AREA MAN GETS TASK OF HELPING FLOOD VICTIMS; WHEN RED CROSS CALLS, HE GOES.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

When disasters strike, Tom Busk likes to pitch in wherever help is needed. As an American Red Cross staffer, he has been sent to storm and flood relief efforts all over the country.

Busk, 49, a Canyon Country resident, has been in West Virginia for a week, providing damage assessment services to victims of severe flooding. President Clinton declared 15 counties in West Virginia and several in Ohio as disaster areas, making the region eligible for federal funding to pay for recovery and rebuilding.

In some areas, storms at the end of June dumped eight inches of rain within a matter of hours.

Speaking Tuesday from a disaster relief service center set up at a junior high school in Ripley, W.Va., Busk said creeks and streams that normally are 10 to 15 feet wide swelled to twice that width because of the heavy rainfall.

``It just dumped buckets full (of rain), and of course, (the water) can't drain fast enough,'' said Busk, a disaster specialist for Red Cross offices in Santa Clarita and Burbank.

In Jackson County, which includes Ripley and other mostly working-class communities, the flooding destroyed 60 mobile homes and 10 other houses. The Red Cross operated shelters in the immediate aftermath, but in the days since then the organization has arranged for victims to stay in motels and has helped them pay a security deposit on an apartment where they can start over, Busk said.

``They haven't had a flood like this in at least 10 years,'' Busk said. ``The aid is definitely needed, but ironically, a lot of them are too proud to accept it.''

Many victims have been hesitant to come to Red Cross disaster relief centers to obtain assistance. ``They're very proud. They're cleaning out their flooded homes, and their attitude is: Someone else needs (help) more than I do,'' Busk said. ``They're very independent.''

Before he became a full-time disaster relief specialist with the Red Cross last October, Busk worked for International Creative Management, the talent agency that represents some of the entertainment industry's biggest stars.

The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing spurred his interest in helping disaster victims, he said. ``After you start volunteering, you can't watch the news the same way any more,'' he said.

Last year, the Red Cross sent him to Grand Forks, N.D., to help run a hot meals delivery program for flood victims. In January, the agency dispatched Busk to upstate New York. ``They had an ice storm where thousands of power poles were cut off and knocked over,'' he said.

``On that one, I coordinated between a kitchen and a group of emergency response vehicles. In two weeks, we put out 26,000 meals,'' Busk said. In early 1997, Busk performed damage assessment in the wake of flooding devastation in Northern California caused by rainfall and snowmelt.

Disaster victims display amazing courage, he said. ``The thing that always strikes me . . . is the tenacity of the people, despite the fact that they have lost almost everything,'' Busk said. ``They will cry for a while, and then get up and go on.''