Member of Red Cross Jump Team to help those affected by Hurricane Maria
PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Colin Williams packed only the essentials.
"Taking one bed sheet, that's all I need he said. "I was told to pack everything that I can carry long distances. I do have a lot of communications gear, a lot of batters, a lot of things like that because knowing there is no power."
The regional communications manager of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Red Cross returned from Atlanta where he assisted victims of Hurricane Harvey, and this morning was deployed to help victims of Hurricane Maria.
"Tomorrow morning [I'll] board either a military transport or a FEMA charter aircraft and be assigned to either Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands," Williams said. "I think what we are going to try to do is procure a vehicle and try to get out into areas and provide mass care. That is what our assignment is; mass care is really shelter and food that's helping people that have nothing and trying to get them back on their feet. Really, if you think about it, the most basic level at this point."
A typical deployment for employees and volunteers is two weeks, but since the need is so dire, Williams expects to be gone for at least three weeks.
He signed a hardship contract that shows he fully understands there will be a lack of power and water, but he says helping other is what matters most.
"What we hope to accomplish is really the mission of the Red Cross," he said. "Every single day we all see the house fires, every single night those are Red Cross volunteers that are responding to help people who need it because they lost everything they had, and that's exactly what I'm going to be doing in Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands."