Georgians travel to gulf coast to aid Ida evacuees

ATLANTA - Volunteers and American Red Cross employees from Georgia are among those providing aid to people living in the path of Hurricane Ida. 

The American Red Cross said 30 trained disaster volunteers and employees from Georgia make up the 580 Red Cross workers assisting the Hurricane Ida relief operation with more arriving in the coming weeks.

Brooke Thompson, from Savannah, left for Mobile, Alabama, on Friday and helped a family of eight children displaced by the storm.

"The storm seemed late coming to our shelter, and a family with eight kids decided to be brave and go home, but, on the way, the storm quickly approached them, so they turned around. The storm was loud, and it was windy and rainy — the kids were terrified. I gathered the kids, including three children from another family, and set up 'Camp Ida.' We blocked off windows so the kids couldn’t see anything," she recalled. "They played games and colored. We made it as fun as we could. It was just like school, she said. "After the storm passed on Monday morning, some of the kids didn’t want to go."

MORE: Hurricane Ida: How evacuees in Georgia can get disaster relief, donations

American Red Cross set up a respite center at Mike Daniel Recreation Center on 1220 Lafayette Parkway in LaGrange. The respite center has information available on shelters in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. It's open Thursday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

To provide assistance to Ida evacuees, visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS, or text the word IDA to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

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