Red Cross is sending people to South Carolina

The water continues to rise in South Carolina tonight after more than twenty inches of rain fell over the last three days.

That makes roads that double as rivers a common sight in South Carolina.

And Debbie Wyatt is in the middle of it.

“The last three days it’s just been crazy with the flooding and everything,” she said.

Wyatt has lived in South Carolina for 25 years, but she has strong roots in Southern Colorado.

“I graduated from Coronado (High School in Colorado Springs),” she said.

Now she lives near some of the hardest hit parts of the Palmetto State.

She said, “In our county we have roads washed out. Roads that family and friends drive down every day, they got washed out.”

But help is on the way.

Trucks from the American Red Cross will soon be rolling to South Carolina from here in Southern Colorado.

But the Red Cross isn’t just responding there.

At this moment, the organization is responding to disasters from Alaska to Florida.

The Red Cross already has people on the ground.

“We would already have pre-positioned supplies and volunteers, knowing that the forecast is already calling for this historic rainfall event,” said Bill Fortune from the American Red Cross.

And this disaster will have more volunteers on the move.

Fortune said, “Initially the call goes out nationally for all volunteers to be ready to go.”

In the end, there may be hundreds – perhaps thousands – of Red Cross volunteers in the Carolinas.

Some of them will be from our area.

“We have quite a few leadership volunteers in Colorado, so they’re often called upon early in a disaster,” said Fortune.

Meanwhile more rain is in the forecast for the region.

Wyatt said, “They’re calling now for flash floods again. I just got a text about flash flood warnings (being issued).”

That means more flooding is possible – and more hard work for the Red Cross to take care of those in need.