In Calhoun and Cleburne counties last year, there were 57 disasters to which the Red Cross responded. Many of these were fires and less than a third of the victims were insured.Because of the risk fires pose, the Red Cross is encouraging families to discuss fire safety with their children.
Holding up a whistle that can be used by children to alert rescue workers to their position in the house, Elaine Nelson talked to the Jacksonville Exchange Club about the necessity of not only telling children what should be done in the case of a fire, but also walking them through the steps to ensure they remember.
“Single-family fires are what we call the silent disaster. Unless you are well known in the community or you have a lot of resources yourself, a single-family fire can be devastating for those who can’t even make it from payday to payday,” said Nelson.
Nelson said the Red Cross likes to make contact with families within hours of a fire so they can walk them through the process of talking to insurance adjusters and getting their basic needs met.
She told the Exchangites every family needs to be prepared to take care of themselves for three to five days in case of an emergency. This means having an emergency credit card, cash and having personal information and insurance information in a safe location.
Nelson also discussed how a community should respond to disasters.
“If you’ve never experienced this, you’ve got everybody telling you what to do and how to do it. They start cleaning out their closets to help you and that is the worst thing that we can do for someone that has been devastated by a total loss,” said Nelson. “We have community partners that we can give those things to that they can go to and pick out what they can use instead of emotionally having to go through things that they can’t use or don’t like.”
Such a tragedy has touched Nelson’s life. She shared with the group her own experience with a fire in her home when her children were young.
“My husband was in Southeast Asia, I had two small children and my house burned. It wasn’t a total loss. It was a big mess and it was a very hard to deal with. Having that experience and surrounding myself with people who have gone through that experience gives me a passion for empowering people to look at what resources they have and take care of your children. Teach them these things,” said Nelson.
The Red Cross offers varying degrees of assistance to disaster victims, based upon their need. There are cleaning supplies and information for minor damage all the way up to clothes, food and shelter for families who have suffered a total loss until they can make arrangements.
Donations that are given to the Red Cross make this possible, ensuring that each victim is able to have at least one change of clothes as well as other personal care items they need.
But the organization doesn’t just stop once the victims have clothes and food. They provide resources and information to the families as well and help them cope with their losses.
“Sometimes you have to wait and let them grieve,” said Nelson as she related the story of a rural fire and a family in need. “We had to bring in all kinds of community partners that night because we had medicines that were gone, life-threatening medicines that had gone, and everything that we needed was there at the right time. The right people we needed were at that fire station at the right time in order to empower that family and when they left, they left feeling like they had a plan and there was hope.”
