Dallas volunteers ready to help ahead of Tropical Storm Cindy

DALLAS - As people living along the Gulf Coast brace themselves for Tropical Storm Cindy, North Texas volunteers are ready to go wherever they're needed.

Tony Rolater oversees logistics for Texas Baptist Men based in East Dallas. The organization's disaster relief team is prepared to be away from their loved ones for up to three weeks if the tropical storm batters the Gulf Coast.

Giant trucks are loaded with enough supplies to make up to 30,000 meals per day. The food is kept hot for hours inside containers.

Meanwhile, City of Dallas workers have been preparing the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown to be used as a mass shelter.

The hope is none of this help will be needed. But with the weather being as unpredictable as it is, volunteers don't mind going through all the trouble.

“We have trailers that will come in with showers,” Rolater said. “We have laundry units to wash people's clothes that have gone through flooding. The hope is we won’t be needed. This particular disaster, which is flooding, won’t be as bad as it could be. But we have to be prepared.”

Dallas Fire Rescue is monitoring the situation in the Gulf Coast and is ready to send members of their urban search and rescue unit to the damaged areas if mobilized by the state.

Oncor Energy is in contact with utility providers in Louisiana. They'll send electrical workers and trucks to assist if they're needed.