Over the weekend, North Carolina housed roughly 20,000 people fleeing Florence in more than 150 shelters statewide. By comparison, during Hurricane Matthew in 2016 — North Carolina's last major hurricane — just over 4,000 people were counted in approximately 100 shelters. By Friday, there was already a deficit of cots in New Hanover County and throughout eastern North Carolina.
But in the Triad, the Joel Memorial Veterans Coliseum in Winston-Salem was far from reaching its 1,000-cot capacity. Acting Director of Red Cross Operations Steve Wise says he and a team of 20-30 volunteers are there to help.
“People, they look scared when they come here. You know you see a lot of sad in their eyes when they come,” says Wise. “And they're not knowing what they're going to go back to. And you do everything you can to ease their pain—do everything you can to ease their pain—whether it be give them a shoulder to cry on if need be.”
Wise says the admittance procedure is the same for all of the individuals and families seeking shelter at the Coliseum.
“We check them into the shelter,” he says. “We identify any medical needs immediately. We usher them into the center, show them the facility--like where the washrooms are at, where the feeding is at--the information board, and we assign them a cot. We've got different quadrants set up based upon like family, single men, single women, medical needs, so on and so forth.”
The system is working for the evacuees as well, says Milton Hays. He and his mother arrived on Friday from their flood-ravaged neighborhood in Wilmington, NC.
“Oh, it's nice in there,” says Hays. “You know, everybody's friendly. They feed you and stuff. I've got plenty of sleep, and so everything's laid-back.”
Winston-Salem native Chris Mandley was homeless prior to the storm, and says he's grateful for the shelter, and the volunteers here.
“They're nice. They're helpful,” says Mandley. “If you have a question you can go ahead and ask them. And if you need something, you can feel comfortable asking them for that as well.”
Steve Wise says resident responses like those reflect a good team effort.
“What you see in disasters like this is that is brings out the best in people” says Wise. “And it's nice to see that.”