What to expect at a Red Cross Shelter

I have over 20 years experience working and managing American Red Cross disaster services. Over that time I have had many occations to support and manage Red Cross disaster shelters. Having run shelters across the country. It seems logical to explain how they work along with reasonable expectations when going to one in an emergency. Hurricane Katrina brought a focused spotlight about America's response to disasters. Many negatives were brought out and some of which I aggree with but it is important to provide some context and information to avoid future problems and exceptations.

A). Shelters are uncomfortable. Shelters come in all sizes and levels of convenience. They can be set up to house from 10 people to 5,000 people each. But remember that shelters are usually school gymnasiums, warehouses, armories etc. none are hotels, or dormitories. Shelters are smelly, no matter how much you try to keep the shelter clean. 100-300 people living 5 feet away from each other will make the room small like a sweat sock. Shaelters are meant to be temporarily opened and closed quickly and are not meant to be maintained for weeks.

B). Unlike the news reports you see on TV, when you arrive at a newly opened shelter it will not be stocked with cots, blankets, hot food, showers and an organized staff of professional caregivers. It takes time to get these comfort items and staff brought in and set up. In fact, many times the actual Red Cross staff takes over a shelter days after it was spontaneously opened. I've personally had to send for cots and equipment that is stored 4 to 5 states away.

That trained staff of Red Cross personnel … The "Staff" may be 2 or 3 people total. They will all be volunteers and for 90% of them, this will be their first time running a shelter. Each volunteer will be asked to make about 120 decisions an hour. They will probably work about 18 to 20 hours the first day of the disaster. The staff will be finding equipment, getting medical care for sick shelter victims, managing sanitation laws and food issues, turning away hundreds of pounds of unwanted and unusable donations every hour.  So please be patient, if things are confused or delayed you may want to volunteer to help out.    90% of the maintenance and volunteer help will be the shelter occupants themselves.  

Rest assured the first couple of days the food may be: late, not quite hot, and the food may not be as you would plan for your family. As we have discussed its hard to feed from 100 to 40,000 people in spread out across your county three meals a day during a disaster on a few hours notice.

c). Unlike hotels or camping trips people in shelters are crowded in large noisy (sometimes smelly) places. Tired and cranky families, and others will try to find away of being comfortable. Some are happy, some confused, while many are convinced that they have lost everything, some may be grieving for missing family members. For the people in this shelter, is the most stressful time of there lives.

Some other useful rules. These rules are for the protection of everyone and cannot be broken.

1. All services provided are completely free of charge. The Red Cross provides all services as a gift of the American People. No one will or should ask you for money to stay or to be fed in any US Red Cross shelter.
2. There is No Alcohol or Drugs allowed, period
3. There are no firearms allowed to be kept in a shelter, period. Some shelters may have security or police officers but the shelter occupants must police themselves. If you truely feel it is too danerous to stay with a group of people at this shelter you should leave, period
4. Because of numerous state and federal laws, NO PETS ARE ALLOWED in the shelter. Sometimes the SPCA, 4H or other groups will set up a fenced, and separate outdoor area for pets (Your pet should be brought in a pet carrier.) Remember, your pet will be frightened. It is at its greatest risk of biting you or a fellow shelter occupant. If you feel that your pet can only be with you inside  the shelter, you will have to leave with no exceptions.
5. Never leave your children with strangers. In some shelters organized childcare is provided.   But this is not an excuse to leave your child for the day with these volunteer providers.

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For the first three weeks of a disaster you will see your nieghboors and community perform wonderfull acts of kindness. People open there arms and hearts as never before. You will get to talk and share with people you might have never approached before and you will probably jump in and help others more than you ever had before. You might have the feeling that you have lost everything at the time but most victims of floods and storms find that there is liitle to no damage to there homes when they do get back.

for people that do suffer loss in a disaster hundereds have told me that a year later starting over has even put them in a better place than before the disaster. People do rebuild their lives, jobs and much more.