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Red Cross volunteer assisted after tornado in May, flood in Aug.
By Bill Lilley
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Sep 13, 2008
BATH TWP.: Dr. David Yonas lives 1,200 miles from Galveston, Texas, and easily could have decided to limit his inconvenience from the landfall of Hurricane Ike to a couple of rainy days in the comfort of his home.
But that's not what Yonas does.
More than 15 times in the past, he's helped with disaster relief efforts. In 2001, he went to New York City for the aftermath of9/11. So far this year, he's been to Arkansas (May's tornado victims) and Iowa (August's flooding victims).
He has a hard time declining an opportunity to help people in life-altering times.
So when he got the call Thursday morning from the American Red Cross' national office asking him to give up two weeks of his time and join the Hurricane Ike disaster relief team as a mental health manager, there was no question of his answer.
''It's just something I feel I need to do,'' said Yonas, a 59-year-old Cleveland native who practices marriage and family counseling in Akron. ''And it's important to me to do it. . . .
''What the people are going through is so difficult, that whatever difficulties we may have pale in comparison. I feel compelled to help them.''
Yonas knows the gig. He quickly packed for two weeks of living on a cot in a gym.
''We are told the conditions and different levels of hardships that we will encounter, and you pack accordingly,'' he said.
''I know I need to have different supplies and different clothing on every trip.''
Less than 30 hours after getting the call for help, he boarded a plane at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and headed for Dallas.
Yonas was the first volunteer from the Summit County chapter of the Red Cross to be sent to Texas specifically to deal with the effects of Hurricane Ike.
Deb Lancaster, interim emergency services director for the agency, said there are 15 other volunteers from the Akron chapter already in the area. They were sent to the South after Hurricanes Gustav and Hannah and will be redeployed to Texas once Ike passes through.
More volunteers and staff members could be sent from Akron, but Lancaster said the national office would not leave the local chapter unable to serve its home zone.
''We've sent out so many people in the recent disasters that it's hard to keep track of everybody,'' said Lancaster, who has spent 20 years with the Red Cross.
''The people that are finishing up work with Hurricane Hannah people will be sent to help people affected by Hurricane Ike.
''Who gets sent where depends on what services are needed. The national office matches up the needs with the volunteers available and then they contact us.''
Hurricane Ike was expected to come ashore early this morning. No one can say how much devastation it will leave behind.
Yonas said he prepares to deal with the worst in his trauma counseling.
''I'm always a little apprehensive about the unknown, because you never really know what you're getting into,'' he said. ''But I'm psyched because I'm going to be helping people.
''I'm focused on whatever services need to be provided to the people. That has to be my total focus for the entire time I'm deployed.
''Once I get back, I'll take a couple days to settle down and then I'll go back to work.''
And he'll wait for the call to help with the next disaster.
Bill Lilley can be reached at 330-996-3811 or blilley@thebeaconjournal.com.
BATH TWP.: Dr. David Yonas lives 1,200 miles from Galveston, Texas, and easily could have decided to limit his inconvenience from the landfall of Hurricane Ike to a couple of rainy days in the comfort of his home.
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