WEST MICHIGAN  (WKZO) -- As the unpredictable and unprecedented power of Hurricane Sandy threatens the Jersey Shore, at least 40 West Michigan Red Cross volunteers are being dispatched to staging centers on the eastern seaboard this weekend.

They say it could be as bad as Katrina.

Some volunteers are flying there, some are driving Red Cross emergency services vehicles, which can serve as mobile kitchens and disaster relief centers.

Their initial job is expected to be setting up shelters for the residents who are displaced or left homeless by the surging tides, heavy winds and saturating downpours. Later other services will be provided.

450 volunteers from around the nation and 120 E.R.V.’s from eastern states are being positioned in 6 staging areas inland, so they are ready to move in once the storm has passed through.The volunteers will be deployed for at least three weeks.