Recovery efforts continue in Florida, after Hurricane Ian left death and destruction in its path, spanning much of the southwest part of the state.

“We’ve got our Red Cross vests on and it’s just so heartwarming that people are coming up no matter where you are,” said Wendy Frederickson. “They come up and they say god bless you for everything that you do and it’s so heartwarming.”

Frederickson, from Virginia, has been volunteering in Florida from the Red Cross of Northern Minnesota since last week. She’s been a volunteer for several years and said damage from Ian is some of the worst she’s ever seen.

“It’s so devastating, 200,000 homes have been lost,” Frederickson said.

Another volunteer with the Red Cross of Northern Minnesota, Diane Dunder, from Superior, drove with other volunteers in an emergency response vehicle to Orlando, and will be setting up a kitchen in Cape Coral.

“Understand what these people are going through, this isn’t the first time they’ve had storms like this, people need as much help as they can,” Dunder said.

Dunder said for anyone who is looking for ways to help, volunteering will always be welcome.

“We can always use more volunteers, this is going to go on for a long time,” Dunder said.

The Red Cross said there are 13 volunteers from the Northland currently in Florida and 58 total volunteers from the Minnesota Dakotas region.

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