20,000+ people in more than 200 shelters overnight Thursday
BUFFALO,
NY, Saturday, September 15, 2018 — 21
American Red Cross volunteers and two Emergency Response Vehicles (ERV) from
the Western and Central New York Region are deploying to support the response
to Hurricane Florence (updates in bold):
NAME HOMETOWN ACTIVITY LOCATION
John Thomas Aldasch Canastota Sheltering North Carolina
Pete Bonaccorso Fairport ERV Driver North Carolina
Donna
Davis Burdett Gov Ops South Carolina
Michelle Fiermonte Syracuse Sheltering North Carolina
Laurie Hagen West Seneca Sheltering North Carolina
Charlene Hanson Niagara
Falls Health
Services South Carolina
Chuck
Haupt Owego Distribution South Carolina
Thomas Lee Hough East
Syracuse Sheltering North Carolina
Tom
Margrave Cortland Spiritual Care North Carolina
Diana McLaughlin Rochester Staff Services South Carolina
Lewis Montemaggi Pittsford Sheltering North Carolina
Lorraine Morris Bath Customer Service North Carolina
Donald
Nelson Endwell Sheltering South Carolina
Deborah Scherberger Rochester Sheltering South Carolina
Christine
Schutterop Pittsford Sheltering North Carolina
Steven
Schwartz Buffalo Staff Relations South Carolina
Mark Sennett Fairport Sheltering South Carolina
Beverly Skinner Liverpool Health Services South Carolina
Deb Thompson Lima ERV Driver North Carolina
Mary Jane
Uttech Marathon Health Services North Carolina
Barbara
Woodarek Great Valley Feeding South Carolina
In addition, four
regional volunteers are supporting the response virtually: Lucille Frisicano of
Webster, Sarah Perkins of Pittsford, Nancy Hall of Trumansburg, and Suganthi
Roy of Rochester.
The American
Red Cross is helping people in multiple states as Hurricane Florence pummels
the Carolinas with strong winds, heavy rain and dangerous tidal surges. Twice
the size of Louisiana, Florence is inundating communities and leaving hundreds
of thousands without power.
As Hurricane
Florence comes ashore, the Red Cross is providing safe shelter and comfort for
evacuees across six states. More than 20,000 people sought refuge in more than
200 Red Cross and community shelters Thursday night to escape the storm’s
wrath. View
some of their stories here.
As of
midnight, 14,000 people were in 124 shelters in North Carolina, and 5,600
people in 59 shelters in South Carolina. An additional 430 people stayed in 23
shelters in Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee and Maryland.
About 2,000
Red Cross disaster workers from all over the country have been mobilized to
help shelter, feed and support people affected by Florence. Working with
partners, the Red Cross has served 47,000 meals and snacks in North Carolina
and South Carolina. To bolster relief efforts, the Red Cross is mobilizing
nearly 100 emergency response vehicles and more than 120 trailers of equipment
and supplies, including 100,000 ready-to-eat meals and enough cots and blankets
for more than 42,000 people.
Some evacuation
centers may not have cots, food, running water or electricity; they are meant
to safely house people for about 72 hours until the storm passes and weather
conditions improve. If needed, local government officials may transition
evacuation centers into emergency shelters if residents can’t return home after
the storm passes. The Red Cross supports pre-landfall evacuation centers and
post-landfall emergency shelters with trained workers, shelter supplies and
other aid.
Since
September 11, more than 2.5 million weather alerts have been sent through Red
Cross apps to help people make lifesaving decisions.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The Red Cross 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.
The best way
to ensure your donation will go to a specific disaster is to write the specific
disaster name in the memo line of a check. We also recommend completing and
mailing the donation form on redcross.org with your check.
PLEASE GIVE BLOOD More than 140
blood drives have been canceled through early next week due to Hurricane
Florence, resulting in over 4,200 uncollected blood and platelet donations.
Eligible donors in unaffected areas are urged to make an appointment now to
give blood or platelets to help maintain the nation’s blood supply. There is a
critical need to platelet and type O blood donations. Appointments can be made
by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED
CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Get tips on
how to prepare and stay safe at redcross.org/hurricane.
About the American Red
Cross:
The
American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of
disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that
save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military
members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that
depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its
mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or
cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.
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