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Submitted/Kevin Carr

Kevin Carr, network service technician with IT, shot this photo of a lone house standing tattered among the destruction in Greensburg. Carr volunteered with the American Red Cross to help set up computer networks during the recovery, which were used to get assistance cards to residents. KU Public Safety officers also volunteered to help in the Greensburg recovery.

Staffer lends expertise to Greensburg recovery

Compared to what he saw in Greensburg, the network problems Kevin Carr deals with at KU don't seem so bad.

Carr, a network service technician with Networking and Telecommunications Services, recently spent two weeks volunteering with the American Red Cross in Greensburg, the western Kansas town devastated by a tornado in May. He lent his technical skills to establish computer networks, which the Red Cross used to create assistance cards for residents. The cards were used to help people obtain necessities such as food, clothing, shelter and prescription medications.

Carr, who has volunteered with the Red Cross for four years, traveled to Greensburg in late May. He worked at a service center in Haviland, about 10 miles east of Greensburg, and at the Red Cross' temporary headquarters in Pratt. He also saw the destruction firsthand.

"I got to help clean up in Greensburg on my days off," he said. "It was devastating. Until you actually see it, I don't think you can fully understand how bad it was. I could stand at one side of town and see all the way to the other." Even though residents had lost nearly all of their physical possessions and homes, Carr said Greensburg residents didn't complain, often stating they were happy they still had their lives.

Communications infrastructure in the community was largely destroyed by the tornado, but the Red Cross provided everything necessary for Carr's work, including trucks with mobile cell phone towers, laptop computers and other equipment.

"They don't spare any expense," Carr said, "which is amazing, because it's funded mostly by donations."

Carr also lends his expertise to recovery in local disasters. A member of the Red Cross' Disaster Services Team, he has worked closely with Douglas County Emergency Management to assist people effected by disasters. The team helped people after the 2006 microburst, the 2003 tornado that hit Lawrence, fires and other disasters.

When Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast in 2005, he spent three weeks establishing computer networks in Montgomery, Ala., Mississippi and New Orleans, La.

Carr's reason for volunteering is simple.

"I just like being able to help," he said. "It's a really rewarding experience."

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