Surfside Beach resident and Red Cross volunteer Jo Hester went to Florida three weeks ago to help in the recovery from Hurricane Charley. She expected to come home Wednesday. Then came Frances.

"I just can't leave," Hester said Monday via telephone from Lakeland, Fla. "I can't consciously leave these people."

Hester and her husband, Ed Hester, will stay another two weeks, helping families rebuild amidst the devastation of two hurricanes. Jo Hester leads a family-services group and said Frances forced her to postpone meetings with families.

"We weren't done with Charley," she said. "Now we're going to have to start up again."

Four Horry County Red Cross volunteers went to Florida to help with recovery efforts after Charley. In addition to the Hesters, they are William Kempf and Jim Wiehe. Another volunteer might join them, said Jenifer Sweat, interim director of the Horry County Red Cross.

Thanks to an S.C.-Florida agreement, an S.C. Air National Guard loaned a C-130 airplane to the state of Florida to fly Gov. Jeb Bush and federal officials to Miami to begin damage assessments. Ten members of the Guard's 240th Combat Communications Squadron are heading to Florida to set up satellite communication networks.

Frances briefly forced the Hesters and other Red Cross volunteers to take shelter in an assisted-living facility. Ed Hester said they hunkered down with volunteers from Ohio, New York, Oregon and California.

"That shows you the diversity of people helping out down here," he said. "I ask myself all the time why we do this. I'm not sure why."

Volunteers are given $25 a day for food. Their housing and travel costs are covered. Most volunteer deployments are for two to three weeks. Many volunteers have to arrange the time off with their employers, Sweat said.

Jo Hester has volunteered in disaster-recovery efforts for nearly three years, including tornadoes in Alabama and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack in New York. Ed Hester previously has volunteered after three disasters, including a typhoon that struck Guam in December 2002. He spent Christmas on the small Pacific island, thousands of miles from his wife.

Jo Hester said she does the work because it makes her feel good.

"It's a selfish thing because I get satisfaction out of it," she said.

Today, Jo Hester's Red Cross team will start reopening its recovery center, where people with damaged or destroyed homes meet with counselors and case workers. Ed Hester works on computers and satellite systems that help coordinate recovery efforts. He said it is good work but he looks forward to coming home. He coaches a youth soccer team and said he has missed too many practices.

"I'd like to send word to my guys at the soccer team," he said. "Tell them I'll be back as soon as I can."

Horry County Red Cross | (843) 477-0020

Brunswick County, N.C., Red Cross | (910) 762-2683

Georgetown County Red Cross | (843) 546-5422