NWLA Red Cross volunteers deployed to Jackson, MS. area - KTBS

Red Cross volunteer Lisamarie Griffin left Shreveport Thursday morning to help those affected by tornadoes in Jackson, MS.

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTBS) -

Monday morning's storms in Caddo and Bossier Parishes affected about 20 families and their homes, according to the local Red Cross.

It's a small number compared to the damage the storm system went on to cause in the other southern states.

A Shreveport woman and a Ruston man traveled to Jackson, MS Thursday to help assist those affected by tornadoes, but they might not be the last from the Shreveport area asked to lend a hand.

“I believe we'll be feeding folks so we'll be doing a lot of water hand outs, snacks, hot meals which I'm sure they're ready for at this point,” said Lisamarie Griffin, a Red Cross volunteer.

The deployment is Griffin's 34th trip to help with the Red Cross. As she said her goodbyes Thursday, Griffin realized what she might be faced with in Jackson.

“I'm preparing myself for seeing devastation,” she said. “We do know that some neighborhoods were flattened and leveled, and that there will be a lot of new beginnings that will need to happen.”

Griffin is the only volunteer from Caddo Parish deployed so far, but Red Cross Executive Director Michelle Davison said more people and the chapter's emergency response vehicle could be deployed any day.

“I don't think we're just going to go to Mississippi,” said Davison. “I would anticipate that we will send volunteers to multiple states to help with multiple disasters. This is a huge disaster. If all of these disaster areas were combined into one area, it would probably come close to encompassing the entire state of Louisiana.”

Davison thinks the disaster zones have become more of individualized disasters because they are spread out all over the south, but that won't stop volunteers like Griffin from driving to help.

“People are people and giving them a hug, I don't really know how to explain it but just to be there to help someone, that's the main focus,” Griffin said.

Davison believes the storm damage in Caddo and Bossier parishes is the reason more people have not been pulled from this chapter. While those families still deal with the aftermath of the storms, the Red Cross's work here wraps up so they're available to help others now.