Contact: Sherry Nicholson
Telephone: 404-323-3923
Email: Sherry.Nicholson@redcross.org

Atlanta, April 14, 2020 — With an eye on the weather over the holiday weekend and emergency teams in place, Georgia’s Red Cross sprang into action on Sunday night to help families devastated by severe storms that destroyed homes, knocked out power and claimed lives.  

Pockets of damage emerged across the state yesterday; particularly hard-hit were Burke, Chattooga, Douglas, Murray and Upson counties. The Red Cross worked to meet the immediate emergency needs of dozens of people for lodging and food through a combination of in-person and virtual disaster response.  

“We’re sheltering those affected by the storms in safe locations, primarily using commercial lodging for proper social distancing, and taking additional precautionary steps to ensure that both our clients and workforce are safe in the midst of the pandemic,” said disaster response director Bob Sheldon.

As the week progresses, the Disaster Operation team will also be working to meet needs for health services, emotional support and spiritual care, while helping families think through next steps for their recovery. Anyone with disaster emergency-caused needs can reach out to the Red Cross for help by contacting their nearest Red Cross office or calling 1-800-Red Cross.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

The Red Cross depends on financial donations to be able to provide disaster relief immediately. You can help people affected by disasters like storms and countless other crises by making a gift to Red Cross Disaster Relief. 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.