People in Alaska and Puerto Rico are still struggling with the depressing damage left by Hurricane Fiona and Typhoon Merbok and the American Red Cross is on the ground in both regions, helping people affected by these devastating storms.
PUERTO RICO Hundreds of Red Cross disaster workers, many of them without power or water themselves, are working with our partners to help the people of Puerto Rico days after Hurricane Fiona ravaged the island.
Many areas of the island are inaccessible due to damaged roads and bridges and first responders are entering on foot to provide necessities such as food, water and medicine. Nearly a million customers are still without power and hundreds of thousands are without water service as a heat warning is in effect.
In Puerto Rico, the government is opening and managing emergency shelters and more than 388 people spent Thursday night in dozens of shelters, some powered by solar sources made possible by a contribution from the Red Cross of nearly $1.5 million after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017. Red Ang Cross and partners delivered solar power to 160 schools during that time, many of which now serve as emergency shelters.
More than 240 trained Red Cross volunteers are assisting with damage assessment and have provided more than 900 households with emergency supplies. More supplies are coming. Some of these items include water, cleaning supplies, towels, sheets, disposable plates and even teddy bears. If possible, as many as 300 meals and snacks are served.
Red Crossers are ready to provide health and mental health services virtually with additional support when conditions permit. Once the damage is assessed, the Red Cross may be able to provide additional resources through recovery casework. Many of these Red Cross workers are helping despite themselves having no electricity or water.
Before Hurricane Fiona made landfall, the Red Cross prepositioned blood products to support hospitals in Puerto Rico. The Red Cross is sending additional units of platelets to support patients there. Platelets have a short shelf life of only 5 days. The Red Cross is urging those in unaffected areas to donate blood and platelets by visiting redcrossblood.org.
Five years ago this week, Hurricane Maria destroyed much of Puerto Rico and left widespread devastation across the island. The Red Cross offered immediate aid and stayed for several years, helping to build stability on the island so that people could be better prepared for emergencies. Most notable is the project the Red Cross and partners worked on to bring solar power sources to 160 schools, many of them serving as emergency shelters after Hurricane Fiona. A Red Cross contribution of nearly $1.5 million helped make the work possible.
ALASKA The Red Cross is deploying disaster teams by plane to rural areas of Alaska where Hurricane Merbok ravaged a thousand-mile stretch of the west coast over the weekend, destroying homes, seawalls, roads and airport runways as well as water systems in nearly 40 towns and villages.
The state is trying to quickly deliver supplies needed to repair damaged homes before the cold weather sets in. Recovery efforts will be especially difficult in a region where some villages are only accessible by air or barge and the use of barges is nearing its end due to sea ice. Air deliveries will significantly increase recovery costs in the area.
More than 60 Red Cross disaster workers from around the country are helping in Alaska. They fly out of Nome and Bethel to help with damage assessment, case management and other assistance and work to get emergency supplies such as tarps, coolers, vacuum sealers, window film, insulation, sealing foam, and heater meals to deliver to remote communities affected by typhoons.
In Alaska, shelters are run by the government and community groups and the Red Cross stands ready to support them if needed. Thursday night 14 shelters are open where more than 30 people are staying overnight.
It’s important to remember that responding to disasters is a team effort and no one organization can do it alone — the Red Cross will coordinate with officials and emergency management to help those affected.
YOU CAN HELP people affected by disasters such as hurricanes, floods and countless other crises by making a gift to Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare, respond and help people recover from disasters, large and small. Visit redcross.org, call 800-RED-CROSS, or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
For those interested in helping people specifically affected by the Alaskan storms, they can write “Alaska Storms” on the memo line of a check and send it along with a completed donation form to the address on the form or to their local that Red Cross chapter.
For those interested in helping people specifically affected by Hurricane Fiona, they can write “Hurricane Fiona” on the memo line of a check and send it along with a completed donation form to the address on the form or to their local Red Cross chapter.
Find the donation form at redcross.org/donate.
Download the free Red Cross Emergency app to have severe weather safety information at your fingertips, including shelter locations. The Emergency app provides real-time weather alerts and tips on how to stay safe during severe weather and countless other emergencies. Search for “American Red Cross” in the app stores or go to redcross.org/apps.
HELP CORPORATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS Generous donations from members of the Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and the Disaster Responder Program enable the American Red Cross to prepare communities for disasters large and small, respond whenever and wherever even when disasters occur and help families during the recovery process.
ADGP $1M Members:
Amazon; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Best Buy; Caterpillar Foundation; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe’s Companies, Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Microsoft Corp.; Nationwide Foundation; PayPal; PetSmart Charities; The Starbucks Foundation; State Farm; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; and Wells Fargo.
ADGP $500K Members:
Altria Group; American Express; Aon; Financial Bread; Calmoseptine, Inc.; Capital One; CarMax; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; Dollar General; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Motor Company Fund; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Google.org The Home Depot Foundation; Global Role; The JM Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; The Kroger Co. foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; MasterCard; Merck; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Organon; PepsiCo Foundation; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, home of Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stanley Black & Decker; target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; and The Wawa Foundation.
ADGP $250K Members:
7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AT&T; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Big 5 Sporting Goods; CDW; Choice Hotels International; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Company; CSX; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Duke Energy; Dutch Bros Foundation; Equal; FirstEnergy Corporation; Gopuff; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; HCA Health Care; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LHC Group; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Foundation, Inc.; Martin Marietta; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Northrop Grumman; Northwestern Mutual; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation; Procter & Gamble; Prudential; Raytheon Technologies; Reckitt; Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Project, a project of the New Venture Fund; Ross Stores Foundation; Ryder Systems, Inc.; San Manuel Band of Mission Indians; Lending Hand Foundation of Security Finance; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Tata Consulting Services; U-Haul International; US Bank Foundation; and Zurich.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides relief to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the country’s blood; teaches life-saving skills; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that relies on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to carry out its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.
Disclaimer
- American Red Cross
- All American Red Cross disaster relief is provided free of charge, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from American citizens. The Red Cross also supplies nearly half of the nation’s life-saving blood. This is also made possible by generous voluntary donations. To help disaster victims, you can make a secure online credit card donation or call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669) or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) . Or you can mail your donation to your local Red Cross or to the American Red Cross, PO Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. To donate blood, please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800- 448-3543), or contact your local Red Cross to learn about upcoming blood drives. © Copyright, The American National Red Cross. All Rights Reserved.