A team of about 10 Red Cross employees worked out of the Emergency Response Center on Pampas Drive to coordinate volunteers at two mock-shelter locations.
/ Holly Morgan
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH -- The Coastal South Carolina Chapter of the American Red Cross conducted a simulation exercise through its new Emergency Operations Center Friday. More than 35 volunteers participated in the post-tornado drill at multiple locations in Horry and Williamsburg counties.
"We're pretending that two tornadoes have touched down, one in North Myrtle Beach and one in Kingstree. We're deploying our staff and volunteers, opening shelters, feeding people, doing client case work," Jim Ellis said. Ellis was in charge of Friday's disaster response drill.
Here's how the exercise played out: Red Cross staff and volunteers reported to the Emergency Operations Center in Myrtle Beach as soon as they were notified that two tornadoes touched down. Supplies were loaded and taken to the shelters that were opened in North Myrtle Beach and Kingstree. Clients were registered at the shelter and cases were opened through the Red Cross Safe and Well Website.
"People can call in to find out if their loved ones have been affected or not. We also have what we call a Welfare Inquiry System, where people in the shelters can let people know that they're there and that they're safe," Ellis said.
The online systems help the Emergency Operations Center develop an accurate idea of the extent of the damage, possible fatalities, the number of people injured as well as how many homes might have been destroyed or affected. "We need this type of information in order to develop a kind of ongoing plan for how we're going to respond to a disaster," Ellis added.
The damage assessment and shelter exercise was conducted throughout a 28-county Columbia Region jurisdiction that includes the Coastal, Pee Dee, Central, Aiken and Upper Palmetto Red Cross Chapters.
Ellis said many people may identify the Red Cross as a blood donor system, but the exercise should show how involved the organization is when it comes to disaster services. "We work hand in hand with the county and government officials to respond to disasters and we have a particular Congressionally mandated role in major disasters to provide sheltering and feeding."
