Siouxland Red Cross volunteers head to Florida to help during st - KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

Nine Red Cross volunteers from Iowa, including three from Sioux City, will leave Friday afternoon to get pre-positioned in Florida at shelters for the expected landfall of Tropical Storm Isaac.

Other trained disaster volunteers from Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, and Des Moines, Iowa will join hundreds of others from around the country in Florida. The Red Cross says it has 22 emergency response vehicles in the state already and 28 more will move in before the storm. The Red Cross is also sending five truckloads of disaster supplies to Florida.

In a press release, Tammie Pech, the regional communications director with the Red Cross in Iowa, says volunteers are trained to provide a variety of disaster relief services.

"It is important for volunteers from Iowa to travel to disaster operations around the country as they often return with additional training and are more prepared in case a disaster or emergency hits in our own backyard," says Pech.

The Red Cross says volunteers are needed to help with large scale hurricane responses, like Tropical Storm Isaac, as well local response efforts.