More than 500 people across ten states are still spending their nights in American Red Cross shelters, torn from their neighborhoods by this spring’s dangerous tornadoes, wildfires and flooding.
Wildfires continue to threaten neighborhoods in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado and the Red Cross is providing shelter, meals and water for those who have evacuated as well as firefighters and first responders battling the flames. The fire has burned more than 450,000 acres and destroyed homes and commercial buildings. Several communities remain under evacuation orders with others on pre-evacuation alert.
In Massachusetts, Minnesota and Missouri, clean-up continues after the deadly tornadoes of the last several weeks. More than 240 people spent Monday night in shelters in Massachusetts where hundreds of Red Cross workers continue to distribute meals, distribute comfort and clean-up items, and provide health and mental health services consultations throughout Hampden and Worcester counties. Red Cross client caseworkers are also meeting with shelter residents to assess individual needs and provide additional recovery assistance.
Swollen rivers are still threatening neighborhoods in Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Vermont. In Montana, a shelter is open for residents who were forced from their homes last week by the rising waters. On Saturday, Red Cross volunteers began distributing cleanup kits and family recovery kits in Rocky Boy and on the Crow Indian Reservation.
Damage assessment volunteers from the Red Cross are also working in several Montana communities to determine people’s needs after additional flooding occurred in those areas. Shelters are also open in North and South Dakota, Vermont, Nebraska and Iowa due to more spring flooding.
Meanwhile, Red Cross relief efforts continue in Mississippi, where floodwaters are slowly receding. Red Cross workers are out in communities along the river to distribute cleanup supplies, snacks and water to residents who were affected.
More than half the country has been affected by this spring’s devastating disasters, including deadly tornadoes, historic floods and wildfires. Since March 31, the Red Cross has initiated 42 disaster relief operations in 29 states. In the course of these operations, the Red Cross has —
Served more than 3 million meals and snacks;
Opened more than 270 shelters and provided 31,000 overnight stays;
Provided more than 65,000 mental health and health consultations;
Handed out more than 1.4 million relief items like toothbrushes and shampoo, tarps, coolers, rakes and other cleanup supplies; and
Deployed more than 12,000 trained disaster relief workers from all 50 states.
Disclaimer
- American Red Cross
- All American Red Cross disaster assistance is provided at no cost, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. The Red Cross also supplies nearly half of the nation's lifesaving blood. This, too, is made possible by generous voluntary donations. To help the victims of disaster, you may 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 may send your donation to your local Red Cross or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. To donate blood, please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543), or contact your local Red Cross to find out about upcoming blood drives. © Copyright, The American National Red Cross. All Rights Reserved.