Early Tuesday morning, the village of Bellville reached out to the Richland County Red Cross for a shelter option. Red Cross Disaster Specialist Julie Frim and the Disaster Relief team encountered detours on the way to Bellville. “It took 45 minutes to get to the other side of town,” Frim stated. They took back roads, and dirt roads, some of which were flooded.
They coordinated with Keith Markley, of the Emergency Management Agency (EMA) of Richland County, to establish a ‘staged shelter’. They determined that the Red Cross would deliver five pallets of Disaster Relief kits to the Bellville Fire Department.
“Part of my concern was that we would be cut off from the rest of Richland County,” stated Frim. Staging a shelter would allow the Bellville Fire Department to have all the necessary resources for an emergency shelter, while freeing the Red Cross to respond to other areas. “It worked out well with the EMA because we had that collaboration,” said Frim, “They would call us if they set up shelter, and if they required further supplies.” As of today, the shelter will be made available, should the need arise.
The five pallets were delivered by truck to the Bellville Fire Department at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday evening, after State Route 13 reopened. The pallets include cots, blankets, cases of bottled water, food, snacks, and containers of Kool-Aid and coffee. “Today I have volunteers that can go and stay in Bellville,” Frim said.
The difference between setting up an open shelter and a staged shelter is founded on a case by case basis. An open shelter is established at a location on the National Sheltering System, and is then monitored in part by Red Cross and partner FEMA. A staged shelter results in a stock of supplies, delivered to a nonregistered location, to be set up independently by local emergency teams in close correspondence with Red Cross.
Due to the flooding, the Richland Red Cross delivered clean-up kits to Mansfield yesterday. The clean-up kits containted bleach, bucket, mop and plastic bags. Shelby has a permanent trailer from the Richland Red Cross, supplied with Disaster Relief kits. Also greatly affected by intense rainwater this week, Shelby has the ability to stage a shelter if necessary.
