GREEN BAY, WI (WFRV)  Wisconsin workers and volunteers are already heading south to help with storm damage from Tropical Storm Isaac. 
 

The American Red Cross is busy  preparing  its response to the damage Isaac is expected to bring to the northern gulf coast. Fifteen-hundred disaster workers have been deployed to the area, ten of which are from Northeast Wisconsin. Monday evening - one of those volunteers left Green Bay, on a 16-hour drive to New Orleans. 

As Tropical Storm Isaac races  toward the northern gulf coast, slowly growing in intensity, Dennis Nagan prepares for a 1-thousand mile trip, to deliver an emergency response vehicle, for use at  shelters in New Orleans.

"I'm  nervous, excited, got the call this morning, " said Nagan. "It happened fast and we're getting ready to go."

So far Isaac has brought heavy rain, power outages and flooding to Florida. But with storm surges expected to reach 12-feet along the northern gulf coastline, many more may find themselves displaced. The mission of the vehicle is to aid in the distribution of food to disaster victims.

 "We can take it to areas affected, so as people clean their homes they can get a little comfort, said Jody Weyers of the Lakeland Chapter of the American Red Cross in Green Bay.

The  emergency response vehicle is one of 150 such vehicles, owned by the National Red Cross and stored at local chapters across the country. With Tropical Storm Isaac expected to intensify in the coming days, a call came in from the national office this afternoon - requesting this vehicle be sent a.s.a.p.

"You are right out in front with people who really need the food, goods and supplies the Red Cross provides and  I take it seriously, it's an honor to do it." said Nagan.

With 42 shelters currently in operation in Florida and evacuations ordered in low lying areas of Louisiana, the Red Cross expects more shelters will be opening soon. And by early tomorrow Nagan will be in the middle of it all, driving a vehicle which brings hope, by helping feed the hungry.

"Hopefully we won't be needed, But if so, we'll be there."

Depending on the damage suffered, Nagan could be away from his family in Appleton for up to three weeks.