By Bethany Bray Patterson, American Red Cross Regional Communications Manager

Hurricane Idalia plowed into the Florida coast on Aug. 30, 2023 as a category three storm, damaging homes, infrastructure and the power grid. More than seven months later, the Red Cross continues to support residents who were uprooted and displaced by the powerful hurricane.

Idalia was the third hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 2023. Some of the same areas were affected by devastating tornadoes in early January.

The American Red Cross now responds to nearly twice as many large-scale disasters, like Hurricane Idalia, as it did a decade ago and continues to adapt its disaster response strategy as the climate crisis brings more intense and frequent weather events.

“The Red Cross helped the people of Florida before Idalia hit and will remain on the ground to support long-term recovery,” says Dale Kunce, CEO of the Red Cross of the National Capital and Greater Chesapeake (NCGC) Region. “This is a prime example of how repeat storms are the ‘new normal,’ and only emphasizes the need for the Red Cross to expand our response to help those who are hardest hit – and who have little time and resources to prepare for the next disaster.”

Red Cross NCGC volunteer Barbara Freimuth deployed to the Florida Panhandle this winter to support residents from Live Oak, Lake City and nearby areas that were hardest hit by Idalia. Many of these residents remain in temporary housing after Idalia rendered their homes uninhabitable, she says.

Freimuth, a registered nurse from Bethany Beach, Delaware, volunteers as part of the Red Cross Health Services team and was there to help residents replace medical supplies that were lost in the storm and evacuation.

The residents that Freimuth encountered were thankful for the Red Cross assistance, but overall feeling very frustrated, overwhelmed, and in some cases, angry. Many were exhausted by having to make multiple phone calls and navigate websites and paperwork to get the long-term recovery assistance they need, she says.

Beyond the need to replace items such as eyeglasses or mobility aids, many just needed a sounding board and a compassionate, listening ear.

“As a nurse, people often just feel comfortable talking, venting – telling me their story, their frustrations,” says Freimuth. “I provided a lot of listening and help to get their frustrations out.”

For many residents, post-storm recovery is impeded by challenges that existed long before the hurricane, including poverty, housing instability and lack of insurance coverage, Freimuth notes.

At the same time, many have relocated away from their support network. Finding rides to medical appointments was one of the most common challenges Freimuth helped people with, she says.

“We [the Red Cross] tried to connect them with local resources they could utilize for transportation,” Freimuth said. “Because they are displaced, they are away from their usual support structure. With no family or friends in the area that could provide transportation, a lot of them were cancelling medical appointments.”

As the changing climate brings more intense and frequent storms, it means that repeated disasters take a heavier toll on frontline communities, such as coastal Florida. Back-to-back weather events cause low-income families, older adults, diverse residents and people with disabilities to experience heightened struggles with accessing support for chronic health conditions, food insecurity and safe and affordable housing.

“Disaster lasts longer than a minute,” Freimuth emphasizes. “People are still suffering from a disaster that happened months ago … The effects last months or years – especially if people have lost their home. Often there is not [replacement] housing available, or they don’t have insurance, so that loss isn’t something that can be easily replaced.”

Racing to adapt

The American Red Cross is on the frontlines of disaster response and sees first-hand how climate-fueled disasters are causing more and more people to struggle and seek assistance.

Red Cross leaders continue to adapt essential disaster response services and grow capacity to help families and communities on the frontlines. Not only is the Red Cross enhancing large-scale disaster response services to help with immediate needs during and after a disaster (such as emergency shelters), the organization is also strengthening its long-term response strategy and relationships with local partner networks — focused on health, hunger and housing — in targeted areas that face a high risk of extreme weather and existing societal inequities.

Find out more – and details on how the Red Cross is evolving its approach – at RedCross.org/Climate