Local Red Cross volunteers head south

TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - A dozen American Red Cross volunteers from the Greater Lafayette area head south before Tropical Storm Issac hits land.

Tippecanoe County resident Ron Corcoran spent Monday morning filling out paper work as he prepared to be deployed down south before Tropical Storm Issac hits land.

"This is probably my fourth time. I've been to other disasters and I enjoy it. It's fun helping others," American Red Cross volunteer, Ron Corcoran said.

Corcoran is one of 12 volunteers from the Greater Lafayette area that have already been deployed to Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.

"We do the training for all the volunteers so they are all prepared to go to a disaster," Executive Director of the Tippecanoe County American Red Cross chapter Bob Wollenburg said.

Volunteers said as they prepare for the worst, they're just hoping for the best.

"You go and handle it when you get there. People have been planning for these things. Hopefully it's not nearly as bad as Katrina but you never know until you get there and things happen. But I think we're prepared," American Red Cross volunteer Mike Mahn said.

"Its very rewarding. Once you get there you don't think a lot about a lot of stuff back home. You just take care of what you have to do. They're long days and usually you sleep in a church or something with 200 of your new best friends," Corcoran said.

"It's great for our community that the people have been trained they can go and they enjoy going and helping others that really are in need," Wollenburg said.

Volunteers from the Greater Lafayette area will stay in the disaster areas for two weeks.

But for now, they said they'll just take one day at a time.

For more information on how you can help with disaster relief, head to the Red Cross website .