As Dangerous Heat Hits the West, Red Cross Continues to Support People Impacted by Worst Tornado Season in 10 Years+

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Residents in Cypress, Texas, part of Harris County, were left without power after the recent storms as temperatures rise to sweltering heights. A Red Cross feeding team visited the community to distribute warm meals to people impacted by the storms.

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Magdalena Jaimes has a compound of three homes near Cleveland, Texas, where she lived with her three adult children and their families. When the floods came at the end of last month, the eleven family members were forced to escape their homes as the waters quickly rose around them. Since the flooding began, they have been staying at the Pine Burr Elementary School shelter in Cleveland. Read more: rdcrss.org/4aMSQXv

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Margaret Barton and her husband lived through the tornado that hit Celina, Texas. However, their home was heavily damaged. As they took shelter in their bathroom, the tornado tore up their ceilings and walls. The Red Cross has been helping the couple, along with neighbors and others from Celina. See her story here.

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Red Cross worker, Emily Holley, shares a smile with a resident at the Red Cross Resource Center at Nodaway Valley Community Elementary School (324 NW 2nd St.) in Greenfield Iowa. Snacks, clean-up supplies, mental health support and more are available to anyone impacted by the violent tornado that caused massive destruction in the Central Iowa town.

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Omaha, Nebraska residents saw devastating destruction after the May 25 tornado that tore through suburban Omaha, demolishing homes and businesses as it moved for miles through farmland and across the state border into Iowa. Red Cross volunteers Bruce, Allan and Chris spent their Memorial Day holiday volunteering at the Red Cross Resource Center at the Camelot Community Center in Omaha. Volunteers are there to welcome and support residents impacted by the recent extreme weather.

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Memorial Day weekend tornadoes damaged homes throughout Missouri. Red Cross disaster workers opened a shelter to offer a safe place to stay and are distributing water, snacks and cleaning supplies in impacted areas of the state.

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People in northwest Arkansas also faced devastating tornadoes. Red Cross disaster teams have shelters open and are also out distributing cleaning supplies and providing food and water in impacted neighborhoods.

June 06, 2024

For more than two months, severe weather outbreaks swept across the country, ravaging communities and upending lives. Now millions of people face excessive heat warnings as temperatures soar to dangerous highs out West.

Excessive heat warnings are in effect this week for millions of people in California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. The National Weather Service (NWS) is warning that temperatures could reach as high as 20 to 30 degrees above normal, breaking some records. Much of the U.S. could be facing hotter than normal conditions this summer as the climate crisis drives higher temperatures. 2023 was the hottest year on record, and scientists warn that 2024 could break records for a second year in a row. Unusually hot days and heat waves are both a natural part of our weather patterns, however, since the 1960s, heat waves have become more frequent and intense, and are lasting longer in the U.S.

If you are in an area affected by this dangerous heat wave, visit here to find important information to help you and your loved ones stay safe.

RED CROSS RESPONSE The American Red Cross is monitoring the heat wave while continuing to help people impacted by the severe weather get back on their feet. Hundreds of Red Cross disaster workers and our partners are making sure people have a safe place to stay, food, relief supplies and emotional and spiritual support.

Since the severe weather began in March, preliminary reports indicate more than 4,600 homes are either destroyed or have received major damage. More than 2,300 Red Crossers and our partners have provided:

More than 6,500 overnight stays in 72 Red Cross and community shelters
Nearly 225,400 meals and snacks
Over 112,000 relief supplies
Nearly 6,700 people with recovery support, including financial assistance and help replacing eyeglasses and prescriptions

YOU CAN HELP People are struggling now and you can help by donating time, money or blood at redcross.org or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767).

Support Red Cross Disaster Relief and help people affected by disasters like flooding and countless other crises by making a financial donation today. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. For those interested in helping people specifically affected by the recent severe weather, we ask that they write “Spring Storms and Floods” in the memo line of a check and mail it with a completed donation form to the address on the form or to their local Red Cross chapter.

Severe spring weather and historic travel have caused a critical dip in blood donations and appointments. The Red Cross encourages those in unaffected areas to make and keep blood donation appointments to ensure we can meet the needs of patients whenever and wherever they arise. Schedule an appointment to donate blood today using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, by visiting RedCrossBlood.org or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Put on a red vest and join us as a volunteer today to provide relief and hope when it matters most. Visit redcross.org/volunteertoday to sign up for opportunities with your local chapter.

CLIMATE CRISIS These massive disasters are happening more and more as a result of the worsening climate crisis. In the last decade, the number of billion-dollar disasters has increased by 85%. And, the Red Cross is now launching twice as many relief operations for major disasters than we did a decade ago.

Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) Through the generosity of our American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder members, the American Red Cross is prepared before disaster strikes. ADGP and Disaster Responder members help secure a reliable funding base for disaster relief services that enables the Red Cross to respond immediately, meeting the needs of individuals and families affected by disaster, regardless of cost.

ADGP $1M Members: Amazon; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Caterpillar Foundation; CMA CGM Foundation; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Mobility Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Merck; Microsoft; Nationwide Foundation; The Pfizer Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; State Farm; Takeda; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo

ADGP $500k Members: Altria Group; American Express; Aon; Bread Financial; Capital One; Chick-fil-A; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; DHL Supply Chain; DraftKings; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Motor Company Fund; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Google.org; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Mastercard; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stryker; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco

Disaster Responder Members: The 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; ALDI; American Tire Distributors; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Bath & Body Works; Big 5 Sporting Goods; Build-A-Bear Foundation; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Choice Hotels International; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Duke Energy; Equitable; FirstEnergy Corporation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; L’Oréal; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LHC Group; LKQ; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Macy’s, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Martin Marietta; Masco; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; The Middleby Corporation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Norfolk Southern; Northrop Grumman Foundation; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation; Phillips 66; Prudential; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reliance, Inc.; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Santander; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Tata Consultancy Services; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty; U.S. Foods; Yum! Brands; Zurich.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.