kathy.lu@roanoke.com 981-3430

Just a week ago, the Salvation Army of Roanoke said it had a "50-50 chance" of getting called to help hurricane victims in Florida.

Now, it looks like the agency's mobile canteen unit won't be coming back from Florida anytime soon.

Salvation Army Capt. Erik Nickell and two volunteers from Roanoke are in central Florida helping victims of Hurricane Frances. Nickell said he is running six canteens that serve about 5,000 meals a day. He left for the Sunshine State on Sunday morning.

"We're just trying to keep everybody fed," Nickell said. "There are a lot of power outages."

But with Hurricane Ivan breathing down their necks, Nickell said the canteens will likely serve their last meals Sunday night. Ivan is forecast to approach Florida early next week.

"We're going to regroup and move to a safer location" to wait out the storm, he said. But those plans could change at any time.

Other volunteers from the Roanoke Valley in Florida include those for the American Red Cross and some for the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief team. Jean Hines of Smith Mountain Lake is one of an estimated 1,000 Southern Baptist volunteers there helping with food, cleanup and recovery.

Nickell is originally from Florida and still has family there. His father recently came to help at one of the canteens. Having responded to the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Nickell said the damage Frances left behind "doesn't compare." Still, he said he cannot find ice and water and there aren't enough tarps for people to put on their broken roofs to shelter their homes from the typical afternoon showers.

Nickell said it also looks like people are preparing more for Hurricane Ivan. Pharmacies and grocery stores are buying generators and residents who had their houses boarded up for Frances are being asked to keep the boards up.TO HELPThe Salvation Army

343-5335

www.salvationarmyusa.org

The American Red Cross

985-3535

www.redcross.org

North American Mission Board, SBC:

www.namb.net