Cleveland-area Red Cross volunteers head to Florida to prepare for Hurricane Isaac

CLEVELAND - The American Red Cross has called on its Disaster Action Team to head to Florida ahead of Hurricane Isaac, and that includes volunteers and an emergency response vehicle from Cleveland.

The local volunteers packed up at the Greater Cleveland chapter of the American Red Cross on Euclid Avenue Friday morning to start heading south.

Susan Muetzel is one of the local volunteers heading to Florida. Muetzel has been volunteering with the Red Cross for more than 10 years, and has responded to most of the major hurricanes during that time, including Hurricane Katrina, when she helped out in Mississippi for three weeks.

There are 22 Red Cross emergency response vehicles already in Florida, and another 28 on their way.

Seventy-eight more have been put on standby.

The Red Cross is moving hundreds of trained disaster workers into Florida, and plans to open dozens of shelters across the state.