Photo Essays Archive

2004

Red Cross Hurricane Relief The onslaught began with the Aug. 13 arrival of ferocious Hurricane Charley along the southeast Florida coast. Over the next six weeks, climactic chaos ensued, as three more storms carved intertwining paths of destruction across Florida and the Gulf Coast and drenched inland states with record amounts of rainfall. But even as the first hurricane spiraled toward land, the American Red Cross went into action, launching sweeping readiness and relief efforts that are still ongoing today. More than 32,000 Red Cross volunteers from throughout the nation opened 139 shelters during the 2004 hurricane season, and an astounding 11 million meals were served to disaster victims in the largest natural disaster response in the organization’s history. Photos by Bonnie Gillespie, American Red Cross  more...

Measles Vaccination Program in the Republic of Madagascar The Measles Initiative is a five year commitment to eliminate measles in Africa by vaccinating 200 million children, saving 1.2 million lives. The partnership was created in 2001 and as of June 2004 has vaccinated 120 million children. Here are some photos of the measles vaccination program in the Republic of Madagascar. --Photos by Carolyn Taylor Brown, American Red Cross  more...

Vietnam Nutrition and Education Initiative About half of elementary school children in Vietnam are malnourished. Providing food in school to students every day as well as take-tome food rations to families of students act as incentives for children to attend school. The take-home ration, while also nutritious, helps offset families’ financial expenditures on food.  more...

Malawi Food Program The American Red Cross has been helping the Malawi Red Cross to implement food programs for vulnerable groups since the spring of 2002 after two years of consecutive drought resulted in a severe food shortage.  more...

Hurricane Charley Charley’s winds carved a swath of destruction hundreds of miles long, sheering roof from homes and littering roadways with toppled signs and debris. Red Cross volunteers visited with hurricane victims within hours of the disaster striking, assuring them that the Red Cross was on hand to help. Photos by Bonnie Gillespie, American Red Cross  more...

New Jersey Flooding They called it a thousand-year storm. According to weather experts, only once a millennium does more than 13 inches of rain fall in less than a 12 hour period. And that’s what happened in south-central New Jersey on July 12th. When the rains finally abated, 12 dams had burst, almost 400 homes were damaged by floodwaters, and thousands were left with the struggle to clean up and recover. But more than 200 American Red Cross volunteers took part in a massive disaster relief effort to help flood victims, serving more than 16,000 meals and snacks and distributing 500 clean-up kits throughout the affected area. Red Cross workers remain active in the region, assisting residents with their long-term recovery needs. Photos by Bonnie Gillespie, American Red Cross  more...

Illinois Flooding Weeks of steady rainfall and severe storms in the Chicago suburbs sent the Des Plaines River surging over its embankments in late May. Despite sandbagging efforts in communities along the floodplain, many homes still suffered irreparable damage, and hundreds of Illinois families looked to the Red Cross for help. Scores of volunteers from Illinois and beyond worked for weeks to bring food, water, clean-up kits and much-needed emergency supplies to flood victims as the waters began to subside. Photography by Bonnie Gillespie, American Red Cross  more...

Nebraska Tornado Relief On May 22, a massive F4 tornado roared through the tiny town of Hallam, Neb.. With winds peaking at 210 mph, the twister leveled more than 160 homes and damaged hundreds more. Virtually every structure in the community of 300 was affected, one person died and dozens more were injured by the violent tornado that carved a path of destruction 52 miles long and 2.5 miles wide across southeast Nebraska. Photography by Bonnie Gillespie, American Red Cross  more...

Red Cross Volunteers at the 2004 National Convention Red Cross Volunteers were honored during the 2004 American Red Cross National Convention in St. Louis, Missouri.  more...

Red Cross Nurses Are Everywhere National Nurses Week - May 6 - 12, 2004  more...

2003

Iran Earthquake - American Red Cross Responds A major earthquake registering 6.3 on the Richter Scale hit Iran’s southeastern province of Kerman in the early morning hours of December 26, 2003. The ancient city of Bam suffered severely, as an estimated 43,000 people were killed, thousands more injured and up to 75,000 left homeless. The American Red Cross deployed a Relief Emergency Response Unit to Bam, where team members continue to work with Red Cross Movement partners to distribute relief supplies to those in need and assist in recovery operations.  more...

The Measles Initiative at Work in Gambia Stretching along the banks of the Gambia River, Africa's smallest nation - The Republic of the Gambia - is plagued by many problems, from intense poverty to poor medical care and the leading preventable childhood killer in the world - measles. When the Measles Initiative campaign launched in December 2003, Gambia Red Cross volunteers welcomed a team of American Red Cross volunteers, including four youth volunteers, who traveled to Africa to take part in the life-saving activities. Photography by Bonnie Gillespie, American Red Cross  more...

Measles Initiative Visits Guinea As part of sweeping efforts to eliminate measles from Africa, the Measles Initiative program was launched recently in Guinea. More than 3.5 million children in the West African nation were vaccinated against the disease, which has largely been forgotten in countries like the United States but is still a childhood killer in many areas of the world. Photography by Gene Dailey and Bonnie Gillespie, American Red Cross  more...

Hurricane Isabel For nearly two weeks, Hurricane Isabel menaced the eastern U.S., strengthening at one point to a monster category 5 storm. After making landfall, the fierce winds and rains shredded homes on the Outer Banks, flooded dozens of communities from North Carolina to New York, and left millions without power.  Hurricane Isabel Unleashes Her Fury...

Mass Clean-Up Underway after Tornados Rip Through Midwest and South Portions of Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee were torn apart by dozens of twisters as the massive storm system leveled entire communities, uprooted trees and electric poles and reduced homes to splintered piles of rubble.  more...

2002

Supertyphoon Pongsona Hits Guam Winds surpassing 180 mph thrashed the U.S. territory of Guam on December 8, 2002. Leaving widespread destruction in its wake, Pongsona is among the most devastating storms in Guam's history and reached "supertyphoon" status as its winds soared above 150 mph.  more...

Veteran's Day Tornadoes An outbreak of deadly tornadoes and severe storms rampaged across several states on November 10, 2002, killing more than 35 people and reducing hundreds of homes to piles of splintered wood and twisted metal. Hundreds of Red Cross disaster workers were deployed throughout Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania and worked furiously to meet the emergency physical and emotional needs of people affected by the powerful storms  more...

The Russian Red Cross in the Northern Caucasus The Russian Red Cross is answering the challenge of a health care crisis in the Northern Caucasus.  more...

In Pictures: One Year Later Across New York, brand new flags in dazzling red, white and blue wave brightly alongside those unfurled one year ago as the city joins America in a moment of silence to honor and remember the victims of September 11, 2001.  more...

School Days in Afghanistan When Afghan children returned to school this year — many of them for the first time in their young lives — some of them received boxes of supplies or "school chests," sent from children in the United States: freshly sharpened yellow wooden pencils; spiral notebooks, pencil sharpeners and plastic rulers in green, red and blue; pastel-colored chalk; Crayola crayons; compasses, jump ropes, soccer balls and other items. The supplies were sent as part of America's Fund for Afghan Children (AFAC). The fund was launched by President Bush when he called for U.S. children to donate a dollar to help children suffering from the effects of war, drought and poverty in Afghanistan. The American Red Cross is using AFAC funds to set up desperately needed programs for Afghan children, with the help of several partnering organizations, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Afghan Red Crescent Society, the United Nations and other nongovernmental organizations. Wendolyn Heiges of American Red Cross International Services, recently visited the country to assess how AFAC can continue to meet the most pressing needs of Afghan children. While there, she went on a tour of Afghan schools, talking to children, teachers and administrators about the conditions, and documenting her findings with notes and photographs. She visited both those who had received school chests and those still in dire need. She walked down dimly lit corridors inside deteriorating stone buildings, peeked into dusty classrooms where students huddled together on stools without desks — still eager to learn — and watched teachers continue their jobs without books or other supplies. Wherever she went, she was greeted by smiling youthful faces full of life and energy and happy to see the Red Cross. "Despite the conditions, it was hopeful because the schools were still functioning," Heiges said. "The administrators, teachers and students were making do and they were glad to be there."  more...

The Children We Help: Central America In the past few years the lives of many unfortunate children in Central America have been devastated due to natural disaster, poverty, and disease. The American Red Cross has worked to improve the lives of thousands of these children in Central America through relief and development programs. The lives of the children in these photos have been improved thanks to your generous donations.  more...

In Their Words As a gigantic wall of flames descended upon their tiny mountain towns, wildfire evacuees poured into the Eager, Ariz., shelter at Round Valley High School. Some showed up alone. Others arrived with cars full of extended families, neighbors and pets. They pulled their campers, RVs and trailers into the parking lot, pitched their tents in the grassy areas surrounding the school and dragged their sleeping bags and blankets into the dome football stadium. Almost simultaneously, Red Cross volunteers from across the country boarded planes and jumped in Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles to meet the needs of evacuees as fast as they could. As firefighters begin to contain the massive inferno to allow evacuees to return home, here is a glimpse of a few volunteers and evacuees, and how they view the experience — in their own words.  more...

Thousands are Forced to Evacuate as Arizona's Rodeo and Chedisksi Wildfires Merge The Chediski and Rodeo fires began merging Sunday, June 23, forming a single, 50-mile-wide blaze, but most people had evacuated on Saturday. Many sought refuge at a Red Cross shelter in a highschool stadium in Eagar, AZ, east of Show Low.  more...

AFES Assists U.S. Service Members at Camp Doha Established after Operation Desert Storm to protect Kuwait and provide training against future attacks by Iraq, Camp Doha is home to some 5,000 U.S. service members. A team of three AFES workers assists them by acting as a conduit for emergency messages — often concerning the death or serious illness of a loved one — sent by family in the United States. The team also operates a canteen where service members can come to relax or grab a bottle of cold water. In addition, the AFES team visits other service members who are injured or sick in the hospital, training in the desert or living at one of the U.S. Air Force bases in Kuwait.  more...

Afghan School Chest Distribution A gift to Afghan children from American Children.  more...

Letters to America Six months after Sept. 11, the unity and compassion of our nation remains strong. Those impacted by the attacks continue to express their gratitude to the American people in their letters to the Red Cross.  more...

Thank you, America In the weeks and months after the September 11 tragedy, letters have poured into Red Cross headquarters from those who lost loved ones in the attacks. While struggling to cope with their grief, they wanted to express their gratitude to the American people for their support and generosity.  more...

Cards from Hong Kong Following the Sept. 11 tragedy, the Hong Kong Red Cross responded with this letter, written by Bonnie So, head of international and disaster relief, accompanied by hundreds of cards from volunteers: "The tragedy on 11 September, 2001 touched the heart of people around the world. The admirable courage, unity and love of the rescuers, volunteers and the American people demonstrated to the world the power of humanity. Besides donations in cash, members and volunteers of the Hong Kong Red Cross and citizens would like to send our condolences and heartfelt sympathy to your loss, and salute all rescuers and volunteers for their unreserved and selfless effort in the rendering of assistance to the needy. About 1,000 caring cards were collected and we hope that they can reach the rescuers, volunteers and families affected. We believe that with your great work, the community will grow out of the tragedy and the power of humanity [will be] strengthened."  more...

2001

Earthquake in Peru A magnitude-8.1 earthquake (originally thought to be 7.9) toppled adobe homes and stone buildings, on Saturday afternoon (June 23). Most of the damage and fatalities occurred in the towns of Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna. Arequipa Mayor Manuel Guillin said that 70 percent of the homes in his town were damaged. The American Red Cross has joined the Peruvian Red Cross to get relief to the earthquake victims. Images Courtesy of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent  Part 1  Part 2

Flooding in Texas and Louisiana: Tropical Storm Allison After blowing ashore on Tuesday, June 5, Tropical Storm Allison drenched the Houston, Tex., area, swamping homes and communities and causing millions of dollars of damage. The storm slowly made its way to Louisiana, and days of relentless rain pushed the Comite, Amite and dozens of other rivers beyond their banks. By Saturday night, June 9, a state of emergency had been declared in 20 parishes. The National Guard was called in to help stranded motorists and families unable to get out of their neighborhoods.  more...

Emergency Water in 57 Minutes Meet Dawn Card, American Red Cross Water/Sanitation Coordinator from Ft. Lauderdale. Months after the damaging El Salvador earthquakes, she is still bringing water to those who have none. In the following slideshow, she'll demonstrate how the American Red Cross installs an emergency water system.  more...

Puerto Rico: Floods, May 2001 Heavy rains that began in early May caused extensive flooding in the southwest region of Puerto Rico. Highways and bridges were inaccessible, and mudslides and flooding destroyed farmland and homes. Hundreds of residents were evacuated their homes. Federal aid was requested from President Bush to aid residents as they recover from the floods.  more...

From Donor to Patient: Processing and Purifying Red Cross Blood The American Red Cross collects half of the nation's blood supply and distributes it to needy patients all over the United States. But before blood reaches vulnerable cancer patients and accident victims, it must go through a fascinatingly complex and highly technological screening, processing, testing, transporting and monitoring process. Each step in the process contributes to the creation of life-saving blood products that doctors and patients know are safer than ever.  more...

Mississippi: Floods, April 2001 The rural city of Lexington, Miss., is one of the poorest in America. Lexington is in Holmes County, one of 55 counties in the state that has been struck by disaster since last December. The flood in this central region of Mississippi began with a normal spring rainfall on April 4. But the rains turned to torrents, and eight to twelve inches fell overnight. When the banks of Black Creek overflowed, flash floods swept over the county. City officials went door to door evacuating residents, but nothing could stop the water.  more...

World TB Day, Turkmenistan Dashoguz, Turkmenistan: On March 24, 2001, the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders sponsored a day-long educational event to celebrate “World TB Day.” The event was designed to spread awareness of the growing tuberculosis epidemic in Turkmenistan and the Aral Sea Region, where the disease claims more than 200,000 lives every year. Throughout the day, TB patients and medical staff alike had the opportunity to test their skills against Turkmenistan’s finest young professional table tennis teams from around the country and watch members of the Turkmenistan Red Crescent Society’s youth clubs perform educational plays about TB.  more...

Gujarat, India: Earthquake On January 26, 2001, a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck western India, shaking thousands of buildings to the ground and leaving entire cities, towns and villages in ruin. It took several days for the outside world to learn the extent of the devastation. Initial reports estimated that a few thousand people were killed — in the end, the death toll hovered around 25,000. The American Red Cross was one of several Red Cross societies that traveled to the worst-hit state of Gujarat immediately after the disaster to begin the daunting, but desperately needed, relief operation.  more...

2000

Venezuela: Flooding Days of unyielding rain in December 1999 led to massive landslides and severe flooding in seven northern states of Venezuela. The disaster took place over several days, and thousands of homeless Venezuelans spent the holiday season mourning the dead. When the water receded, as many as 30,000 lives had been lost and thousands more had their homes and livelihoods swept under mountains of mud. One year later, the American Red Cross was still there, helping the Venezuelan Red Cross, disaster victims and communities become stronger and better prepared should another disaster strike.  more...

Montana: Wildfires The western United States experienced its worst wildfire season in 50 years during the hot, dry summer of 2000. More than 7 million acres burned before winter finally descended, bringing rain and snow that extinguished the last of the flames. Local American Red Cross chapters opened dozens of shelters throughout the season as fire officials evacuated neighborhoods that were too close to the dangerous fires. In Montana, the state that saw the worst of the blazes, residents of the Bitterroot Valley outside Missoula found themselves surrounded by multiple wildfires and thick smoke for days on end. The Red Cross brought in extra emergency response vehicles (ERVs), opened shelters for evacuees, fed firefighters and families, and recruited volunteers from across the country to help with the August 2000 relief operation.  more...

Kosovo Although the 1999 armed conflict has subsided and a fragile peace is maintained in Serbia's Kosovo Province, relief efforts are as urgently needed as when hundreds of thousands of refugees fled the violence. Since the war ended in June 1999, most refugees have returned home to a dangerous and uncertain future, dependent on external aid for many of their needs. Hundreds of relief organizations, including the American Red Cross, were still there a year later to help them rebuild their lives.  more...

Kerio Valley, Kenya: Drought Relief In the summer of 2000, searing drought scorched the 4,000-foot deep Kerio Valley in northwest Kenya. Without adequate water or grazing pasture, cattle died off, cutting off the livelihoods of the traditional pastorlists and their families who subsist in this desolate land. The year was of one of the driest on record for the Kerio Valley and famine loomed. With the help of the Kenyan Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, the American Red Cross was determined to bring relief to the tribes of the valley.  more...

Los Alamos, New Mexico: Wildfires In early May 2000, the National Park Service at New Mexico’s Bandelier National Monument set a controlled burn to clear underbrush and lessen the chance for a major forest fire. Ironically, that tiny blaze grew into one of the state’s worst disasters of recent memory. Winds up to 60 mph (96 kph) drove roaring flames through the Los Alamos countryside, which officials said was parched from the area's worst drought since the 1700s. Nearly 20,000 people were evacuated and forced to live in shelters and hotels for weeks. More than 400 families lost their homes.  more...

Mozambique: Flooding The floods that swept through Mozambique in February and March 2000 were called the country’s worst disaster in decades. An exceptionally wet monsoon season that combined with more heavy rains brought by multiple cyclones overflowed rivers to deadly levels. Torrents swept away fragile huts, ripped dirt roads apart and collapsed bridges. Low-lying areas were transformed into vast lakes, submerging cropland and leaving people stranded for weeks on rooftops and in trees. In all, some 2 million people were affected and 700 died. The disaster took aim at one of the poorest nations in the world.  more...

1998

Alabama: Tornadoes, April 1998 On April 8, 1988 a mighty F-5 tornado -- the most powerful type of tornado -- swept through Alabama killing 33 people and destroying more than 1,000 homes. A tornado classified as an F-5 on the Fujita Scale can attain wind speeds between 260 and 318 mph, tossing cars over 300 feet and lifting homes from their foundations.  more...

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