By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
Craig Hatley left his Kannapolis home and boarded a plane late Thursday to offer assistance to people in Hattiesburg, Miss., who are affected by Hurricane Isaac.
Hatley has been a volunteer with the Hanford Dole Chapter of the American Red Cross for a year and a half. He was deployed to offer disaster assessment.
Hatley will go into the area, assess the level of damage to determine what level of services the Red Cross should provide.
“I hope we can get our job done quickly to get the help to the people who need it,” Hatley said.
He expects to be in Mississippi for about two weeks, but he won’t know until he arrives.
The level of damage in Hattiesburg may determine how long Hatley will have to stay.
This is his second deployment with the Red Cross. Hatley volunteered during Hurricane Irene last year.
In years past volunteers with the North Carolina Baptist Disaster Relief group offered at First Baptist Church of Salisbury has sent volunteers to hard hit areas affected by hurricanes and other storms.
Education Minister Rod Kerr said the church at this time do not have immediate plans to send volunteers to the Gulf Coast, but have plans to return to Haiti in January. The church has sent volunteers to Haiti for the last three years since the area was hit by Hurricane Katrina.
In the last year, they’ve sent several teams to New Orleans, Kerr said.
Contact reporter Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253.