Red Cross Shelter worker Waymond Hackney provides comfort to shelter resident Beverly Coates in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Red Cross photo by Daniel Cima.
Hurricane Barry made landfall on Saturday in Louisiana as a Category 1 storm, and it is the first hurricane to strike the U.S. this year. Barry dumped heavy rain on parts of Louisiana and Mississippi over the weekend, and potential flash flooding may threaten additional communities this week.
The American Red Cross is working with partners to support people along the Gulf Coast affected by Hurricane Barry. More than 400 Red Cross volunteers worked over the weekend and continue to provide safe shelter, warm meals and relief supplies to help people in need.
Sunday night, nearly 130 people stayed in five Red Cross and local community shelters in Louisiana and Mississippi. Altogether, 750 overnight stays have been provided to help people seeking refuge from Hurricane Barry. In addition to distributing critical relief supplies and providing emotional support, the Red Cross has worked with partners to serve more than 3,300 meals and snacks.
Red Cross volunteers will be fanning out across affected neighborhoods to assess damage and determine what additional support may be needed in the coming days. The Red Cross isn’t a federal agency, but we are coordinating closely with our government partners and other local nonprofits to support relief efforts.
The Red Cross has additional trained disaster workers standing by, as the remnants of Barry move north and could cause flooding in other communities.
Anyone who needs a safe place to go can call 2-1-1, visit redcross.org or download the free Red Cross Emergency App (search “American Red Cross” in your mobile app store).
We encourage people who plan to stay in a Red Cross shelter to bring prescription medications, extra clothing, pillows, blankets, hygiene supplies, other comfort items and important documents. Don’t forget to bring any special items for children, such as diapers, formula and toys, or for family members who have unique needs.
Red Cross shelters are open to everyone in need, regardless of race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation or citizenship status. All disaster assistance is free. We don’t require people to show any kind of identification to enter a shelter — just their name and pre-disaster address.
HOW YOU CAN HELP You can make a difference in the lives of people impacted by Hurricane Barry. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS, or text the word BARRY to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from this disaster. This includes providing food, shelter, relief supplies, emotional support, recovery planning and other assistance.
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: American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Anthem Foundation; Bank of America; Caterpillar Foundation; The Clorox Company; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation; FedEx; The Home Depot Foundation; LDS Charities; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; Mazda North American Operations; Microsoft Corp.; Nationwide Foundation; State Farm; Verizon; VSP Global; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; and The Walt Disney Company.
ADGP $500,000 members are: Altria Group; AmazonSmile; Aon; BMW of North America; Capital One; Cisco Foundation; Citi Foundation; CSX; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental Community Care Foundation; Discover; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Motor Company; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Grainger; HCA Healthcare; Humble Bundle; IBM Corporation; International Paper; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; LHC Group; Merck Foundation; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Nissan; PepsiCo Foundation; Procter & Gamble Company; PwC Charitable Foundation; Sands Cares; Southwest Airlines; Target; 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.; American Express; Assurant; AstraZeneca; AT&T; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company; The Ball Foundation; Barclays; CarMax; Choice Hotels International; Cox Enterprises; DICK’S Sporting Goods; Duke Energy; Edison International; Entergy Corporation; GE Foundation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; Ingersoll Rand Foundation; John Deere Foundation; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; Land O’Lakes, Inc.; Mastercard; Medtronic Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; Northrop Grumman Corporation; Northwestern Mutual and the Northwestern Mutual Foundation; Old Dominion Freight Line; Prudential Financial; Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Foundation; Ryder System, Inc.; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; Southeastern Grocers Home of BI-LO Harveys Winn Dixie; The Starbucks Foundation; Tata Consultancy Services; 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.
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