Thousands Face Devastating Losses after Tornadoes

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Red Cross volunteer Linda Fahey is a registered nurse working at a Red Cross shelter in Little Rock, AR after the recent tornadoes. Linda checks the blood pressure of shelter resident Jennifer O’Connor, with her dog Ladybug at her side. Linda has been a nurse since 1975 and, after retiring recently, decided to volunteer for the Red Cross. “You don’t give up the zeal for nursing and desire to help people,” she said. “This is what I signed up for. I’m not going to say ‘no’ when they need me.” Photo by Kevin Suttlehan/American Red Cross

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Samella Drayer of North Little Rock, AR stops in the nearby town of Sherwood to pick up cleanup supplies she needs for her home after a tornado damaged hundreds of homes in the area. Photo by Kevin Suttlehan/American Red Cross

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When tornado damage forced Yolanda Crater from her Little Rock, AR home, she knew the Red Cross would help, just as it did in 2014 when she had a home fire. “The Red Cross came out then and helped and now they’re helping again after this.” Yolanda said. “They are some loving, giving people. They are truly a blessing.” But even with her trouble, Yolanda is thinking of others. “So many more people are worse off than me. They lost everything and I’m praying for them,” she added. Photo by Kevin Suttlehan/American Red Cross

woman and her sons sit at a table in a Red Cross shelter with a volunteer

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Jennifer Wolfe and sons, Dillan, 16 and Hunter, 17, survived a tornado that destroyed their Wynne, AR home. They arrived at the Red Cross shelter and immediately pitched in to help out. “If it weren’t for the Red Cross help, we would be out on the street with no place to go and no food and no hope. We wouldn’t know what to do without the assistance of the Red Cross. They made sure our medications were delivered to us because we had no way to go get them,” she said. Hunter says he now wants to become a Red Cross volunteer because, “I want to help people.” Photo by Kevin Suttlehan/American Red Cross

April 14, 2023

In the weeks since the deadly tornados swept across the South and Midwest, American Red Cross disaster workers have worked around the clock to provide comfort and support to people in need.

Preliminary reports indicate more than 2,700 homes were destroyed or received major damage. Red Cross volunteers are helping assess the residential damage in affected communities. This work will help us to better understand what help families may need in the coming days and weeks.

RED CROSS RESPONSE More than 1,400 trained Red Cross disaster workers have been deployed to impacted areas.

We continue to provide shelter to communities that have been impacted by these storms and tornadoes. Working with partners, we have provided more than 255,000 meals and have served more than 10,800 households with more than 105,900 relief supplies in the affected communities. Many shelters are serving as community hubs where people can come to get a hot meal and Red Cross assistance even if they are staying with friends and family.

Trained Red Cross volunteers are also 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 These tornadoes and severe storms have uprooted lives and devastated entire communities. Families need help now. You can make a difference in the lives of people affected by tornadoes and storms in the South and Midwest. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or text the word TORNADO to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Ensure your donation helps people affected by Southern and Midwest tornadoes and storms by choosing that option on redcross.org/donate or through 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767). Donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from these disasters. This includes providing food, shelter, relief supplies, emotional support, recovery planning and other assistance.

DOWNLOAD OUR APPS Download the free Red Cross First Aid app so you’ll know what to do if emergency help is delayed and 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 these and all of the Red Cross apps in smartphone app stores by searching for the American Red Cross or going to redcross.org/apps.

This is a difficult time for everyone affected and it’s important for people to connect with and support each other. Events like this can cause feelings of uncertainty and anxiety since no one knows what could potentially happen next. Be patient with yourself and others. It’s common to have any number of temporary stress reactions such as anger, frustration and anxiety. Find more helpful information here.

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; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; 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; and 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 The Home Depot Foundation; International Paper; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; 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; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; and The Wawa Foundation.

ADGP $250K Members: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AT&T; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Big 5 Sporting Goods; Build-A-Bear Foundation; CDW; Choice Hotels International; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; CSX; DHL Supply Chain; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Duke Energy; Dutch Bros Foundation; Equitable; FirstEnergy Corporation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; HCA Healthcare; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LHC Group; LKQ; Macy’s, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Foundation, Inc.; Martin Marietta; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Northrop Grumman; Northwestern Mutual; Old Dominion Freight Line; Organon; Pacific Life Foundation; Procter & Gamble; Prudential; Raytheon Technologies; Reckitt; Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Project, a project of New Venture Fund; Ross Stores Foundation; Ryder System, Inc.; San Manuel Band of Mission Indians; Santander; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Stanley Black & Decker; Southwest Airlines; Tata Consultancy Services; U-Haul International; U.S. Bank Foundation; and 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 visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.