By Kim Hilsenbeck.
At the drop of a hat, Mike Kelley of Mountain City may be called to assess flood damage or drive a big box truck hauling supplies. As an America Red Cross volunteer of both the Disaster Action Team and the Mass Care Action Team, Kelley may suddenly find himself on a plane heading to disasters across the county.
“I’m on call every other night,” Kelley said in a phone interview.
Most recently, he spent two weeks in Colorado helping victims of the recent devastating floods near Denver.
What made Kelley decide to volunteer for the Red Cross?
At top, Mountain City resident Mike Kelley is a volunteer with the Disaster Response team for the American Red Cross. He recently spent two weeks near Denver, Colorado, after the devastating floods helping with damage assessment and handing out cleaning supplies to homeowners. (Photos by Rigo Villejo) |
“I’ve always donated when there’s a disaster,” he said. “I donated to [the explosion disaster in] West and a regional person called to say thanks. I told him I wanted to get involved as a volunteer.”
He also likes that the organization doesn’t spend too much of its donations on overhead expenses.
This past June, he officially became a volunteer. But he mostly did small stuff until a few weeks ago.
When Kelley got the call to head to Colorado in mid-September, he said his first reaction was almost excitement – not because of other peoples’ misfortune but because he would finally get to use some of the skills he trained for with Red Cross.
His training so far includes damage assessment and driving the big box truck that hauls supplies.
This past Monday, Kelley went up to Austin to perform damage assessment on the flooding that occurred last week. Other local disasters may include home fires and hurricanes.
After retiring in January 2012, Kelley said he has the time now to help others. His career included many years as a public health physician with the state of Texas. For the state prison system, he was the director of preventative medicine. He also worked for a short time for the City of Austin Health Department.
But since Red Cross calls are random and he never knows when he’ll be called, Kelley keeps busy with hobbies including woodworking, photography and bicycle riding.
He’s been riding for the last 40 or more years. This week, he is heading to California for the last leg of the Ride 4 Recovery event. In some ways, it’s like going home since Kelley grew up in Camarillo. He lived in Newbury Park, CA later in life.
He and his wife Marjie Kelley, a retired French teacher at Hays High School, now enjoy traveling and being empty nesters.
Kelley wants to take more Red Cross training classes.
“The more training you take, the more things you can do. You can really develop some skills and knowledge the longer you’re with them,” he said.
After a career in leadership positions, Kelley said his volunteer life is all about being a front line worker, such as in shelter management and mental health first aid.
On the front lines on Colorado, Kelley got to see some of the worst of the flood’s devastation as he conducted damage assessment in Denver and in the foothills west of city.
Kelley said they use a formula to classify the type of damage - for example, if the level of water in a house is less than a foot, it’s called “affect.” One to three feet is called “minor” damage. The scale goes up to five or more feet, in which case Kelley said the formula would determine the property is destroyed.
“It’s just a formula we use to assess damage,” Kelley said. “It doesn’t mean we don’t think an individual had a serious problem.”
In the event of a hurricane, Kelley said the team would assess structural damage, including how much of a roof was lost and whether the home is still on its foundation.
In Colorado, he said some houses were completely obliterated from their moorings. Others sustained extensive damage but were not a complete loss.
“The information is used by Red Cross to determine where to put resources,” Kelley said.
Agencies other than Red Cross also use the data as well, he said.
Speculation among some folks he encountered in Denver indicated some water releases up stream may have contributed to the flooding.
“People said there was some flooding in the past but not to this extent,” Kelley said. “They called it a 1,000 year flood – it was much more extensive than normal. One couple said they sometimes get a foot or two in the basement, but never in their home.”
Kelley has his own theory, especially after talking with locals.
“I suspect the big fires they had last year upstream,” Kelley said. “There was nothing to stop the erosion and the water run off.”
