Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic damage spans hundreds of miles and has uprooted lives, leaving entire communities underwater and people without homes or access to necessities. The Red Cross is leading a massive response to ensure that no one faces this disaster alone.

At this time, more than 1,200 Red Cross disaster responders, including 18 from New Jersey, are working tirelessly with community partners to provide safe shelters, meals and emergency relief supplies in communities throughout Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee. Many from the tri-state area have raised their hands to deploy to help their neighbors in the Southeast. We expect the need to deploy our disaster workers to help with relief and recovery efforts for this disaster will continue for some time.

Four New Jersey Red Crossers hit the road today, heading to North Carolina with two Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles. Among them is Carol of Bergen County, who is no stranger to disasters. She began volunteering with the Red Cross 19 years ago after seeing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

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“It’s about giving back. We had Sandy hit here, so we know how devastating storms can be. We’ll be helping these people today, but maybe tomorrow they’ll be here to help us,” said Carol.

For Neil, a Passaic County resident, it was the tornadoes that hit Mississippi last year that spurred him to get involved with the Red Cross.

“When I saw that devastation, I had to get involved,” he said. This will be Neil’s first deployment out of state, but during his first year as a volunteer, he’s helped so many affected by home fires, including those who have stayed at Red Cross emergency shelters. 

The American Red Cross is focused on providing safe shelter, meals, emotional support and relief supplies for people facing unimaginable destruction. Each community across several states is facing different struggles. In Florida, homes and cars are buried under sand after an incredible storm surge. Downed trees and flooding have left communities in Georgia unrecognizable. In the Carolina’s entire communities were submerged by floodwater, and with major damage to infrastructure like roads and bridges, people were cut off from aid with no access to food, clean water, and fuel.

As conditions improve, volunteers with the Red Cross will be going out into hardest hit communities to provide meals and disaster relief supplies. There are at least 60 emergency response vehicles deployed across the Southeast to help, with more on their way. At this time, the New Jersey Red Cross has deployed three emergency relief vehicles and one mobile command trailer.

The road to recovery will be long, and here in New Jersey, volunteers will continue to help. As the climate crisis worsens, the Red Cross is ready to respond effectively to disasters of any size. That’s why it’s critical to have the resources and support to maintain a network of trained disaster workers - more than 90 percent of whom are volunteers.

NEW JERSEY VOLUNTEERS continue to deploy to help those affected by Hurricane Helene and we appreciate their dedication helping others. See some of them here.

HOW TO HELP To learn how you can become a volunteer to help people affected by disasters, visit redcross.org/Volunteer.

You can help by making a financial donation by visiting redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or texting the word HELENE to 90999.

Another way to help during this disaster is by rolling up your sleeve to donate blood. Thousands of blood donations have gone uncollected as a result of blood drive cancellations in Helene affected communities, and your blood donation can help to ensure that critical blood products are available for those who need them. Visit redcrossblood.org.