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WASHINGTON, D.C. May 23, 2025 ─ It’s been almost a week since devastating tornadoes left a trail of destruction across Kentucky and Missouri. The American Red Cross responded immediately and continues to provide critical aid to families affected by this severe weather.
More than 270 Red Crossers are on the ground helping. So far, with our partners, we have provided more than 1,000 overnight stays in 12 emergency shelters, as well as almost 13,300 meals and snacks and more than 5,300 relief items to some 1,200 households.
In shelters, trained Red Cross volunteers are helping families cope during this challenging time. Where it is safe to do so, Red Cross volunteers are distributing meals and relief supplies in impacted neighborhoods and helping assess the residential damage in affected communities. Early reports indicate as many as 530 homes are destroyed or suffered major damage. This information will help us to better understand what help families and communities may need in the coming days and weeks.
RED CROSS NURSES HELPING When a disaster strikes, one of the first things the Red Cross does is open shelters to provide a safe place for displaced people to stay. But the shelter provides more than a cot, blanket and meals. There are teams of Red Cross volunteers who are registered nurses that go to each shelter to ensure the medical needs of those staying there are being met. The teams also make welfare checks each day at the shelters.
After a tornado struck St. Louis, the nursing team of Kathie Hoette and Vicki Sharp visited each shelter to check whether residents had lost their medications or eyeglasses or had any other unmet medical needs. “We identify the health needs they might have and do what we can to help them out,” Vicki said.
Like most nurses who volunteer with the Red Cross, Kathie and Vicki are retired with decades of experience helping others. When they arrive, they meet with the shelter staff and check the registration forms which includes a section where residents can list any medications or equipment they might require.
Kathie and Vicki said they’re doing what they enjoy best, helping people in a time of need. While the nurses can help residents with medications, sometimes it’s just taking the time to talk to the residents and help them process what they have been through.
“Just being able to help people, whether it is pat on the back or a friendly smile,” Kathie said. “Sometimes a soothing voice is something they need to hear.”
At one shelter, Kathie and Vicki visited Tiffany Chandler, who was staying with friends when the tornado came through, destroying their home. Tiffany talked about what she went through and her medical needs.
“I thought it would be overwhelming here but really I found it OK,” Tiffany shared as she laid on her cot. “It was pretty scary. I was watching the weather change and it was there for a second and then it was gone, and the power lines were snapping,” she said. Tiffany said she felt much better after talking to Kathi and Vicki. “I appreciate everything you do,” she said. “You guys are the heroes.”
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 need urgent assistance now. Help people affected by disasters like floods, storms and countless other crises with a Red Cross Disaster Relief donation by visiting redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small, whenever and wherever they occur across the county.
For those interested in helping people specifically affected by the recent storms, we ask that they select the “Spring Storms and Floods” option on redcross.org or through 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767).
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; 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.