Neighborhoods all over the Carolinas are dealing with the devastation left behind by Hurricane Florence. The Red Cross is there now and will be there in the weeks to come to help people get back on their feet. Volunteers are working around the clock to provide safe shelter, warm meals, relief supplies and comfort for those affected.
A total of 16 Hawaii volunteers have deployed to North Carolina to help with the Red Cross response. 10 volunteers from Oahu, four from the Big Island, and two from Maui have deployed to provide assistance ranging from distribution of emergency supplies, recovery casework, sheltering, feeding, mental health service, and health services.
WHAT THE RED CROSS IS DOING
As Tropical Storm Florence approached the Carolinas, over 20,000 people sought refuge in more than 200 Red Cross and community shelters to escape the storm’s wrath. As of Tuesday night, more than 800 people stayed in 13 Red Cross shelters. This included approximately 738 people in 11 shelters in North Carolina; and 64 people in 2 shelters in South Carolina. In total, the Red Cross and other organizations have provided more than 120,100 overnight stays in emergency shelters across the Carolinas. The Red Cross has provided about 92 percent of these stays.
Today, more than 3,200 Red Cross disaster workers—about 93 percent volunteers—from all over the country are helping to shelter, feed and support people affected. Working with partners, the Red Cross has served more than 1.32 million meals and snacks. Volunteers from partner organizations are cooking hot meals at more than 7 kitchens. These meals are being served at shelters or from dozens of Red Cross food trucks circulating through affected neighborhoods.
Volunteer mental health and health services professionals have provided some 40,500 contacts to provide support and care to evacuees. We’ve also distributed more than 242,300 relief items like clean up kits, rakes, shovels, bleach, garbage bags and much more to help with the massive clean-up effort underway by people impacted by the storm. Since September 11, more than 5.2 million weather alerts have been sent through Red Cross apps to help people make lifesaving decisions.
HOW TO HELP
The Red Cross has launched a massive response to this disaster and depends on financial donations to be able to provide disaster relief immediately. Help people affected by Hurricane Florence by visiting redcross.org, calling 1- 800-RED CROSS or texting the word FLORENCE to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from this disaster.The Red Cross honors donor intent. Donors can designate their donation to Hurricane Florence relief efforts by choosing that option when donating on redcross.org or on 1-800-RED CROSS.
