City Woman Will Aid Red Cross Prep for Storm Isaac in Florida

A Middletown woman is among five volunteers statewide heading to Florida with the American Red Cross to prepare for a possible tropical storm impact.

Tropical Storm Isaac could make landfall in Florida in the next few days and the Red Cross is getting ready to respond if needed. Stephanie Johnson of Middletown will serve as a health services supervisor in Tampa.

The Red Cross is preparing to open dozens of shelters across Florida, and moving hundreds of trained disaster workers into the state. There are 22 Red Cross emergency response vehicles already in Florida and 28 more are moving into the state in advance of the storm with an additional 78 on stand-by if needed.

It is mobilizing five truckloads of disaster supplies to send to Florida and Red Cross disaster warehouses in Georgia and Mississippi are ready to ship emergency supplies if necessary.

Among the workers ready to deploy are five Connecticut residents who will depart on Friday for Florida, said American Red Cross spokesperson Paul Shipman. “Five local volunteers are headed south to help with shelter and health services operations. We think we may see more deployments in coming days, depending on Isaac’s path, but our first team is ready to help with work that is underway.”

Shipman said that preparedness information for hurricanes and other disasters is available at www.redcross.org/prepare. “We have the information and resources you need to keep your home, workplace and community safe.”