Giving Thanks for Safe Winter Travels!

In case you couldn't tell by the frigid temperatures and the snow some of us saw this weekend, winter is here. Just to make sure that point is hammered home, all of Western  New York is under a Winter Storm Watch from Tuesday evening through Wednesday evening. While six inches of snow may not be enough to scare us hearty Western New Yorkers, history tells us we'd do well to make sure we're prepared.

Warming station for stranded drivers at the Cheektowaga
Senior Center on 12/1/10

This is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, with over 43 million Americans expected to hit the roads. During Thanksgiving week 13 years ago, I was working at Channel 7 when this happened. Looking outside the downtown Buffalo studios, the streets looked like a war zone, with abandoned cars spread across the highways, blocking travel even for those trying to brave the massive snowstorm. Thousands were stranded. I spent the night with dozens of stranded travelers in the lobby of the hotel across the street, since every room had long been filled by other stranded travelers. I was only a month into my Red Cross career when a lake effect snowstorm forced the closure of parts of the Thruway near Cheektowaga on December 1, 2010, giving me my first shelter experience as we set up a warming station for the thousands of stranded motorists. (It wasn't over the holidays, but I was also a senior in the Marion Jr-Sr High School when an ice storm knocked out power to thousands and kept us out of school for a week in 1991. Not to date myself or anything...)

Volunteers serve a hot meal to drivers, some of whom had
been stranded over 24 hours when a snowstorm closed
portions of the Thruway in December 2010

It's almost as if winter storms are part of the Thanksgiving tradition in this region. And even if you can handle the snowy driving, other drivers or road closures can still leave you stuck. Try to wait until things are clear to hit the roads--I'm sure your family will keep the turkey warm for you. But if you must drive in wintry conditions, here's some safety tips to help you arrive safely:

• Pack emergency supplies like blankets, water and snacks, flashlight and first aid kit.
• Vehicles should be in good working order before heading out. Fill the fuel tank, check air pressure in tires and top-off windshield fluid.
• Buckle up and obey all traffic signs.
• Avoid distractions while driving like using mobile phones to talk or text.
• Designate a driver who won’t be drinking whenever alcohol is served.

If your using planes and trains instead of automobiles this Thanksgiving, we've got some safety tips for you as well. And of course, this is just the beginning of the winter season, so make sure you're prepared to make it through the snow at home and on the roads!

American Red Cross Contributes an Initial $6 Million to Support Typhoon Response Efforts in Philippines

WNY/Finger Lakes Regions initiate family tracing services

BUFFALO, NY, November 14, 2013 - The American Red Cross has announced an initial contribution of $6 million in support of the global Red Cross response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. These funds will be used to distribute relief items, repair and rebuild shelters, provide healthcare and ensure access to clean water and sanitation systems.

Red Cross volunteers deliver emergency water and food to the 
city hospital in Bogo

“We are grateful for the American public’s generosity and compassion following what has been called one of the strongest storms in world history,” said David Meltzer, chief international officer for the American Red Cross. “The American Red Cross is in a unique position to help provide support by airlifting relief supplies from its warehouses around the world, providing trained disaster responders specializing in damage assessment and telecommunications, and by channeling its financial support to the Philippine Red Cross and its more than 500,000 staff and volunteers and our other global partners in the Red Cross network – all of which go to providing relief from this devastating storm.”

In addition to financial assistance, the American Red Cross is lending people, expertise and equipment to this effort with four specialists already on the ground in the Philippines. These include two people who specialize in telecommunication and who are travelling with satellite equipment, and two others who specialize in disaster assessment.

Here in the United States, the American Red Cross is helping to reconnect families separated by the typhoon and has activated its family tracing services. To date, one Restoring Family Links case has been initiated in the Western New York/Finger Lakes Region. If people are looking for a missing family member in the Philippines, please remember that many phone lines are down. If people are unable to reach loved ones, contact your local chapter of the American Red Cross to initiate a family tracing case.

The Philippine Red Cross has extensive experience in search and rescue and large-scale relief and recovery programs. The Philippine Red Cross is the largest humanitarian organization in the country, with 1,000 staff members and an estimated 500,000 active volunteers engaged in this disaster response. Their volunteer relief teams continue to provide assistance in the hardest hit communities, including assisting in search and rescue efforts. 

The Philippine Red Cross has begun distributions of emergency supplies and has provided meals to people affected by the storm. On Sunday, 6,000 packs of relief supplies were sent to Leyete and other affected communities. However, supply delivery in the worst affected city of Tacloban has been significantly constrained by destroyed infrastructure, blocked roads, and downed communication lines.

Specialized emergency response teams from Red Cross societies across the globe are moving into the Philippines to assist the Philippine Red Cross. These include teams with expertise in logistics, disaster assessment, shelter, health, water and sanitation.

“A global Red Cross relief effort is well underway and we are working closely with our international partners to help get aid where it is needed,” said Meltzer.

Despite the tragic aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, thousands of survivors are grateful for their lives. The Philippine Red Cross worked closely with local disaster authorities to support preemptive evacuations, helping move more than 125,000 families to safer shelter prior to the storm making landfall. The Philippine Red Cross also disseminated early warning messages and safety tips in areas along the path of the typhoon.

The American Red Cross expects to make additional contributions to support the humanitarian response in the coming weeks. Donations received from American Red Cross and other Red Cross partners will aid the Philippines relief and recovery efforts through the Philippine Red Cross and possibly other organizations as experts on the ground determine the best way forward.

HOW TO HELP Those who want to help can go to www.redcross.org or call 1-800-REDCROSS to donate to typhoon relief. People can also mail in a donation to their local Red Cross chapter. Gifts to the American Red Cross will support our disaster relief efforts to help those affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. On those rare occasions when donations exceed American Red Cross expenses for a specific crisis, contributions are used to prepare for and serve victims of other crises.

In a new partnership, Facebook is making it possible for users to donate directly to the American Red Cross either through a notification in News Feed, or directly on the Red Cross Facebook page. This is the first time that the American Red Cross has engaged in such a large-scale fundraising program with a social platform. For the Red Cross that means that with the click of a button on Facebook, we can connect people who want to help with those who are so desperately in need in the Philippines. This Facebook effort for the Philippines in the United States will continue through November 15.

Western New York/Finger Lakes Red Cross Assisting 26 People Following Weekend Disasters

Volunteers providing shelter, food, clothing and support after six incidents

BUFFALO, NY, November 4, 2013 – American Red Cross volunteers are assisting with the immediate emergency needs of 26 people following six separate fires or other disasters in the Western New York/Finger Lakes Regions over the weekend. Red Cross assistance typically includes vouchers for temporary housing, food and clothing as well as mental health support. The families will then meet with caseworkers at their local Red Cross headquarters to develop a long-term recovery plan. Several of these incidents took place at multi-unit buildings, so it is possible additional residents will come forward seeking assistance.

Fire scene on Steuben St. in Corning.
Photo courtesy Corning Leader

On Saturday, volunteers from the Disaster Action Team (DAT) were called to Gasport Road in Lockport, where they assisted two adults affected by a house fire. Also Saturday, volunteers assisted three people displaced after a car drove through their Williams Street home in Elmira. Sunday, DAT members assisted seven people after an apartment fire on Steuben Street in Corning. Also Sunday, volunteers responded to a fire at the Russo Building on Park Place in Fredonia, assisting 11 people who had been displaced, while a separate team of volunteers assisted two people following a fire on Webster Road in Brocton. Early Monday morning, DAT members responded to the scene of a fire on North Division in Buffalo to provide assistance to one person that had been displaced.

The American Red Cross spends an average of just over $1,000 when responding to a single house fire affecting a family of four.  To support people affected by house fires and other disasters, please consider making a donation to the Disaster Relief Fund at www.redcross.org, by calling 1-800-REDCROSS, or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation (charges will appear on your cell phone bill).

American Red Cross Relief Efforts Continue One Year After Sandy

WNY/Finger Lakes volunteers filled over 160 positions in response

A Red Cross volunteer assesses the damage in the Sea Gate
neighborhood near Coney Island

BUFFALO, NY, October 29, 2013 – The American Red Cross has released a one-year Superstorm Sandy report detailing its response and recovery work to help residents affected by this historic storm, which made landfall on October 29, 2012.

Initially, local Disaster Services staff and volunteers began mobilizing days earlier to prepare for a storm that was initially predicted to bring severe weather to the Western New York and Finger Lakes Regions. Once it became clear that this area had largely been spared, attention turned to helping the millions of people devastated by Sandy along the East Coast. Volunteers from the Western New York and Finger Lakes Regions helped fill over 160 positions in the relief efforts, with most local volunteers working in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey.

The One-Year Superstorm Sandy Report details the extraordinary measures taken by the Red Cross to respond to Sandy, from volunteer deployment and relief efforts to temporary and permanent housing assistance to key partnerships with government and non-government entities, as well as the strong outpouring of support from donors.

Red Cross clean up kits are distributed to residents in
Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood

The Red Cross met Sandy’s significant damage with its largest U.S. response in five years. More than 17,000 trained workers from all over the country – 90 percent of them volunteers, powered the massive emergency relief effort. This response included:

•         Serving more than 17.5 million meals and snacks in a huge feeding operation.
•        Handing out more than 7 million relief items such as cold weather items and clean-up supplies.
•        Providing nearly 113,000 health services and emotional support contacts for people who have been living in very tough conditions.
•        Providing 74,000 overall shelter stays for Sandy.

“Donations to the Red Cross have helped countless families start over in a new place to live, clean out the mold from their water-logged homes, or get much-needed financial and emotional support to rebuild their homes and lives,” said Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the Red Cross. “The needs are still great, and there is more work to do. We are committed to continue working with the communities that were impacted by this devastating storm to provide services and support.”

RECOVERY EFFORTS ONGOING Even as its emergency relief work was occurring, the Red Cross began to help people in the long recovery process that continues today. Trained Red Cross workers are meeting with those in need, providing case management and financial assistance to help with security and utility deposits, home repairs and rent as well as linking them to available social service programs.

Western New York and Finger Lakes Regional CEO Nancy Blaschak served as Interim Director of the Long Term Recovery Project in New York City and Long Island at the beginning of 2013. The Red Cross has worked together with government and community partners at every step to provide assistance to those that need it most. In addition, the Red Cross has given $60 million in grants to a number of nonprofits working in New Jersey and New York to help people with home repairs, mold remediation, food, financial assistance and financial counseling, and to support the work of community roundtables to help address unmet needs.

THANK YOU The work of the Red Cross is possible because of the compassion and generosity of the American public, and the Red Cross already has spent or made commitments to spend $280 million, more than 90 percent of the $308 million donated for Sandy. The Red Cross expects to use the biggest share of the remaining money to help people with a range of housing-related expenses, support community resiliency programs and give more grants to community non-profit partners to help Sandy survivors.

“We are grateful for the generosity of donors across the nation who continually make it possible for the Red Cross to respond to once-in-a-generation disasters like Sandy, as well as the 70,000 disasters we confront each year,” McGovern said.

The report and other information on the Red Cross Sandy relief and recovery efforts can be found at www.redcross.org/sandy-response.