Arizona Red Cross volunteers traveling to Texas to prepare for hurricane season
PHOENIX - Forecasters have anticipated a busy hurricane season and the predictions are coming true - two storms could strike the Golf Coast.
One Arizona Red Cross volunteer has boarded a flight to Texas to help.
With hope on his chest, Ron Scott wheeled his red suitcase to check in at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. He's headed to Houston for his tenth national deployment.
Scott says he’s going early to get everything ready.
"[I'm] positioning people to get in place so when the storm hits or they’re ready to be evacuated, we're ready to accept clients," Scott said.
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He’ll be there for two weeks at least. It won’t be glamorous. It’s hard work.
"I’m prepared to stay in staff shelter and sleep on a cot," Scott said.
Red Cross volunteers like Scott respond to every disaster. This year it’s harder. COVID-19 precautions make interactions a little more distant, but the outcome is the same.
"After the storm hits they go essentially from evacuation shelters to regular shelters or hotels," Scott explained. "We try to put people in a COVID-free environment."
Scott says once he returns he’ll have to quarantine for two weeks, but it's worth it for him.
"To see the smile on people’s faces especially in this day in age of controversy in politics ... to give people a smile on their face handing them food or sending a nurse to them, you know -- we’re just helping people and that’s so rewarding in itself," Scott said.