Back from the eye of the storm

Marisa O’Neil

While he worked as a Red Cross volunteer for two weeks in

hurricane-ravaged Florida, Costa Mesa resident Spencer Sausser saw

first hand the highs and lows the storm victims experienced.

Sausser, a volunteer firefighter and member of the Costa Mesa

Citizen Corps, returned last week from his two-week trip, spent in

shelters, doling out food and helping with general recovery efforts.

There, he saw the devastation wreaked by the series of storms that

hit the state and left homes cut in two by fallen trees, roofs blown

off, clothes and furniture soaked and thousands homeless.

It was an educational, happy, sad, interesting and eye-opening

experience, he said.

“One thing I learned is: Don’t tell them it’s OK and that you

understand what they’re going through,” he said, “because I don’t.”

While in Florida, he worked in a 50-person shelter in Orlando and

traveled an hour-and-a-half south to Okeechobee, where the damage was

even worse.

“A typical scene would be a bunch of houses, but you couldn’t see

the windows because they were all covered with boards, if they were

still standing,” he said. “Sometimes you’d just see a washing machine

just sitting there with no roof and no walls on the house.”

One of the saddest scenes he saw was a woman who came to the

shelter in tears because she was too embarrassed to ask for help,

Sausser said.

Most of the people in the shelters, some of whom had been there

for weeks, were trying to make the most of their situations. Many

read books, watched movies and got to know each other.

“I loved seeing the smiles on people’s faces and trying to take

their minds off of the situation,” he said. “I was playing with the

kids and trying to take their minds off the fact that they weren’t at

home.”

The high point of his visit, he said, was getting to see a group

of senior citizens hear the news that they could return to their

homes.

“They were like little kids,” he said. “They all had big smiles on

their faces. They were so happy and relieved.”

After he returned last week, Sausser was once again called into

action. He was activated by the Orange County Fire Authority to help

stem local flooding during Wednesday’s rain.

Sausser’s boss, attorney Daniel Callahan, said he doesn’t mind

giving Sausser, his legal assistant, time off to help others.

“Some people are made up that way,” Callahan said. “Spencer is

made up that way, and we respect that. He’s cut out of the correct

fabric.”

The experience he gained has made Sausser into a tried-and-true

volunteer, said Cheryl Wills, fire prevention specialist for the

Costa Mesa Fire Department.

“He said his biggest goal was to help people and he did,” she

said. “He told me: ‘A lot of people could’ve done this,’” she said.

“I said: ‘A lot of people could have, but you did it.’ We’re proud of

him for representing Costa Mesa.”