Long Island Red Cross volunteer heading to storm-soaked California

Doug McNally is set to leave Long Island Thursday and travel directly into California’s relentless storms.

The West Coast remains under a deluge of atmospheric river storms that have forced widespread evacuations, sent massive boulders onto roads as part of cascading mudslides and killed at least 18 people as of Wednesday.

McNally, 71, a volunteer with Long Island Chapter of the American Red Cross, leaves Thursday for a 10-day deployment to communities north of Oakland to assist those sheltering from the storms and forced to leave their homes. The Northport resident has worked as a volunteer with the Long Island chapter for four years as a social worker, traveling on eight missions to wildfires in California, tornadoes in Kentucky and hurricanes in Florida.

Another representative from Long Island is assisting a shelter in the Bay Area city of San Mateo.

McNally spent his career as an attorney and then at the age of 65 went on to get his master’s degree from Stony Brook University to become a social worker.

Working for the Red Cross, he specializes in helping treat mental health and trauma.

“It’s the same with an emotional and psychological injury. You see this amount of destruction and people have suffered emotional wounds. Just like medical care, if we don’t tend to them, there’s a chance of problems being much more serious,” McNally said. “Mostly we just listen and exercise empathy. We’re just there to listen to their story and gently help them.”

The storm encompasses nearly the entire state of California and also affecting the Pacific Northwest. McNally said the storm covers many burn areas of past wildfires and parts of the state ravaged by drought, making homes and communities vulnerable to mudslides.

Evacuation orders and directives to shelter in place in Southern California near Santa Barbara were lifted Wednesday but 100 people statewide were unable to return to their residences. 

McNally will be arriving as another storm approaches off the Pacific and will prepare to respond to alleviate local resources that may be overwhelmed from providing aid.

He said Red Cross volunteers from throughout the country are traveling to help Californians, who came to Long Island and New York more than 10 years ago to assist during Superstorm Sandy.

“With a disaster of this size during Sandy, there were as many as 30 shelters and local resources are overwhelming, so this is returning the favor,” he said. “People come to New York from all over when we have our disasters. With storms of this size, it’s impossible to address with local resources.”

McNally and other volunteers may sleep in tents or travel throughout the region to connect evacuees with resources or shelter.

“We make sure they’re safe and try to connect them with family and friends,” he said. “The biggest asset in getting through this is for those who don’t have those resources. We’ll tap into local emotional support and social services in the community.”

Jose Dominguez, the CEO, of the Long Island chapter, said volunteers commit to giving up two weeks to help others. The Long Island chapter includes 800 volunteers, including 500 of those who respond to disasters.

“Every time I see someone deploy with the Red Cross, I see a sense of commitment and a compassionate mission recognized across the globe,” Dominguez said. “I think of the hope and comfort they provide. We’re not first responders, but once people have been placed in shelters, we hope to provide a little bit of hope.”

With AP

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.