When Hurricane Isabel struck North Carolina last month, two Red Cross volunteers from the Metro East Service Center quickly packed their bags and awaited their deployment orders.

"We have to be ready to go at a moments notice," said Linda Culver of Collinsville.

Culver and Tonda Van Hoose, of Belleville, are members of the Red Cross' nationwide Disaster Services Human Resources team. They are volunteers who travel across the country to help people during large-scale crises. They were two of six volunteers from the Metro East Service Center to respond to the disaster in North Carolina.

The duo left the Fairview Heights center in an emergency response vehicle September 28, five days after the storm ransacked the coastal state. They arrived two days later and returned October 7. The destruction astounded them.

"Every assignment is different," Van Hoose said. "You never know what you are going to come across. You have to be ready to have a little shock, then get on with your work."

Their work was to provide food, water and other supplies to storm victims. Van Hoose teamed with other volunteers to set up a soup kitchen in an elementary school.

Culver joined the crew of the "Spirit of America," a portable kitchen housed inside an 18-wheeler. The group drove through the streets of Kill Devil Hills to help anyone who wanted help. "We would blow our horn and people would come out and we'd ask them how many meals they needed," she said.

The size of the vehicle, which was on its maiden voyage, allowed the crew to navigate streets that smaller vehicles would not have survived.

"One area was a flooded out area," Culver said. "People had to walk out in the water to get out to us."

Their work was exhausting and the days were long. "There's no pleasure," Culver said. "The only pleasure you get is helping the people. That's the only drive that keeps you going," she said.

The good feeling that comes from helping others is what brought Culver and Van Hoose to the Red Cross in the first place. Both signed up in October, 2001.

Shortly after the events of September 11, Culver gave blood at a Red Cross drive. "I asked if they needed any extra help," she said. The following day, the retired head cook walked into the Metro East Service Center in Fairview Heights and began her journey.

Van Hoose, who had just retired from her career as a nurse's assistant, wanted to find some way to continue helping people. "September 11 must have triggered something," she said. It was the impetus she needed to get her in the door. "I had always wanted to join the Red Cross," she said.

Both women are members of the St. Louis Area Chapter's Disaster Action Team, which provides water and snacks to emergency workers responding to local fires or other disasters. Their work with the Disaster Services Human Resources is a related, but separate job that has sent them out on two other assignments together. This year, they have responded to tornadoes in Missouri and an ice storm in Kentucky. Van Hoose also helped during the Tennessee floods in November, 2002.

Although no one knows when or where disaster will strike next, Van Hoose and Culver will be prepared to help.

"We're always ready to respond," Culver said.