Volunteer search and rescue and the American Red Cross: a Katrina response experience

Major disasters like Hurricane Katrina cause severe damage. Often the bulk of the attention and aid is given to larger urban areas. Rural areas with its mix of poor and wealthy are often given far less attention or help is slower to arrive. These rural areas-where less is present before the disaster-often have nothing left after the event. This article chronicles the experience of a volunteer search and rescue organization working through the American Red Cross in its attempt to provide much-needed aid to one rural area in southwestern Mississippi.