On Sunday, January 16, 2022, at about 6:30 a.m., an EF-1 tornado with winds reaching 110 mph blew through Charlotte County, Florida. The tornado came ashore as a waterspout near Gasparilla Marina, damaging dozens of mobile homes in the city of Placida.

The Red Cross worked closely with the entire emergency response community -- Charlotte County government, community groups and local businesses -- to coordinate relief efforts and get help to impacted residents as quickly as possible.

This entailed mobilizing supplies and trained volunteers to provide emergency shelter, water and food, and relief supplies like cleanup kits and tarps.

Red Cross volunteers also conducted disaster assessment and met with 14 impacted families one-on-one to provide immediate assistance (financial and emotional) to help navigate recovery. 

Altogether, more than 20 local Red Cross disaster workers helped with relief and response efforts.

Residents were receptive and expressed thanks to all of our volunteers for the help. “It was great to see this community rally together to help and support each other through this,” added Bené Hunter, Senior Disaster Program Manager for the Central Florida and USVI Region.

Help people affected by disasters like tornadoes and countless other crises by making a gift to Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift is a commitment to helping people in need, and every single donation matters. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS, or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

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