Although Hurricane Floyd has furiously come and gone, thousands are still affected.

Roger Combs, Athens County Chapter Red Cross volunteer, knows this first hand.

Combs spent a little more than two weeks in Franklin, Va., helping flood victims get back on their feet.

Franklin, located just across the border from North Carolina, experienced a considerable amount of flooding, Combs said. The entire town was flooded as well as many of the surrounding residential areas.

"Most of the time it was a matter of working in the shelter they had set up in the YMCA," he said. "We kept people in the shelter before they could find a home or get back into their own home."

Combs also worked to distribute items such as boots, snacks and supplies that victims would need to clean up their homes.

"I've been doing this for 20 years," he said. "You do learn a lot about people's needs and tragedies whether it's flood or fires."

The American Red Cross in Athens County sent four volunteers to help victims of Hurricane Floyd, said Sandra Shirey, executive director of the Athens County Chapter of the Red Cross. Two have come back and two are still volunteering.

The volunteers work in logistics, where they make sure all the supplies are adequately distributed, she said. They also volunteer in shelters and help with family service.

"Everything we do is to try to get the family back into the normal living condition," Shirey said.

David Bow, also an Athens County Chapter Red Cross volunteer, recently returned to Athens after spending 20 days in New Jersey helping hurricane victims.

Bow spent most of his time working in a warehouse, receiving goods and delivering supplies and food.

He said by the time he left, Red Cross volunteers had placed 4,929 people in shelters and had given out 104,576 meals in the state of New Jersey alone.

Bow, who has been volunteering with the Red Cross since 1993, treats the different disaster sites he is sent to like any other job.

"Any time is different," he said. "You learn different things, how to cut corners. It (Hurricane Floyd) was a bad one. This was one of the top."

The Red Cross plans to continue to provide relief services as long as there is a need. To do so, the Red Cross is asking for special donations to the hurricane victims.

"Just feeding them those meals are not cheap," Bow said. "Someone has to pay for it."

Shirey said even a simple donation of a few nickels and dimes could make a difference.

Contributions can be sent to the Athens County Chapter, American Red Cross, 100 S. May Ave., Athens, OH 45701. A note should be included specifying the money be used for the national disaster relief fund.