The effort to clean up the destruction left behind from Hurricane Sandy is underway in several states. A Guilford County man is volunteering his time to help hundreds of people affected by the storm near Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.
Jim Guidon is among a handful of volunteers with the American Red Cross Greensboro Chapter, who is helping on the East Coast. He has been in Lewes, Delaware near Rehoboth Beach since Saturday, where more than 200 adults and children are seeking temporary housing at a Red Cross shelter in a local high school.
A lot of people at the shelter also brought their pets. Guidon describes the scene from Monday night’s storm.
“The wind the surf, I was looking at 20-foot high waves that had covered the entire beach, which is about 300 feet deep, it covered the boardwalk and flood the road. I left to try to make it to another shelter just south of here and Route 1 was closed, totally flooded and it just got worse after that,” said Guidon.
Guidon has been a Red Cross volunteer for the past seven years. He’s seen the destruction of other natural disasters from coast to coast. He says he takes a lot of pride in helping people find shelter, food, first aid and emotional counseling when disaster strikes.
Guidon says it’s cold and calm right now at Rehoboth Beach, but many people in the area are worried about what lies ahead.
“There is apprehension of what they will find when they leave here.”
“This is kind of transition now, people will start to leave and go back to their home. They will either not be able to get to their home because the roads will be flooded and they will have to come back to the shelter, or they will get to their home and realize their home has been damaged or has no power and have to return or they will get to their home and it’s fine and they will remain there,” says Guidon.
Guidon is encouraging Triad residents to donate money or volunteer their time to the cleanup efforts. He says he will be heading to New York and New Jersey over the next few days, to help people in some of the hardest hit storm areas.
