LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — As Hurricane Helene continued to travel north, it left a trail of destruction in the southeast.
Some in Northeastern Pennsylvania are heading south to help as much as possible.
"Our team is already down there, they're going to be there for likely at least 14 days. They were deployed Thursday of last week,” said Dan Hallowich, Scranton Fire Department deputy chief.
Pennsylvania was asked to send firefighters to North Carolina. Scranton's fire chief, John Judge, and Captain Robert Zoltewicz responded to the call.
While first responders from across the country are heading south to assist recovery efforts,
volunteers across Northeastern Pennsylvania are doing the same.
"We have, as of right now, 20 volunteers from the greater Pennsylvania region that are deployed,” said Sherry Nealon-Shrive, executive director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania chapter of the Red Cross. “We are also going to be deploying people within the next few days as well."
This comes as the full scope of the damage caused by Helene is still coming into focus.
"The infrastructure has been completely decimated, so accessing areas has been quite a challenge, and my guess is that they're a couple of days away from really grasping the level of destruction," said Hallowich.
"This is going to be a long operation. I can tell you that this will be a long one,” said Nealon-Shrive. “This is pretty big, and unfortunately, we've been seeing a lot of it, so I don't know, it's really sad."
The Red Cross says there's a way people here at home can help.
"Give blood because right now in those areas, those blood drives have been shut down, and the Red Cross is the only one who can transport blood over state lines and get it where it needs to go," said Nealon-Shrive.
Both the Red Cross and the Scranton Fire Department are staying vigilant since it will still be a couple of days before the full extent of Helene's damage is evident.