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FARGO — Since Hurricane Ian, the American Red Cross has sent more than 1,600 people from across the country to help with the aftermath. Some of them are from the Eastern North Dakota and Western Minnesota chapter based out of Fargo.
Patty Lindholm, a Red Crosser from Fergus Falls, is one of the dozen from the region helping in Florida. She says it took three days to drive down in a van designed to hand out hot meals. Her unit has traveled from Sarasota to Fort Myers, helping locals who were left with nothing.
"You see a lot of places where everybody's possessions are on the curb right now because they have been ruined and piles of piles of both trash and mostly debris from trees and so forth," she said.
During their time in Florida so far, their main mission has been handing out meals to people in need.
"We catch these neighborhoods where they haven't had anyone else come through and so we are sort of on a search and feed mission right now" she said.
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The aftermath from Hurricane Ian is unlike anything she has seen by storms in our region.
"For many many miles you just see this mess. All these trees down, power lines down. Unlike a tornado which just hits a limited area, this is just several counties who are affected," she said.
Lindholm says she will return home soon, and most likely join Red Cross again for another two-week stint to help with hurricane relief.
Visit the Red Cross' Hurrican Ian donation page to help those affected by Hurrican Ian.
