OMAHA, Nebraska — On Monday afternoon, Susan Sparling-Micks stood outside a home in Shelby County, Iowa that was missing much of its siding and parts of its roof. A garage connected to the home was destroyed.
"You're just sorry for the families, for sure," said Sparling-Micks, a volunteer with the American Red Cross.
Sparling-Micks left her home in Plymouth and flew to Omaha early Saturday after tornadoes ripped through parts of Nebraska and Iowa on Friday. A man, who was trapped in his basement in Minden, Iowa, died from his injuries. Even more tornadoes broke out the next day, including in Oklahoma where at least four were killed.
The American Red Cross said currently eight volunteers from the Minnesota and Dakotas region are on the ground helping in the area.
Back at the home in Shelby County, Sparling-Micks spoke to KARE 11 from the property saying it belonged to a couple and two young kids who rode out the storm in their basement.
Sparling-Micks is part of a team assessing the damage to better understand what help families may need in the days and weeks ahead.
"Missing roofs, missing walls. It can be pretty bad. I mean, I walked into a kitchen that had a nice kitchen, counters, and everything and then over here it was just open to the fields and the whole roof was gone. The stairs are going down in the basement but there's nothing upstairs," Sparling-Micks said.
While Sparling-Micks is helping from out in the field, Joe Reinemann of St. Peter is assisting operations at the Red Cross Nebraska Region headquarters in Omaha.
"The strength of the storms was unbelievable. The damage was severe in some locations... Also just the geographic extent of it. This goes from the middle of Nebraska to the middle of Iowa. So it's a big operational area," Reinemann said.
According to Reinemann, about half a dozen fellow Minnesotans are part of the damage assessment team.
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"Our top priority right now is documenting damage so that we have everybody that's eligible for Red Cross assistance in the system," he said.
According to Sue Thesenga, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross Minnesota and Dakotas Region, "Volunteers are distributing Emergency Relief Supplies to help residents with the clean-up efforts. Along with the relief supplies, volunteers are delivering meal kits, with a variety of food items to help families over the next few days. This distribution will continue in the days ahead."
Thesenga said they may deploy more volunteers in the coming days/weeks ahead, if needed.
The Red Cross said because they are focused on immediate needs, they cannot take donations of food or goods at this time.
There are other ways to help, from monetary donations to becoming a volunteer.
Both Reinemann and Sparling-Micks will be in helping in the area for the next two weeks.
Sparling-Micks said, "I like to help. I mean, it's just the thing you do. You help people."
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