DENVER, CO, WEDNESDAY AUGUST 5, 2020 —This past month, when communities across our nation faced disasters such as floods, tropical storms and hurricanes, volunteers from the American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming were mobilized to assist other parts of the country to prepare, respond and recover from these disasters. In July, 28 Colorado and Wyoming disaster responders deployed both virtually and in-person to provide support and recovery assistance to people who had been affected by these disasters.

Breakdown of the CO & WY National Deployment for July 2020:

• Michigan Floods: 1 disaster responder deployed to assist in Michigan. 
• Tropical Storm/Hurricane Hanna: 23 disaster responders deployed to Texas.
• Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaias: 4 disaster responders deployed to Virginia

Red Cross disaster responders have been extensively trained to keep those we serve, the partners we work with and our workforce safe while providing disaster relief during COVID-19. 

The Red Cross has developed new policies to align with CDC safety recommendations and has created a series of virtual trainings and materials to ensure our disaster responders are aware of the changes and prepared to respond to disasters. Though a portion of our deployments are virtual and our physical presence may not look the same as it did before the pandemic, we are still providing comfort and support to anyone in need after a disaster, including mental health support and financial assistance.

Breakdown of the CO & WY 87 county service area for July 2020:

Most of the 60,000 national emergencies that the Red Cross responds to each year are local, personal disasters like home fires. The Red Cross knows these local disasters are just as devastating as large scale disasters. Volunteers from our Disaster Action Teams are ready to respond to these local emergencies, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In July, the American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming provided support and care to 233 people. Out of the 77 cases in July, the majority of calls were for home fires and wildfire support for the Elephant Butte fire.

• Mile High Chapter (MHC) responded to 52 calls for service and helped 174 people. The MHC response area includes 10 counties in the Denver Metro area.
• Southeastern Colorado Chapter (SECO) responded to 8 calls for service and helped 17 people. The SECO response area includes 16 counties.
• Northern Colorado Chapter (NOCO) responded to 8 calls for service and helped 19 people. The NOCO response area includes 11 counties.
• Western Colorado Chapter (WECO) responded to 7 calls for service and helped 16 people. The WECO response area covers 27 counties, serving all Western Colorado and the San Luis Valley.
• Wyoming Chapter (WYO) responded to 2 calls for assistance and provided care to 7 people. The WYO response area covers 8 counties in the state of Wyoming.

Community Partnerships

The pandemic has given the Red Cross many new and unusual opportunities to support and collaborate with our communities, organizations and agency partners. In July, our COVID strike team, a set of volunteers who receive advanced COVID-19 training, partnered with the Salvation Army and Douglas County in Colorado to deliver dozens of lunches to COVID19 testing sites. The Red Cross will work with these partners through August to feed these frontline workers.

Please click here for July Disaster Response images.