30 August 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — As Hurricane Idalia heads toward Florida, people there are preparing for the destruction. One Kansas man who now lives in Orlando says it gets hectic trying to prepare.
“Everybody rushes to the stores. You’ll see shelves. You won’t find any bottled water anywhere. Our daughter was at Costco on Saturday and stood in line for an hour just to check out,” said Dan Holladay, who moved to Florida last May.
He says this will be the fourth tropical system he’s experienced since moving to Florida. He is still getting used to hurricane preparations.
“It’s just kind of knowing it’s coming, and you just kind of get prepared beforehand. Stocking up on essentials and whatnot,” said Holladay.
The Kansas native is ready with food, water, batteries, and gas. Hurricanes are different from the tropical storms he’s used to.
“It’s not like tornadoes where you can’t prepare. Hurricanes, you can prepare, but it’s going to flood, we’re going to have power lines down …” he explained.
Volunteers from across the country are helping with storm preparation, including to Kansans working for the Red Cross. Keven Mann and Mark Roberts are two of about 400 Red Cross volunteers who met at the Operation Headquarters in Tallahassee.
“The one volunteer is in Tallahassee is managing transportation, making sure everybody can get where they need to go,” said Red Cross of Kansas and Oklahoma spokesperson Matt Trotter.
The other is in Dixie County to work with local management.
“They can partner with the emergency operation center, really see what a community needs urgently and where, and make sure that those needs get relayed to headquarters,” added Trotter.
Holladay says the help is needed. He says many are still recovering from the storms last year.
“You still have people that are homeless and haven’t had their places rebuilt yet,” he said.
Trotter says the Red Cross is prepared to help any time necessary through the remainder of the year.
“We honestly expect more disasters throughout hurricane season, and we’ll be ready to send volunteers to those too,” said Trotter.