Learning from the Past

Florida

Desiree Reddick-Head, Florida

During Hurricane Andrew we received a lot of items that were not useful. Clothing and inappropriate toys. I spent the first two weeks after Hurricane Andrew hit Southern Florida living in tent cities. The first "months" are all about the basics. Between military assistance with food (eating MRE's - Meals ready to eat) and water from Red Cross you spend your time helping folks re-organize their lives. In caring for children...don't tell Judy...but you throw out any child care licensing standards. We were just trying to keep children safe! We did not even have running water for washing hands after changing diapers and absolutely no gloves...We were happy to report that no child died from these deplorable circumstances. I suggest giving first to Red Cross. These are the folks that go in for the immediate needs of water, food and shelter. Later...much later...the local R&R's and state,withadditional CCDBG we were able to build back the child care infrastructure. It took time!

Desiree