More severe weather in the forecast, get ready now
WASHINGTON, D.C. May 17, 2025 ─ The American Red Cross is providing comfort and support to people across multiple states after Friday’s deadly tornadoes and storms.
Red Cross disaster teams are working around the clock with our partners to make sure everyone has a safe place to stay, meals, emotional support and comfort. Shelters are open in Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. We have mobilized relief supplies and additional disaster workers and are working with local and state officials to help ensure people get the help they need. When it is safe to do so, Red Cross volunteers will help 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.
There were more than 900 reports of storms and as many as 30 tornado reports which caused widespread destruction across the region and left hundreds of thousands without power.
The threat of severe weather isn’t over. The National Weather Service reports the region should expect severe weather ─ heavy rain, large hail, severe winds, dangerous lightning, flash flooding and tornadoes ─ for the next several days, gradually moving to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Another round is predicted for the Southwest. People should get ready now. Safety information is available here for different disasters, including tornadoes, thunderstorms and flooding.
FIND A SHELTER If you need a safe place to stay, 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.
Red Cross shelters are open to everyone in need, and all disaster assistance is free. We do not turn away people who need assistance during a disaster. We provide aid to all those in need, regardless of race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation or citizenship status. We don’t require people to show any kind of identification to enter a Red Cross shelter, just their name and where they were living before the disaster.
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.
HOW YOU CAN HELP People are depending on the Red Cross for help now, and we need your support. Please click, text or call to support Red Cross Disaster Relief and help people affected by disasters like storms and countless other crises. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to donate. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.
CLIMATE CRISIS The Red Cross is responding nonstop, with a major disaster occurring as often as every 15 days. As the climate crisis worsens and disasters become more frequent and intense, the Red Cross is increasing our capacity to help those in need. We urge everyone to get ready now in case a disaster threatens your community.
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.
Mission Leader Members: Amazon; American Airlines; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; Costco Wholesale; State Farm
ADGP $1M Members: American Honda Motor Company; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Caterpillar Foundation; Chobani; CMA CGM Foundation; 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; Porche; Six Four Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; Takeda; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo
ADGP $500k Members: ALDI; Altria Group; Aon; Baxter Foundation; Boeing; Bread Financial; Capital One; Chick-fil-A; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; DHL Supply Chain; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Philanthropy; Fox Corporation; GE Aerospace; General Motors; Google.org; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; ; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Mastercard; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; NTT Data; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stryker; Suburban Propane; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco; Yum! Brands; Zoetis Foundation
Disaster Responder Members: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe Foundation; The AES Corporation; Aflac; Albemarle Corporation; The Allstate Foundation; American Family Insurance; American Tire Distributors; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Bath & Body Works; Build-A-Bear Foundation; Canadian National Railway; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Cisco and Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; DENSO North America Foundation; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Dollar Tree; Duke Energy; Erie Insurance; Fastenal; Equitable; Fifth Third Foundation; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; Johnson & Johnson Foundation; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; L’Oréal; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo ; LKQ; Macy’s, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Martin Marietta; Masco Corporation; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Mutual of Omaha Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Norfolk Southern; Northrop Grumman Foundation; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis; Old Dominion Freight Line; Oxy; Pacific Life Foundation; Prudential; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Salesforce; Santander Bank and Santander Consumer USA Foundation Inc. ; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Stephens; Tata Consultancy Services; Tennant Company; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation; US Foods; 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.