"As the storm passes, the Red Cross is preparing to provide shelter for tens of thousands of people until they can return home or find other places to stay."
ANCHORAGE, Tuesday, September 11, 2018 —The American Red Cross is preparing for a large relief effort across multiple states as Hurricane Florence continues its march toward the East Coast. This is a dangerous storm predicted to grow even stronger and the Red Cross urges people in its path to obey evacuation orders and get ready now.
The Red Cross is preparing to help as many as 100,000 people in the affected areas and is working with state and local officials to identify and prepare evacuation shelters. More than 700 disaster workers are in route to the region to help. The Red Cross is also deploying vehicles, equipment and relief supplies and will continue to do so until it is no longer safe to travel.
Contributing to the relief efforts, the Red Cross of Alaska is currently mobilizing Alaskan volunteers to lend a hand to those in the path of Florence. A total of 10 volunteers from across Alaska have been deployed in the last five hours. These volunteers, who are set to arrive in Richmond, Virginia prior to the storm’s landfall, will be departing from the Southeast, the Fairbanks area, the Kenai Peninsula and the Mat-Su Valley in the coming hours, and will work in sheltering operations, disaster mental health services, logistics, and life, safety and asset protection as soon as they are on the ground on the East Coast.
As the storm passes, the Red Cross is preparing to provide shelter for tens of thousands of people until they can return home or find other places to stay.
HOW YOU CAN HELP The Red Cross depends on financial donations to be able to provide disaster relief immediately. Donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from this disaster. The Red Cross honors donor intent. Donors can designate their donation to Hurricane Florence relief efforts by choosing that option when donating on redcross.org or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS, or by texting the word FLORENCE to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
About the American Red Cross of Alaska:
In FY18, the American Red Cross of Alaska offered food, shelter, comfort and hope to 892 Alaskans. We responded to 308 disasters. Our preparedness/Health and Safety teams installed 2,309 smoke alarms statewide and educated 1,722 youth through The Pillowcase Project. Additionally, our Service to the Armed Forces staff exchanged 1,161 emergency messages for U.S. military service personnel and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org/Alaska or visit us on Twitter at @redcrossak.