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Red Cross Shelters Thousands in Advance of Rita
Written by
Lesly C. Simmons
, Staff Writer, RedCross.org
Thursday, September 22, 2005 — As more than 1 million Gulf Coast residents begin their mass evacuation in advance of Hurricane Rita, the American Red Cross has already opened shelters housings thousands of people seeking safe respite from the latest storm to approach the area.
Hurricane Rita is now a strong Cat. 4 storm with 145 mph winds. (Photo Courtesy NOAA) |
Rita’s winds fell just a bit on Thursday afternoon, reaching a still dangerous 145 mph. The storm’s outer bands have already started to reach the city of New Orleans, which is not yet prepared at all to deal with the heavy rains usually associated with hurricanes. Officials believe that if just three inches of rain fall on the city, breached levees would once again flood the city with up to five feet of water.
According to the National Weather Service some weakening of the storm is expected over the next 24 hours, but Rita still remains an extremely dangerous storm. A hurricane warning is in effect from Port O’Connor, Tx. to Morgan City, La., and tropical storm warnings are in effect from the Mississippi River to the Pearl River.
In Texas the Red Cross is working with state officials to house residents in shelter hubs, located more than 145 miles from the coast, so they are out of harm’s way. Most importantly, a HUB provides local officials a physical address to announce to coastal evacuees seeking public shelter prior to a catastrophic hurricane
The Red Cross has also pre-positioned supplies to move into affected areas as soon as safely possibly, including more than 100,000 heater meals and 20,000 cots.
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the Midwest ice storms, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.
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