Local Red Cross Heads To Typhoon Disaster Relief

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Saipan is in a state of disaster after Typhoon Soudelor hit the island on Sunday Night into Monday.

Typhoon Soudelor rips through Saipan at winds reaching 100 miles an hour.

The destruction has Fargo Red Cross’s Sean Coffman packing his bags and making the trip to the island of Saipan.

He will help more than 500 people in shelters and conduct disaster assessments for their recovery.

“The Typhoon literally went directly over the island, so imagine being on an island nowhere to go and being in the eye of the storm? That’s essentially what happened to the individuals who are part of this nation,”said Coffman.

There is a reason why our local Red Cross was contacted for a volunteer.

Regional Communications Officer Brain Shawn said, “The wild fires are so bad right now that we can’t really spare any staff members in the west coast area to travel out there, so they came out a little further to us to try to get Sean out there.”

People may wonder why the Red Cross is sending help over 7 thousand miles away.

“Saipan is a United States commonwealth, that essentially an American society. So trying to support these folks is still the American Red Cross, supporting them,”said Shawn.

Coffman has gone across the country to help with disasters, his wife is nervous but proud of her husband.

“I’m humbled to be a part of the response because I get to help these incredible volunteers to be part of a solution to a disaster in their community,”said Coffman.

Soudelor isn’t slowing down, more help will be needed.

One of mothers nature’s deadliest forces continues to grow, and the typhoon looks to be heading toward Taiwan and the coast of China.

If you’d like to help with donations visit http://www.redcross.org