Pickering

A local Red Cross volunteer who has deployed to dozens of disasters has been sent to Guam where Super Typhoon Bavi brought destruction to the U.S. territory.

Chip Pickering is a veteran Red Cross disaster volunteer involved in 30 to 40 events around the world.

“I would say 30 is a good starting place,” he said.

Pickering left for Guam Friday morning, making the more-than-20-hour flight starting from Charleston, then to Chicago, to Honolulu and finally to Guam where he will report to Disaster Recovery Operations. Coordinating feeding services at the shelters will be the primary responsibility, although that could change, Pickering said.

Super Typhoon Bavi, a Level 5 storm, landed in Guam and the Northern Mariana islands on July 6 with winds around 180 mph. Power was disrupted to thousands of people and thousands of homes and buildings were destroyed. Super Typhoon Sinlaku in April also struck Guam and residents were still in tents and in make-shift shelters.

The storm is headed to Taiwan and China.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency deployed about 100 people to Guam and the Red Cross sent several hundred volunteers from across the United States. A team from the Red Cross was in Guam in advance of the storm making landfall.

The Red Cross is operating nine shelters, down from the initial 15, Pickering said.

“They are in the process of recovery,” he said.

He is not among the initial responders this time, Pickering said he is considered in the first wave of recovery efforts.

Pickering will be deployed for three weeks instead of two, although that could change, Sharon Kesselring, executive director of the American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley, said. His duties require additional expertise, she said.

He is the only person so far from the region, but others may be deployed if needed, Kesselring said.

“We have others on standby to be deployed,” Kesselring said.

The Red Cross rates disasters by level of severity, she said. Level 1 is like a home fire while Level 7 is the worst, Kesselring said.

“(Guam) is a Level 5,” she said.

The Red Cross, not counting local emergencies such as fires, has deployed to three disasters since the beginning of its fiscal year on July 1, she said.

Pickering and his wife, Jan, are both volunteers for the Red Cross. She isn’t going to Guam.

They were recognized last year for their service by the chapter.

While there is always the apprehension of flying into a disaster area from not knowing what might happen, the sense of fullfillment from helping others usually comes when returning, Pickering said.

“The real beauty is to help people on the worst days of their lives,” Pickering said. “It’s a real feeling of gratitude.”