Red Cross Helping Tennessee Tornado Victims

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Randy “Chappy” Chapman of Madison is currently staying at the Red Cross shelter in Nashville after the devastating tornadoes ripped through Tennessee over the weekend. The 68-year-old is a care provider for his sister in Madison. He said he was at home when the violent storm moved through. Red Cross photo by Debra Alexander Fisher

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Inside a Red Cross shelter in Nashville, a Red Cross volunteer talks with a grandmother who came to the shelter with her daughters and four grandchildren—one as young as two weeks old. Red Cross photo by Debra Alexander Fisher

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Red Cross volunteer Sara Stewart assesses damage in Madison, Tennessee. Red Cross Photo by Rick Loyd.

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Red Cross volunteers continue to bring comfort and care to those affected by the deadly tornadoes across Tennessee. Red Cross Photo by Carlos Rodriguez.

December 20, 2023

It’s been more than a week since deadly tornadoes hit Tennessee and the American Red Cross is there, helping people impacted by the storms.

As the holidays approach, more than 120 Red Cross disaster workers are providing food, shelter, relief supplies and a shoulder to lean on and will be supporting people in the days and weeks to come as they plan their next steps.

RED CROSS RESPONSE Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the Red Cross is offering financial assistance for those who need help recovering and whose primary residences were destroyed or sustained eligible structural damage.

Red Cross will be part of the solution — but not the only solution — to help families recover. All Red Cross services, including immediate financial assistance, are available to individuals regardless of nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. The Red Cross is a charity, not a government agency and people do not need to be American citizens to receive our help. Red Cross financial assistance is not a loan and does not need to be repaid.

Preliminary reports indicate that 455 homes were either destroyed or suffered major damage. The Red Cross and our partners have provided almost 400 overnight stays, more than 7,300 meals and snacks, and some 3,800 relief items.

Trained Red Cross volunteers are helping families cope during this challenging time and replacing prescription medications, eyeglasses or critical medical equipment like canes and wheelchairs.

The Red Cross is not accepting donations of food, household items or clothing as they cannot be distributed by our teams. Right now, financial donations are the quickest and best way to get help to those who need it most, which give people the flexibility to purchase what they need.

YOU CAN HELP people affected by disasters like tornadoes and countless other crises by making a gift to Red Cross Disaster Relief. Financial donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org, call 800-RED-CROSS, or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

HELP FOR THE MILITARY The Red Cross will support service members, veterans and their families affected by the tornadoes with requests for financial assistance through their military aid society or with community support resources by contacting our Hero Care Network online, via our website, the Hero Care App or by calling 1-877-272-7337.

About 250 Army families at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, were displaced after the tornadoes. The base is on the Tennessee-Kentucky border near Clarksville, Tennessee, where damage was severe.

DOWNLOAD OUR APP Download the free Emergency app for weather alerts, open Red Cross shelter locations and safety steps for different emergencies. Choose whether you want to view the content in English or Spanish with an easy-to-find language selector. Find this and all of the Red Cross apps in smartphone app stores by searching for the American Red Cross or going to redcross.org/apps.

Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) Through the generosity of our American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder members, the American Red Cross is prepared before disaster strikes. ADGP and Disaster Responder members help secure a reliable funding base for disaster relief services that enables the Red Cross to respond immediately, meeting the needs of individuals and families affected by disaster, regardless of cost.

ADGP $1M Members: Amazon; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Best Buy; Caterpillar Foundation; Costco Wholesale ; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Microsoft Corp.; Nationwide Foundation; PayPal; PetSmart Charities; The Pfizer Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; State Farm; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo

ADGP $500k Members: Altria Group; American Express; Aon; Bread Financial; Capital One; CarMax; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; Dollar General; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Motor Company Fund; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Google.org; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; International Paper; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Mastercard; Merck; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; PepsiCo Foundation; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, home of Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation

Disaster Responder Members: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation Barclays; Big 5 Sporting Goods; Build-A-Bear Foundation; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Choice Hotels International; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; DHL Supply Chain; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Duke Energy; Dutch Bros Foundation; Equitable; FirstEnergy Corporation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LHC Group; LKQ; L’Oréal Groupe; Macy’s, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Foundation, Inc.; Martin Marietta; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; The Middleby Corporation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Northrop Grumman; Northwestern Mutual; Old Dominion Freight Line; Organon; Pacific Life Foundation; Prudential; Raymond James; Reckitt; Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Project, a project of New Venture Fund; Ross Stores Foundation; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Santander; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Tata Consultancy Services; U-Haul International; Yum! Brands; Zurich

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.