MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Hurricane Frances has postponed the return of some South Carolina volunteers who went to Florida to help in the recovery from Charley.

Jo and Ed Hester of Surfside Beach had expected to return this week from helping hurricane victims. Then Frances rolled through the state just four weeks after Hurricane Charley. The Hesters, who are Red Cross volunteers, now will stay another two weeks.

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

Dozens more South Carolina volunteers, dispatched by the Red Cross and other organizations, are headed to Florida this week to help clean up from Frances.

"We weren't done with Charley," said Jo Hester, who added she had to postpone meetings with families who lost homes to Charley when Frances swept through. "Now we're going to have to start up again."

Frances forced the Hesters and other volunteers from across the country to bunk at shelters.

"I ask myself all the time why we do this," said Ed Hester, who coordinates recovery efforts using computers and satellite systems. "I'm not sure why."

Volunteers with the Red Cross 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, said Jenifer Sweat, interim director of the Horry County Red Cross.

The Hesters are retired. Jo Hester has worked disasters for nearly three years - tornadoes in Alabama and the terrorist attack on New York on Sept. 11, 2001. Ed Hester has worked three hurricanes before, including a typhoon that struck Guam in December 2002 and forced him to spend Christmas thousands of miles from his wife.

"It's a selfish thing," Jo Hester said. "Because I get satisfaction out of it."

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Information from: The Sun News, http://www.myrtlebeachaccess.com/