I and other American Red Cross (ARC) volunteers travelled to Columbia, SC to assist with Hurricane Hanna disaster preparedness activities. The ARC coordinator, who was not from the SC area, booked approximately 10 rooms at the American Inn for 20 volunteers as the motel was close to our temporary HQ building and the rates were reasonable. We checked in, took a look at/smelled our rooms, and immediately poured out of our rooms to the safety of the outdoors. The smell was horrible; the bathroom door was bashed in and mended with duct tape; the toilet paper and towel holders had been ripped off the walls; bugs were in the beds; a paper towel was stuffed into the front door’s gaping “viewing hole”; the microwave was covered with old food; garbage was on the bathroom floor; etc. Fortunately the ARC lodging coordinator was able to find us other rooms in Columbia…those rooms only had one bed so we had to sleep two volunteers to a bed, but that arrangement was like heaven compared to the... more