‘The energy has shifted.’ Pa. Red Cross volunteers help with Hurricane Dorian relief
Though she responded to Hurricane Maria twice, Hurricane Florence, the deadly Camp Fire in northern California and nearly historic flooding in Ellicott City, Maryland, Hurricane Dorian is unprecedented for Hope Roaten.
The executive director for the mid-central Pennsylvania chapter of the American Red Cross joined the organization about four years ago, but said Dorian is the first time she was deployed before landfall or impact.
“It definitely provides you with perspective and you realize how good you have it,” Roaten said Tuesday. “Going into these areas and seeing lives destroyed and towns decimated is a very difficult thing to see, but then on the other side of that, you see people rise up from that and they’re very resilient and very, very grateful for the services you can provide. ... For me, it started out as something that I did as a job, but it’s just become a part of who I am now.”
The Bellefonte resident graduated from both Penn State and Lebanon Valley College before being named executive director about a year ago.
She was deployed Sunday alongside 33 other Pennsylvanians to help support the Red Cross’ relief efforts. As an elected official liaison stationed in Atlanta, Georgia, she said her role is to connect with those in need, leverage their local knowledge to gain situational awareness and better plan for service delivery.
“The energy has shifted as the storm has shifted,” Roaten said. “With that storm still sitting off the coast and moving very slowly, it gives us the opportunity to be very strategic about our next steps. When the storm started to move a little bit yesterday, you kind of felt a shift in the energy in the room. ... Today, we’re constantly tracking the path of the storm and we’re being very strategic about our next moves.”
The storm is predicted to move parallel to the southeastern portion of the United States throughout the week, according to AccuWeather.
Life-threatening storm surge and dangerous winds are expected along portions of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Tuesday morning.
At least five people died in the Bahamas as a result of Dorian, Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis tweeted Monday.