American Red Cross Southern California Region serves San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Imperial Counties and provides 24-hour emergency assistance to people affected by fires, floods and other emergencies or disasters. If you or someone you know has recently experienced a disaster, contact us at 855-891-7325.

Red Cross volunteers in our region respond to local disasters every day – most often a house or apartment fire. Our volunteers are on call 24 hours a day to assist individuals and families who are displaced by a home fire, flood or other devastation. 

Those affected by disasters often only have the clothes on their backs and seek a caring person. Our Disaster Action Teams (DAT), made up entirely of volunteers, provide comfort and assistance to people who have just lost their home and may have nowhere else to turn. We connect families to resources such as housing assistance, social services and mental health services to help with the devastating effects of experiencing a disaster.

During large-scale disasters like wildfires, our trained volunteers set up care & receptions centers and shelters where evacuees can find a safe place to stay and access to food, comfort items, health and emotional services and more. Most importantly, everyone is welcome at our shelters. A Red Cross shelter is a place where people affected by a disaster can find a sense of community, a compassionate listening ear, a shoulder to lean on and a warm hug from our dedicated volunteers.

Click here to learn about how the American Red Cross helps in the event of a disaster, including opening shelters, distributing food and emergency supplies, providing health and mental health services and more. All disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from people in our community.

Interested in becoming a disaster responder? Start your volunteer application today.

Along with the Red Cross being ready for emergencies and disasters, we need you to make sure you and your family are prepared for potential disasters and emergencies. Please get prepared before disaster strikes by visiting PrepareSoCal.org and PrepareSanDiego.org.