Central Iowans are heading to some of the hardest hit areas in the south. The deaths of 29 people are now blamed on the 13 inches of rain that fell over the weekend in Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Volunteers with the American Red Cross will spend the next several weeks helping with relief efforts. The men and women are trained to provide storm victims with housing, food and other services. "It is so rewarding. You know you're doing a good service for people, you're trained well. Quite often the disasters could be here," says Jim Mallon.
Mallon will spend the next several weeks in Arkansas. "Where I go from there, I don't know. It could be in Little Rock itself or anywhere in the state," he says. The retired banker from Slater has been part of three other relief efforts. He went to Illinois in 2007, Louisiana in 2008 and North Dakota in 2009.
"This being my first deployment, I'm not sure what to expect, where I'm staying or anything else," says Bob Pauls of Des Moines. He has supported the Red Cross for years as a blood donor. This year, he decided to begin training disaster response. "For a lot of people, Haiti was a wake up call that volunteerism is an important thing in our community," he says. Pauls has a background in computer engineering and will help get the lines of communication back up and running in Arkansas.
Gayle Landis is also assisting with relief efforts. She is flying out to Tennessee. The Iowans are expected to be gone for two to three weeks.
Volunteers with the American Red Cross will spend the next several weeks helping with relief efforts. The men and women are trained to provide storm victims with housing, food and other services. "It is so rewarding. You know you're doing a good service for people, you're trained well. Quite often the disasters could be here," says Jim Mallon.
Mallon will spend the next several weeks in Arkansas. "Where I go from there, I don't know. It could be in Little Rock itself or anywhere in the state," he says. The retired banker from Slater has been part of three other relief efforts. He went to Illinois in 2007, Louisiana in 2008 and North Dakota in 2009.
"This being my first deployment, I'm not sure what to expect, where I'm staying or anything else," says Bob Pauls of Des Moines. He has supported the Red Cross for years as a blood donor. This year, he decided to begin training disaster response. "For a lot of people, Haiti was a wake up call that volunteerism is an important thing in our community," he says. Pauls has a background in computer engineering and will help get the lines of communication back up and running in Arkansas.
Gayle Landis is also assisting with relief efforts. She is flying out to Tennessee. The Iowans are expected to be gone for two to three weeks.
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