Mallonee was trained to deal with emergencies. Although he had been watching the news, nothing prepared him for the level of devastation he saw. He was still absorbing the experience when he returned home, but it was a little easier because he came back with a new friend—a cat he named Louie, who was also a victim of the hurricane

The Campbell resident and owner of Mallonee Financial left for Baton Rouge on Sept. 18 with the American Red Cross first responder program. A former paramedic and active member of Campbell's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Mallonee was prepared for the worst.

Hoping that his experience as a paramedic could be put to use, Mallonee originally volunteered to relieve those recovering the dead.

Instead, the Red Cross made security his main responsibility, and he worked with the National Guard to keep the volunteers safe.

"The volunteers were going into an intense and difficult area, but they didn't get it until they got there," Mallonee says.

His experience with CERT also qualified Mallonee to be part of the first team of Red Cross volunteers to enter New Orleans. He was one of 82 volunteers escorted by the police into the Algiers district, an historic area across the Mississippi River from the French Quarter.

"It's the 'hood," Mallonee says of the poverty-stricken district." There were a whole bunch of looters. It was pretty frightening."

Some of the National Guardsmen he worked with likened the scene in New Orleans to what they had seen in Iraq, Mallonee says.

"They said there was very little difference, except there were no cars exploding," he adds.

Working in stifling heat and heavy humidity, with no electricity to power air conditioning, Mallonee said he showered about three times over the course of two weeks. His efforts went toward allaying the angry New Orleans residents as well as putting out fires as a result of gas leaks.

But before the volunteers could finish helping people recover from one disaster, another was threatening the Gulf Coast—Hurricane Rita.

This storm forced the Red Cross volunteers in New Orleans to evacuate to a shelter in Baton Rouge. Crowding into a large venue and waiting for the next hurricane proved as stressful as dealing with the aftermath of Katrina.

The situation affected everyone, with some volunteers "crumbling" from the stress, he says.

Mallonee said he realized that while communities like Campbell may be well prepared for potential emergencies, there are many factors that may not have been considered, such as how to deal with pets.

There were people there who died because they wouldn't leave without their pets, he said.

Caring for animals also turned out to be personal for Mallonee. While helping the Red Cross he found Louie.

"When I first got to Algiers, I saw this little kitten walking sideways because it was too tired. I went back two days later, and there was the cat. It survived two hurricanes, and now it's living large in California."

Since his return on Oct. 4, Mallonee has prepared a presentation about his experiences to give to CERT teams and groups such as the Emergency Management Association in San Jose.

He and others from local CERT teams who volunteered in Louisiana recently gave a presentation at the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police station.

"Those sorts of real life experiences are invaluable for helping our people who will be responding in the event of an emergency," says Kerry Harris, a sergeant with the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police and co-coordinator for that department's CERT team. "It's important to understand the true dynamics of mass care."

These issues are critical when major organizations such as the Red Cross are unable to reach a disaster area on a timely basis.

The Red Cross had to fight with the government to get into New Orleans to assist those in need, Mallonee says. The government was trying to get people out of the disaster area. He cites this as an example of the importance of coordinating emergency preparedness.

The Red Cross only goes where federal authorities and local officials allow, said Cynthia Shaw, director of marketing and communications for the Santa Clara Valley chapter of the Red Cross.

"It was very hard," Shaw said. "We asked the government on multiple occasions to bring in food. Because it was not safe, we were turned down until they had basically evacuated everyone, and then when they started letting people back in we were allowed to go back with them."

Mallonee plans to go back to New Orleans in November to help the Red Cross with security again.

"I'm learning about the mistakes that are made there," he says, "and what we need to do to be prepared better here."