New Round of Severe Weather Threatens Communities Already Hit by Earlier Storms

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An American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) in front of the remains of a grocery store in Marietta, OK.

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American Red Cross volunteers work quickly to distribute meals during the recovery efforts in Marietta, OK

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American Red Cross volunteer Richard Langford makes a plan with Michael Holcomb and Rashell Clements for their next steps after their stay in the Sulphur, OK. shelter.

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Kay Carter loads her car with clean-up items from the donation site at the Expo Center in Sulphur, OK.

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A Red Cross nurse helps shelter resident with an injury at a Red Cross shelter in the greater Houston area in Texas. Our nurses help people with medical or disability needs, as well as replacing lost eyeglasses, medications, etc. Red Cross photo by Matthew Pena

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Red Crosser Vanessa Vadez is in the River Plantation neighborhood where flooding has inundated numerous homes. Red Cross photo by Matthew Pena

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Flooding in the River Plantation neighborhood. The devastating flooding in Texas has inundated homes and roadways, leading to numerous water rescues and mandatory evacuations. Red Cross photo by Matthew Pena.

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Red Cross disaster teams and partners are providing safe place to stay, food, relief supplies and compassionate care to help people with medical or disability needs, as well as emotional and spiritual support during these challenging times. Here, volunteers serve meals at a shelter at Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic Parish. Red Cross photo by Matthew Pena

May 15, 2024

The American Red Cross continues to help people across multiple states where storms have caused significant damage over the last several weeks. Last week more than 125 tornadoes were reported in the U.S. in just five days. Meanwhile, all eyes are on the skies today as new severe weather threatens areas already dealing with destruction from the previous weather.

Millions of people could experience severe thunderstorms, strong wind, large hail and tornadoes today from the Plains to the East Coast. Thursday, very heavy rain is expected to hit Texas and Louisiana in some of the same communities already dealing with devastating flooding. In addition, dangerous heat is predicted for Florida and Texas throughout this week and there could be flooding in Hawaii. The Red Cross is monitoring all of these weather threats and preparing to respond if necessary.

HOW TO STAY SAFE If you are in the path of these storms, follow these steps to help keep you and your loved ones safe.

RED CROSS RESPONSE Preliminary reports indicate more than 1,220 homes are either destroyed or have received major damage from the recent storms and tornadoes. Almost 600 trained Red Cross disaster workers are helping people affected by the tornadoes and flooding. The Red Cross and partners have provided:

More than 2,200 overnight shelter stays in 26 Red Cross and community shelters.
More than 46,500 meals and snacks
More than 25,900 relief supplies

FIND A SHELTER Anyone who has been affected by the storms is welcome to stop by a shelter to get information, a hot meal, charge their phone, pick up relief supplies and get other essential support. Find open shelters on redcross.org, the free Red Cross Emergency app or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) and selecting the disaster option. You can also find shelters by following your local county and city officials on social media or monitoring local news.

HOW TO HELP You can help people affected by disasters like tornadoes, flooding and countless other crises by making a donation to support Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

CLIMATE CRISIS The Red Cross is responding to nearly twice as many large disasters as we did a decade ago to help families and communities struggling with more frequent and intense disasters. In 2023 alone, the U.S. experienced an all-time high of 28 billion-dollar plus disasters that ravaged communities and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee from severe storms, floods and wildfires.

MORE: The Power of Us: Climate change has disproportionately impacted these vulnerable US communities, experts say

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; Caterpillar Foundation; CMA CGM Foundation; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Mobility Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Merck; Microsoft; Nationwide Foundation; 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; Chick-fil-A; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; DHL Supply Chain; DraftKings; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Motor Company Fund; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Google.org; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Mastercard; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, home of Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stryker; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco

Disaster Responder Members: The 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; ALDI; American Tire Distributors; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Bath & Body Works; Big 5 Sporting Goods; Build-A-Bear Foundation; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Choice Hotels International; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Duke Energy; Equitable; FirstEnergy Corporation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; L’Oréal; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LHC Group; LKQ; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Macy’s, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Company LP; Martin Marietta; Masco; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; The Middleby Corporation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Norfolk Southern; Northrop Grumman Foundation; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation; Phillips 66; Prudential; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reliance, Inc.; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Santander; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Tata Consultancy Services; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty; U.S. Foods; 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.