Ohio County First Responders Providing Hurricane Florence Relief

As residents in North and South Carolina continue to brave flood waters caused by Hurricane Florence, they're getting some help from some Ohio County emergency workers.  Four local first responders are in North Carolina, to assist with relief and recovery efforts.  Among them, my friend Dinah Chapman.

Dina, along with her Ohio County coworkers Christa Dant, Hilary Gaither and Ralph Miller, left for North Carolina on the evening of September 11th.  They arrived in Garner the following day and were there until Tuesday, September 18th.  Yesterday, the crew deployed to Wilmington, North Carolina where they are assisting with local EMS, which has been overwhelmed with 911 calls since Hurricane Florence struck and hovered over the state for days . . . dumping endless rain and causing catastrophic flooding.

I chatted with Dinah this morning and she says the flooding isn't extreme where they're currently assisting.  However, she says the next county over is quite hard hit.  Residents there still have no power.  There are many downed trees.  And that particular county is home to one of the most tragic stories from Hurricane Florence.  It's where a mother and her baby were killed when a tree fell through their home.

Dinah, Christa, Hilary and Ralph work for Com Care, Inc.  Com Care operates ambulance services for Ohio, Logan, Todd, Crittenden and Caldwell counties here in Kentucky.  Dinah says and she and the crew hope to return home sometime next week.  When it's all said and done, they're expecting to spend two full weeks providing Hurricane Florence relief.  But it's an experience that none of them would trade.

I asked Dinah the best way to describe she and her fellow relief workers.  She responded, emphatically, with one word.  PASSIONATE!  Dinah says, "We love what we do!  To be able to drop our lives at a moment's notice to serve people we don't even know. Whether that is at home or states away."  Dinah, who has young children here at home admits that it's difficult, at times, to be away.  She says, "Yes. We are missing our families and our kids at home, but we hope we are making them proud.  We hope to teach our kids to be compassionate to others and selflessness in works that can help others."

Well, there's no doubt that Dinah, Christa, Hilary and Ralph are doing just that.  They're doing their families, their kids and the rest of the tristate proud.

Today, you can join relief efforts as well.  We have partnered with the American Red Cross for a Hurricane Florence mediathon.  We're raising money for relief efforts.  You can donate by calling 812-471-7200 or, to make a quick $10 donation, you can text FLORENCE to 90999.