By Bill Zeeble
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-752918.mp3
Dallas, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter: I'm Bill Zeeble at the Dallas Red Cross headquarters and volunteer sign in center on Harry Hines Boulevard.
Zeeble: Anita Foster, with the Dallas Red Cross, says this is the nerve center for all of Gustav relief efforts. Officials here help coordinate Fort Worth's operations and shelters in Dallas, Lewisville, Carrollton, and McKinney. The Red Cross and others, like the city of Dallas & the Salvation Army say they all learned from Rita and Katrina 3 years ago. This time, Foster says they were ready.
Anita Foster, Dallas Red Cross: We moved kitchen supplies, 750 thousand meals, we moved our emergency response vehicles, down to the coast. That's all been coordinated from Dallas. Now at landfall we transition to preparedness stage to now a response.
Zeeble: That means cots, shelter, food and clothing. For the moment they have enough of these items. But Red Cross volunteer Harriet Halkyard, overseeing shelters, says this disaster's big enough that they need money and more helpers. Dallas has already tapped 31-hundred chapter volunteers but need more.
Harriet Halkyard Red Cross volunteer: We'll fly locals in from Alaska from where ever we have volunteers who are willing to come.
Zeeble: Doug Van Allen flew here yesterday from Monument Colorado. It's the first time he's volunteered out of state.
Doug Van Allen: Going to Fort Worth to work shelter, we're schedules for 21 days. So we'll see how it goes.
Zeeble: The Red Cross is still seeking qualified volunteers, who must take 8 hours of required training. Bill Zeeble KERA news.