Thousands of people have been forced to leave their flooded homes, losing everything they own – and more rain and flooding is expected throughout the week. It is anticipated that many more families will be impacted.
Hundreds of Red Cross volunteers from all over the country are on the ground, working to provide safe shelter and comfort to people impacted by this devastating storm. A dozen of those volunteers are from the Eastern Pennsylvania Region. In addition, three emergency response vehicles with the capacity to feed hundreds of people were dispatched to the area devastated by Harvey.
RED CROSS RESPONSE
· Preliminary estimates indicate that at least 6,000 people sought refuge in dozens of shelters in Texas Sunday night. They believe this number to be much higher, and will share additional information as it becomes available. Shelters are also open in Louisiana as bands from the storm move to the east.
· More than 80 tractor-trailer loads of cots, blankets, ready-to-eat meals, comfort kits, kitchen supplies and cleaning supplies are now on the ground in Texas.
· The American Red Cross has shelter supplies for more than 34,000 people, with additional supplies for 18,000 people en route.
· More than half of our emergency response fleet – 200 vehicles – have been mobilized.
· At the end of last week, the Red Cross prepositioned additional blood products in Houston ahead of the storm to help ensure an adequate blood supply would be available for hospital patients. They also staged more blood product inventory in Dallas. They are closely working with local and federal authorities to continue the distribution of blood products to our hospital partners.
· The Red Cross is working closely with the entire response community – government agencies, other non-profit groups, faith-based organizations, area businesses and others – to coordinate emergency relief efforts and get help to people as quickly as possible.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Americans are generous and want to do everything they can to help after a disaster. Unfortunately, collecting and sending food, clothing and other household items often does more harm than good. It takes time and money to store, sort, clean and distribute donated items, which diverts limited time and resources away from helping those most affected. Instead, the best way to support disaster victims is with a financial donation.
The Red Cross depends on financial donations to be able to provide disaster relief immediately. Help people affected by Hurricane Harvey by visiting redcross.org, calling 1- 800-RED CROSS or texting the word HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from this disaster.
Hundreds of Red Cross volunteers from all over the country are on the ground, working to provide safe shelter and comfort to people impacted by this devastating storm. A dozen of those volunteers are from the Eastern Pennsylvania Region. In addition, three emergency response vehicles with the capacity to feed hundreds of people were dispatched to the area devastated by Harvey.
RED CROSS RESPONSE
· Preliminary estimates indicate that at least 6,000 people sought refuge in dozens of shelters in Texas Sunday night. They believe this number to be much higher, and will share additional information as it becomes available. Shelters are also open in Louisiana as bands from the storm move to the east.
· More than 80 tractor-trailer loads of cots, blankets, ready-to-eat meals, comfort kits, kitchen supplies and cleaning supplies are now on the ground in Texas.
· The American Red Cross has shelter supplies for more than 34,000 people, with additional supplies for 18,000 people en route.
· More than half of our emergency response fleet – 200 vehicles – have been mobilized.
· At the end of last week, the Red Cross prepositioned additional blood products in Houston ahead of the storm to help ensure an adequate blood supply would be available for hospital patients. They also staged more blood product inventory in Dallas. They are closely working with local and federal authorities to continue the distribution of blood products to our hospital partners.
· The Red Cross is working closely with the entire response community – government agencies, other non-profit groups, faith-based organizations, area businesses and others – to coordinate emergency relief efforts and get help to people as quickly as possible.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Americans are generous and want to do everything they can to help after a disaster. Unfortunately, collecting and sending food, clothing and other household items often does more harm than good. It takes time and money to store, sort, clean and distribute donated items, which diverts limited time and resources away from helping those most affected. Instead, the best way to support disaster victims is with a financial donation.
The Red Cross depends on financial donations to be able to provide disaster relief immediately. Help people affected by Hurricane Harvey by visiting redcross.org, calling 1- 800-RED CROSS or texting the word HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from this disaster.