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Arkansas volunteers ready to respond to Hurricane Ian's landfall

Sheep Dog Impact Assistance and the Red Cross have local volunteers prepared to respond as Hurricane Ian approaches Florida.

ROGERS, Ark. — Local organizations are preparing for Hurricane Ian's landfall in Florida.

Sheep Dog Impact Assistance has an Eastern Florida chapter in Tampa, where members are helping the organization prepare for the hurricane. Sergeant Major Lance Nutt is the president and CEO of Sheep Dog and says they are currently on a wait-and-see basis.

"Depending on the damage, and the need is typically the type of volunteer response that we'll see," Nutt said. "So, you know, having 100 People already show interest, just from our local area and wanting to support our efforts. shows that people are tracking and are aware of the potential devastation from the storm. They [Florida Chapter] will be our best resource for letting us know, the greatest need. And unfortunately, just how severe things might be, they will also be the ones that tell us it's not that bad, and wave us off if necessary."

Several members have already volunteered ahead of the landfall and Nutt says anyone looking to volunteer or donate can contact them directly.

The Red Cross in Rogers is also preparing. They already have 25 local volunteers in Florida and 40 more ready to send.

"We're getting as many people as we can to go down to do the initial mass care response once the hurricane hits," said Red Cross' Wesley Smith. "So we're looking for the people who are able to go down for sheltering for feeding, distribution of emergency supplies, and essentially just have them shelter in place until the storm passes. You have to prepare for the worst and hope that the worst doesn't happen. But if it does, we're prepared for it."

Smith says anyone willing to assist can be trained within a week and sent to location. You can visit the Arkansas Red Cross website for more information.

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