Rochester’s Salvation Army returns from providing Hurricane Ida relief

(ABC 6 News) – After two weeks of traveling across Louisiana providing relief to hurricane victims, Rebecca Snapp with Rochester’s Salvation Army is home.

Snapp is the director of community engagement at the Salvation Army in Rochester, and she answered the call for help in the south. After a hurricane like Ida, people in Louisiana needed all the help they could get.

"It’s actually rough. I was expecting it not to be as bad. Truly," Snapp said.

Snapp spent two weeks working out of a truck they call a canteen shuttling food and supplies from base camp to a small town in southern Louisiana called Cut Off.

"I really expected to see the worst in people. You know because people are tired and hungry and frustrated. I really was prepared for that. I wasn’t prepared for people to come up and be so grateful for something as simple as a hot meal," Snapp said.

She said the people affected most in disaster situations are those who already don’t have many resources or places to turn to.

"You don’t realize that people dealing with all the stuff from a hurricane are still dealing with the struggles of their daily lives. And the other thing is poverty in Louisiana looks very different than it does here," Snapp said.

Snapp said people often continue living in their homes after multiple hurricanes have damaged the structure because they don’t have anywhere else to go.

Besides the physical support, she said people often just wanted someone to talk to.

"It’s just story after story after story of people really needing, not just the tangible help of a meal, but also just needing someone to care," Snapp said.

And if she was called to a disaster again?

"I’d go in a heartbeat," Snapp said.

She said it will be years before those affected by the hurricane will return to life as normal.

There’s a great need for more disaster relief volunteers across the country right now. To find ways to help or a link to donate, click,here.