Red Cross Disaster Response to the April Nor'easter
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| A disaster trained volunteer stocks a Red Cross emergency response vehicle to take out on a mobile feeding route. The Red Cross distributed more than 15,000 meals to people impacted by the disaster. |
CONCORD - May 7, 2007 - In mid April, 2007, New Hampshire experienced a third major disaster in 18 months. As a result of a powerful Nor'easter storm, our State received heavy snow, torrential rain and strong winds over about 3 days.
The results of this storm were power outages, especially in the northern half of the State, and extensive flooding, especially in the southern and eastern parts of the State. As in the Alstead floods of October 2005 and the May floods in 2006, again New Hampshire families were displaced, property destroyed, and normal business disrupted.
Disaster-trained volunteers from the American Red Cross chapters in New Hampshire responded quickly and efficiently before, during and after this disaster. In the days prior to the storm, chapters sent out information to help people prepare for power outages and flooding conditions. As the effects of the storm were felt, the Red Cross opened 13 emergency shelters for residents whose homes were unsafe or destroyed.
After the storm passed, communities were still in crisis. Families in the path of flooding rivers and rising coastal waters were digging mud and silt out of first floors of their homes. Broken power lines left some communities without power for days. Fallen trees and washed out roads added to the isolation of some areas.
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| Governor Lynch met with Red Cross volunteers in a badly flooded trailer park in Epsom. Later in a commendation for the Red Cross services, the Governor said that NH residents were able to recover faster because of the work of the volunteers. |
The American Red Cross headquarters in Washington, DC, declared the disaster in several northeast states, including New Hampshire, to be a national disaster. As a result, about 200 specially trained disaster volunteers from Red Cross chapters all over the country and staff from the Washington office came to Concord as part of an official Red Cross Disaster Relief Operation. The Concord Area Chapter hosted the DRO, and made arrangements for the command center to be based near the chapter office. The DRO volunteers and staff provided support and supplemental assistance to all the Red Cross chapters in New Hampshire.
The Red Cross response included mobile feeding vehicles that followed routes through the worst hit communities; they distributed over 15,000 meals and about 800 cleanup kits. Service delivery centers were opened at chapter offices and community centers where residents could come to report damage to property and get Red Cross help, including financial aid, for their essential needs. Red Cross workers also answered urgent phone calls from worried residents. Others worked with media contacts to distribute critical information in a timely way.
All services to disaster affected families were provided by the Red Cross at no cost to the disaster victims because of the availability of the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, funded through generous contributions from the public.
In a commendation for the dedicated work of Red Cross volunteers, Governor John Lynch acknowledged that New Hampshire families and businesses recovered much faster because of the aid of the American Red Cross.
As the DRO winds down its mission, a small of group of national volunteers and staff have remained at the Concord Area Chapter to support the transitional phase from a disaster operation to regular chapter business throughout New Hampshire.
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