By Kelly Isenor, American Red Cross 

More than three and a half weeks after Hurricane Ian devastated wide swaths of Florida, the American Red Cross continues to make sure critical support is available to people in the hardest hit areas. 

At Santini Marina Plaza in Fort Myers Beach, where property owners and cleanup crews spend their days clearing out homes and salvaging belongings, the Red Cross has been on hand offering water, snacks, toiletries, clean-up supplies, and hot food to anyone who needs it.

“You don’t know you’re hungry until you smell that delicious food,” said local resident Tamala Bitner after she picked up a Red Cross meal for the second day in a row. “I think this was my only meal yesterday.”  

Also available for residents are a team of committed volunteers to help with emotional support, spiritual care and first aid. 

Peggy Goebel, a bilingual Red Cross worker and licensed RN from California, set up an area at the Red Cross Aid Station to help address medical needs, including infections and cuts suffered during cleanout.

“I’ve treated several wounds, a couple of blood pressure checks,” she said of her work last week. She added, “I did a glucose check on a gentleman whose blood glucose was 291. That’s probably stress related.”  

Goebel also treated a worker who was injured cleaning out a home and was bleeding profusely. She enlisted two other volunteers to help apply pressure while she cleaned around the wound and called for EMS to take the man to the hospital.  

The next day, the injured worker came back to the Plaza with a fresh bandage covering his sutures and a smile on his face. He handed out hugs and insisted on having his picture taken with his new Red Cross friend.

“I’m so happy I was here to help,” she said.