By Gordon Williams Editors note: this story originally posted in October 2018. It has been updated to reflect the date of the 2019 Great Shake Out. The Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill is set for Thursday, October 17, 2019. That’s the day when people the world over are supposed to stop what they are doing and … Continue reading Use the Great Shakeout to Quake-Proof your Life
Time to Prepare for the Great Washington Shakeout
By Gordon Williams Schedule yourself to put aside whatever you are doing at precisely 10:18 a.m. on October 18th (10:18 on 10/18) and spend the next 60 seconds dropping, covering and holding on. By doing so, you will be one of the million-plus people in Washington—more than 40 million people worldwide—practicing their earthquake coping skills … Continue reading Time to Prepare for the Great Washington Shakeout
Microsoft Disaster Expert Moonlights as Red Cross Volunteer
By Gordon Williams When Cameron Birge first volunteered for the American Red Cross early in 2016, it was to help put down roots in a city that was new to him and to rebuild ties to a country where he had not lived in close to 20 years. These days Cameron is a volunteer disaster … Continue reading Microsoft Disaster Expert Moonlights as Red Cross Volunteer
Fran Adams: From the Eye of Hurricane Florence
By Gordon Williams There’s a bit of the hero in any Red Cross volunteer who sets out to aid the victims of some far-off disaster. Still, some Red Cross volunteers are a bit more heroic than others. Case-in-point is Fran Adams of Olympia WA, who has responded to so many disasters over the years that … Continue reading Fran Adams: From the Eye of Hurricane Florence
Blankets of Comfort
By Diane Toomey Photos by Karen Kim Shortly after Betty Young retired, she was channel surfing and came across a local ad seeking volunteers to make quilts for the Red Cross. Betty was interested in doing something to give back. In March of 1996 she joined eleven other women who met every Monday to sew quilts that … Continue reading Blankets of Comfort
Add Rising Ocean Levels to the List of Climate-Related Risks
By Gordon Williams The University of Washington Climate Impacts Group does highly-respected research into every aspect of how the climate affects the Pacific Northwest. The goal of that research is to stimulate smart decision-making by those who must deal with the consequences of climate change. Given the pernicious effects of global warming on the regional … Continue reading Add Rising Ocean Levels to the List of Climate-Related Risks
Roger Drake: 18 Deployments in 7 Years
By Gordon Williams It should be no surprise that deploying to the California wildfires felt very familiar to Red Cross volunteer Roger Drake of Port Angeles WA. Roger’s first Red Cross deployment was in 2011 to aid tornado victims in Alabama. Going to California this year to help wildfire victims was the 18th time he … Continue reading Roger Drake: 18 Deployments in 7 Years
HEART to the Rescue
By Mark Walker Photos by Kathy Brasch As crews battled a 3,000-acre wildfire just a few miles away, Loki and Fanny rested comfortably with their owner, thanks to some kind-hearted volunteers. The two felines were safely tucked away in an emergency human and animal shelter the American Red Cross set up at Kettle Falls High … Continue reading HEART to the Rescue
“Ash is coming down like snowflakes!”
By Gordon Williams When Red Cross volunteer Fran Adams of Olympia WA hears about a disaster—nearby or far away—her first reaction is a desire to rush to the scene to help out. Her first Red Cross deployment to a disaster was nearly 20 years ago, to flooding at Chehalis WA in Lewis County. “I saw people … Continue reading “Ash is coming down like snowflakes!”
How Cody Campbell Manages the Red Cross Response in 7 WA Counties
By Gordon Williams When his phone rings in the middle of the night, Cody Campbell of Kennewick, WA can be pretty sure before he answers the call that a wildfire is burning somewhere not far off. Cody is Disaster Program Manager for the Central and Southeastern Washington Chapter of the American Red Cross, based in … Continue reading How Cody Campbell Manages the Red Cross Response in 7 WA Counties
American Red Cross NW Region 