The American Red Cross is answering the call to help those across the southeastern U.S. impacted by Tropical Storm Debby. Sixteen responders from Missouri were sent to help as storms battered Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas with high winds, heavy rain, and storm surges.
Red Cross Communications Director, Sharon Watson, said that Emergency Response Vehicles left Jefferson City and St. Joseph on Sunday.
“We started getting requests over the weekend for people to go to Florida,” Watson said. “Some of them going to Georgia first and then determining if exactly where they’re needed, but basically going into that area to help with this hurricane.”
Hundreds of volunteers are currently in Florida, where Debby made landfall as a hurricane. Additional volunteers are being sent to Georgia and the Carolinas.
“We had the two individuals from the central-northern Missouri chapter out of Jefferson City take an emergency response vehicle and those vehicles are used in the disaster response for feeding people,” she explained. “So, they’re able to put food on those vehicles.”
The national team began looking at the brewing storm last week to prepare.
“They start pre-staging equipment and sending people before the storm hits and those are people from all across the U.S. and then, of course, Missouri and Arkansas as part of that effort is able to participate and send resources as well, especially if we don’t have a particular disaster going on locally,” Watson said.
The immediate priority is to help evacuation centers and shelters, but emergency relief supplies will also be sent to help hard-hit neighborhoods. The Red Cross has sent many trained disaster responders from across the country, in addition to sending disaster relief supplies in preparation for when Debby made landfall.
She said that there’s a lot of things that the Red Cross can anticipate early on even before disaster strikes.
“The sheltering is typically one of the very first things we do,” she said. “We, then, start looking at disaster assessment teams that then go out and do assessments and determine what is happening and how many people might be needing assistance following a storm in terms of their homes being damaged and that sort of thing.”
The Red Cross is helping to support evacuation centers and shelters, in addition to providing supplies to hard-hit neighborhoods.
Copyright © 2024 Missourinet
