Red Cross volunteers help Miami woman affected by fire

I just left the scene of a fire where the Red Cross Disaster Action Team was helping a Miami woman who pretty much lost everything Tuesday night.

She was telling me how she was trying to rush back home to meet her husband because they were waiting for some paperwork that needed to be signed right away. As the day passed, she tried calling her husband but couldn't reach him. Got voicemail every time.

When she rounded the corner to get to her apartment building, fire trucks lined the street and a neighbor broke the bad news: Her apartment caught fire. Her two dogs died. Her husband was being taken to the hospital.

Red Cross volunteers Pauline Holmes (left) and Cherlynette Evans (right) provide assistance to a Miami woman who lost her belongings and her pets in a fire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standing outside her apartment building today, you could see that this fire is not something this woman will soon forget.

It's never easy losing your belongings. Especially not the books she and her husband treasured. Or the dog that's been a part of your life for eight years and just had her first litter of puppies.

But that's why the Red Cross is there. Disaster Action Team Leader Cherlynette Evans and DAT Trainee Pauline Holmes were able to provide the woman with help for food, clothing and lodging. They can't possibly take away all the pain, but they do make things better.

-Chrystian Tejedor

American Red Cross

You can help people affected by local disasters like this fire or national disasters by clicking here to donate or clicking here to become a Red Cross volunteer.

Hurricane alley?

Last Friday (Sept. 10) was the peak of hurricane season. Time to celebrate? Not quite.

If you look at what's happening in the tropics, it's busy as ever. This weekend, Hurricane Igor rapidly intensified to a category 4 storm with maximum winds of 150mph. Tropical Storm Julia formed and now has 40mph winds.

The good news? Both these Cape Verde storms are expected to swing across the Atlantic and die a cold death as they hit colder waters.

Hurricane Igor

Tropical Storm Julia

Come October, it'll be the time to keep an eye on the warm waters of the Caribbean and the western Atlantic, according to T. F. "Storm" WALSH III, who blogs on the hurricane tracking and monitoring site http://www.wunderground.com/.

To say the least, this hasn't been your typical hurricane season, but here's hoping our luck continues and storms keep getting blown away from the United States.

-Chrystian Tejedor

Keys resident commemorates 1935 hurricane in song

Tuesday (Sept. 2) marked the 75th anniversary of the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. As I reflect back on how I came to write a song about this event, I can’t help feeling a bit like a time traveler who with my songs creation became immortally linked to a storm that occurred 29 years before my birth.

Out of the 100’s of hurricanes that occurred from 1900-1999 only 3 made landfall as a Category 5. Hurricane Camille 1969, Hurricane Andrew 1992 and The Labor Day Storm of 1935. The intensity of these storms is unimaginable to anyone who has never lived through one. Even I could not begin to tell you what a horrifying experience they would be. One can only look back and try to understand how a boat ended up on top of a house, or a car ended up in a tree, or planks of wood impaled a tree and how the trees themselves were snapped off like a lawn mower had just cleared a path, and yet still hurricanes are a force way beyond this limited description.

My 1935 Labor Day song is not only the longest song I have ever recorded at 8:43 but was also a month in the making. Most songs I complete in a day or maybe 2 or at most a week. This song was a story that I felt had to be shared and because of its personal meaning to me I wrestled with how I should tell the story for a good while. After about a month I came back to my original inspiration which was the first story about the hurricane I had read. It was of Bernard Russell. Bernard, a lifelong resident of the keys had lived through the storm at the age of 17, only to find out the next morning that 50 out of 61 of his immediate family were lost to the storm.  With extraordinary character and perseverance, Bernard dedicated himself to rebuilding his home and the upper keys. He was instrumental in establishing emergency services to the keys. An event that would ruin most men, was risen above by a true life unassuming hero. His legacy was accentuated by the fire station in Islamorada Florida that bears his name. 

In memory of this event, I created a video that includes images of this storm. Due to a limited number of photos from that era, I also included images from other hurricanes.
I hope you give yourself ten minutes to hear the story and take in one of my best creative lyrical works. Here is the link to the “The Storm of the Century” video:




Chris Foster
Musician, Lyricist and Keys Resident

Trip to the keys shows Red Crosser the impact of 135 Labor Day Hurricane

In remembrance of the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, I revised and reposted this entry from October 2009.

It was a beautiful Friday morning and I was getting ready to go to the Keys for a Red Cross event slated for that night.

GPS, check
Flips flops, check
Cool coffee drink, check
Red Cross “Scavenger Hunt” list, check

Got the hubby and we were out the door.

Now you might be asking yourself, what’s with the Red Cross “Scavenger Hunt” list? In preparation for this trip, the American Red Cross Keys Chapter Advancement Officer  sent me an email asking me to stop by a couple historical places on my way down to Key West. (Someone must have told her of my lack of aptitude in Keys history.) Scavenger Hunt! Sounds like fun!

Monument to the
1935 Labor Day Hurricane

First stop: Hurricane Monument in Islamorada.
Degree of difficulty of finding the location: 2.5    
1 - being “super easy”  5 - being “I can’t find it therefore, it doesn’t exist.”

Thank goodness for the little sign on the side of the road because the mile marker on my list was wrong.

Got there, took a picture and started to look around for a plaque(s) or something that explains why this place is important.

Found the plaques and read its heartbreaking story. What happened in September 1935 was a recipe for disaster. Imagine going about your day, and next thing you know weather conditions deteriorate and you find yourself smacked by a Cat 5 hurricane and its 20-foot walls of water. Lack of radar technology, slow modes of communication, bridges under construction and a slow transportation system only made the situation worse and number of causalities higher. Hundreds of visitors, residents and WWI vets working on the bridges and roadways were killed. It is not known how many people lost their lives, but one family lost over 40 members.

Interesting fact: under the tiled mosaic found at the base of the Hurricane Monument lay the cremated remains of over 300 people who died in that ferocious storm - the worst in Florida history.

After the storm many of the buildings were utterly destroyed and few remained, including the Rustic Inn, the next stop on my list. The Rustic Inn served as a refuge for survivors desperately seeking news of their loved ones.

Second stop: the Green Turtle Inn formerly known as the Rustic Inn
Degree of difficulty of finding the location: 1

The Green Turtle Inn

Many years ago I went to the Green Turtle Inn for dinner. At the time it was known for its soup and magic show – I kid you not. (I have to admit the show was entertaining.)  I drove up to the establishment and noticed it had undergone some major renovations. The Green Turtle Inn is now flanked by a sports good store and Wyland art gallery. The place looks very trendy and new, but the plaque at the entrance of the restaurant serves as a sober reminder of the location’s history.

Formerly known as the Rustic Inn, it’s hard to believe that it was a place of reunions, heartbreak and sorrow. The place where people now go for happy hours was once a place where people learned the fate of their missing loved ones. Strange juxtaposition if you ask me.

It was at this time that the Red Cross provided solace and assistance to the hurricane survivors.

Third stop: Red Cross Houses
Degree of difficulty of finding the location:  4.25 

One of the remaining
Red Cross Houses

GPS was useless. These homes were hard to find, but once you do, you’re in luck because they are several close in proximity. What helped me was a plaque on the front yard of a Red Cross house. Thank goodness there are plaques and signs for everything in the Keys. They’re very helpful.

Here’s the history: In an effort to help the residents get back on their feet, the Work Projects Administration, Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Red Cross constructed specially-designed hurricane proof homes. These Red Cross homes have a very distinct look about them and once you see one, the others are easy to point out. The walls were 18" thick and were built with concrete and iron bars.  The roofs were all concrete as well.  The ground floor was 12' above ground and the downstairs had built in cisterns designed to hold a year's worth of water. The floors, door and storm shutters were built with Dade County Pine. Twenty-nine homes were built in the late 1930s and several of them still exist today.

Scavenger Hunt completed.

Obtained a better understanding of Keys history, check
Understand the local community’s bond to the Red Cross, check
Gained a stronger sense of the Red Cross mission, check.

- Cynthia Gutierrez-White
Regional Director, Communications & Marketing
American Red Cross South Florida Region

September is National Preparedness Month - Are you ready for a disaster?

When people are struck by a disaster – whether it’s a powerful hurricane that strikes several states, a tornado that devastates a community, or a house fire that drives a family from its home – the Red Cross is there.

And now that we’re in September – the height of hurricane season and National Preparedness Month – we encourage everyone in our community to prepare for these storms or for any disaster that may strike South Florida.

In a survey conducted late last summer, the Red Cross found that although 89 percent of those surveyed believed being prepared is important, far fewer people are ready when emergencies do happen.

There are three things people should do to get prepared – build an emergency preparedness kit, make a plan with your family on what to do in an emergency, and become informed about the types of disasters that could occur where you live.

And just as you’re preparing, the Red Cross is seeking help so it can be more ready to respond to disaster throughout our community, our state, the U.S. and the world.

With a very active hurricane season predicted, the Red Cross is making a fundraising push now so that we are ready for the thousands of disasters that occur every year in the U.S.

Here in South Florida, the Red Cross has responded to 487 home fires and other local disasters so far this year.
   
People can click, text or call to donate to the Red Cross to help people affected by disasters at home and around the world. Those who want to make a contribution can visit www.southfloridaredcross.org, call 1-800-REDCROSS to support American Red Cross Disaster Response, or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Every single donation brings hope to those in need.

Sincerely,

Sam Tidwell
CEO, American Red Cross South Florida Region