Florence: Red Cross Helps as Devastation Continues

1 of 14

Lashandra was overjoyed when the Red Cross truck pulled up to her house. The Red Cross gave the family everything from cleaning supplies to diapers and everything in between. Photo by Daniel Cima/American Red Cross

2 of 14

Timothy Hickson and his family lost almost everything when waters from the hurricane flooded Spring Lake, North Carolina. Red Cross photo by Daniel Cima.

3 of 14

Vincent and Jennifer Baker are trying to clean up their flooded home in Spring Lake, North Carolina, and are grateful for the Red Cross meals and relief supplies. Red Cross photo by Daniel Cima.

4 of 14

This young family from Raeford, North Carolina, are thrilled with the food and supplies the Red Cross delivered to their neighborhood. Red Cross photo by Daniel Cima.

5 of 14

Everything from furniture to clothes are at the curbs of most homes, showing that they have lost everything. Red Cross trucks pulled up to neighborhoods in Raeford delivering MRE’s, clean up kits, rakes, shovels, bleach, garbage bags and much more to help with the cleaning up of homes that are still destroyed from the storm. Photo by Daniel Cima/American Red Cross

6 of 14

Red Cross trucks pulled up to neighborhoods in Raeford delivering MRE’s, clean up kits, rakes, shovels, bleach, garbage bags and much more to help with the cleaning up of homes that are still destroyed from the storm. Photo by Daniel Cima/American Red Cross.

7 of 14

This family is still staying in Red Cross shelters two weeks after the hurricane hit their home in Fayetteville, North Carolina. They thanked the Red Cross for helping them in this time of need. Photo by Daniel Cima/American Red Cross

8 of 14

Almost two weeks after the first impacts of Hurricane Florence, areas are still flooded in the Carolinas and ongoing road closures continue to limit accessibility to the area. Red Cross photo by Daniel Cima.

9 of 14

Red Cross volunteers deliver hot meals via an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) through a neighborhood in New Bern, North Carolina that was heavily impacted by Hurricane Florence. Photo by Daniel Cima/American Red Cross

10 of 14

Red Cross volunteer Shawna Still delivers both meals and hugs to Leora Lee, a resident of Maple Hill, North Carolina, who has been without electrical power since Hurricane Florence made landfall. Red Cross photo by Bob Wallace.

11 of 14

Brittany Bines of Bennettsville, South Carolina, receives cooked meals at the Red Cross Marlboro County meal distribution center. Her family had been eating canned ravioli and was grateful for the hot meals. Red Cross photo by Michael G. Seamans.

12 of 14

Red Cross volunteer Sharon Decker hands out cooked meals at the Marlboro County, South Carolina, Red Cross meal distribution center. More than 7000 meals were delivered in the area. Red Cross photo by Michael G. Seamans.

13 of 14

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Friday Center – Red Cross Shelter. Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Originally from the Republic of the Congo, Prospere and his mother Mirneno are part of a community of refugees that have sought refuge at the Red Cross Shelter in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Photo by Daniel Cima/American Red Cross.

14 of 14

Fike High School Red Cross operated shelter. Wilson, North Carolina. Photo by Daniel Cima/American Red Cross

October 05, 2018

Rivers in the Carolinas have finally crested but many areas are still under water from Hurricane Florence, leaving some people still in shelters and thousands more dealing with the massive job of cleaning up their homes. The American Red Cross is with them, providing food, shelter, relief supplies and other services.

Preliminary information suggests that between 8,000 to 10,000 homes may have suffered major damage or were destroyed by this devastating storm and many have lost everything they owned. See one man’s story here.

WHAT THE RED CROSS IS DOING (All information as of Friday, September 28.)

Thursday night, more than 1,520 people stayed in 26 Red Cross and community shelters in the Carolinas. This included approximately 1,350 people in 20 shelters in North Carolina; and more than 170 people in 6 shelters in South Carolina. In total, the Red Cross and other organizations have provided more than 114,700 overnight stays in emergency shelters across the Carolinas. The Red Cross has provided about 92 percent of these stays.

Today, more than 3,500 Red Cross disaster workers—92 percent volunteers—from all over the country are helping to shelter, feed and support people affected.

Working with partners, the Red Cross has served more than 921,600 meals and snacks.

Volunteers from partner organizations are cooking hot meals at more than 10 kitchens. These meals are being served at shelters or from more than 70 Red Cross food trucks circulating through affected neighborhoods.

Volunteer mental health and health services professionals have provided some 29,100 contacts to provide support and care to evacuees. We’ve also distributed more than 138,200 relief items like diapers and comfort kits that contain deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste and other hygiene items for people forced from their homes. Since September 11, more than 5.2 million weather alerts have been sent through Red Cross apps to help people make lifesaving decisions.

PLEASE GIVE BLOOD Hundreds of blood drives have been forced to cancel due to Hurricane Florence, resulting in over 6,000 uncollected blood and platelet donations. The Red Cross urges people in unaffected areas to make an appointment to give platelets or blood—especially type O—to care for patients in the Southeast and throughout the country. 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).

HOW YOU CAN HELP The Red Cross has launched a massive response to this disaster and 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.

CORPORATIONS HELP The generous donations from members of the Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and the Disaster Responder Program enable the American Red Cross to prepare communities for disasters big and small, respond whenever and wherever disasters occur and help families during the recovery process.

ADGP $1 Million members are: Adelson Family Foundation; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Anthem Foundation; Bank of America; Brown & Brown Insurance; Caterpillar Foundation; The Clorox Company; ConocoPhillips; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation; FedEx; Grainger; The Home Depot Foundation; LDS Charities; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; Mazda North American Operations; Microsoft Corp.; Nationwide Foundation; PepsiCo Foundation; State Farm; Verizon; VSP Global; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; and The Walt Disney Company.

ADGP $500,000 members are: 21st Century Fox; Altria Group; AmazonSmile; American Express; Aon; BMW of North America; Capital One; CBS Corporation; Cisco Foundation; Citi Foundation; Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation; Discover; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Motor Company; General Motors; Humble Bundle; IBM Corporation; International Paper; John Deere Foundation; Johnson Controls; LabCorp; Medtronic Foundation; Meijer; Merck Foundation; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Nissan; Procter & Gamble Company; PwC; Southwest Airlines; Target; Tata Consultancy Services; TD Ameritrade; The TJX Companies, Inc.; United Airlines; UPS; The USAA Foundation; The Wawa Foundation; and Wells Fargo.

Disaster Responder Program members are: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; AdvoCare International L.P.; Alliance Data; Assurant; AT&T; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; AXA Equitable Life; The Ball Foundation; Barclays; Boise Paper; CarMax; Choice Hotels International; Cox Automotive; DICK’S Sporting Goods; Duke Energy; Entergy Corporation; Farmers Insurance; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; HSBC Bank; Ingersoll Rand Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Land O’Lakes, Inc.; Mastercard; Morgan Stanley; Neiman Marcus Group; Northrop Grumman Corporation; Northwestern Mutual and the Northwestern Mutual Foundation; Prudential Financial; Raytheon Company; Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Foundation; Ryder; SC Johnson; Southeastern Grocers Home of BI-LO Harveys Winn Dixie; Standard Textile; Stearns Bank; Toyota; U-Haul International; United Technologies Corporation; U.S. Bank; and Visa.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.