Local man deploys for hurricane relief effort
Volunteers head south to aid with recovery efforts
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – American Red Cross volunteer Harry Oettinger, of Saratoga Springs, is among the first upstate New York residents deployed for relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Michael, which devastated the Florida Panhandle and other parts of the Deep South.
The storm, packing 155 mph winds, is the third strongest in U.S. history to make landfall, and the most powerful ever to hit this part of Florida.
Oettinger left Albany International Airport at about 2 p.m. Wednesday, headed to Orlando because the airport at Tallahassee, Florida’s state capital, was closed.
“This is our second major hurricane relief effort in less than a month,” said Kimmy Venter, Red Cross eastern New York spokesperson. In mid-September, several area residents, including Kevin Coffey of Saratoga Springs and Josh Moskowitz of Schuylerville, responded to relief efforts following Hurricane Florence.
Michael tracked inland Thursday, expected to dump significant rainfall on the Carolinas, which are still recovering from last month’s storm.
Michael was much stronger than Florence, even knocking over a long line of 60,000-pound
railroad cars. But Florence impacted a much larger geographic area with heavy rains and flooding.
“We already have a lot of people on the ground in the Carolinas,” Venter said.
Oettinger, a retired New York City police officer, is expected to spend two weeks working at one of many Red Cross shelters set up to help people affected by Hurricane Michael.
He has been a Red Cross volunteer since 2005 and has deployed to other disasters before such as Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas last year.
“We had shelters set up before the storm, working with local officials in Florida, Georgia and Alabama,” Venter said.
Red Cross volunteer Jose Santiago, of Ulster County, responded to Hurricane Florence, came home for a week, and is now headed back to help people affected by Hurricane Michael, she said.
“Now that the storm has passed, we’ll start to see what the real needs are,” Venter said. “Thousands of people are looking to the Red Cross for help, and we depend on financial donations to fund our disaster relief services.”
People may support Hurricane Michael relief efforts by going to redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or texting the word MICHAEL to 90999 to make a $10 donation.