First-time Salvation Army worker heading to Florida for Hurricane Milton aftermath and cleanup
CANTON - As Florida begins to clean up and recover from Hurricane Milton, Massachusetts officers and volunteers with the Salvation Army are heading south to help out.
Deploying for first time
Rachel Henry will be deploying for the very first time to a disaster area. She admits she has some nerves.
"You don't know exactly what you're getting into with emergency disasters until when you're there and you can really see the need and the help," said Henry, who has worked for the Salvation Army for nearly two years.
Henry knows the need is great as she prepares to head in this weekend to help crews already stretched thin by recovery from Hurricane Helene. She'll help organize volunteers, but with the images of Milton's destruction she knows residents need her too.
"People that are just coming to you and you don't know what they need until they tell you or you can just read it on their feet that they need the love and support, just a hug, need food, need water," said Henry.
Henry said it's a calling as the daughter of Salvation Army officers. She went from a CPR class to recruitment in a 24-hour period this week and is on a fast learning curve.
"You really don't know what to expect even after all this time until you're there and a part of it," said Henry.
Home safe
Wednesday, the Flanders family arrived in Boston from their Sarasota home to stay with relatives, expecting the worst. Thursday morning, they realized they will have a home to go back as the hurricane mostly downed trees and tossed boats in their neighborhood.
"We thought that the storm was going to be worst on the front end and so around 11, 12 we're like, ok, ok. Our friends that stayed and sheltered said the back end of the storm was brutal," said Brooke Flanders. The surge didn't come as high as expected, and now they'll wait a few days to return. "A lot of water mains broke in Sarasota, so i know a lot of people without water, everyone is without power. So I just don't feel like putting my kids through that."
Providing calm
Henry is expecting some chaos in the hurricane aftermath, but hopes she can provide some calm.
"What you do know is that those that are coming to you need help and that's what we're there for," said Henry. Her deployment will last for two weeks as she's part of a 10 person team from the Northeast giving Florida crews all the support they can.