
Can you explain why those documents are necessary to process the request for
assistance? Is there something people can do to speed up the process?

One of the fastest ways to speed the process is by providing full name and accurate

information on the initial application. Hence, when the application is cross-

referenced
to legal documents to confirm they lived at the residents stated on the
application, it
will be approved faster. Duplicate applications only slow the process down.