Central Ohio has become a disaster relief staging area . Dozens of 50 Red Cross emergency response vehicles are assembling in Reynoldsburg to respond to areas affected by hurricane Isabel.
Frank Kominoski and Essie Gardner of Indiana pulled their Red Cross truck into a Reynoldsburg hotel parking lot that was quickly filling up with disaster relief vehicles.
About 50 disaster relief vehicles and about 100 volunteers will meet on the east side of Columbus. The Red Cross crews came from many different states including Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. They will wait for Isabel to come ashore and then they will deploy to the affected area.
The director emergency services for the Central Ohio Red Cross, Raymond Collier says Columbus is a good jumping off point for a mid-Atlantic storm. This is Frank Kominowski's 14th disaster mission. He's responded to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and the Twin Towers collapse.
He and Essie Gardner had about 18 hours to get things settled at home, water the plants, stop the mail, say goodbye to family.
They are both retired, so they did not have to leave jobs. The will provide food to victims, carry supplies to relief centers, look for lost victims during their deployment which could last up to three weeks. They both say they are just doing their part.
