Alabama - A tornado knocked down power lines and damaged homes on Sunday night when it touched down in Russell County. The Central Alabama Chapter and the Russell County Chapter deployed provided food and drinks to emergency responders as well as residents in the affected area.

Red Cross Continues Client Outreach in South Carolina

The American Red Cross continues outreach to provide disaster assistance for those affected by the tornadoes in South Carolina.

Client casework teams from the Aiken County Red Cross and the Upstate South Carolina Red Cross are meeting with families whose homes were destroyed or sustained major damage. Red Cross disaster assistance is provided based on a family’s verified, disaster-caused needs. Referrals to partner agencies are given as needed. Disaster Health and Mental Health Services are available to assist those with verified, disaster-caused injuries or mental health needs.

For more information, please call the Aiken County Red Cross at 803-641-4152 or the Upstate South Carolina Red Cross at 864-271-8222.

Oklahoma - Straight line winds and a possible tornado damaged homes and closed Highway 33 in Logan County on Sunday. The Central Oklahoma Chapter and Logan County Chapter provided food and drinks for emergency responders and support for the victims’ immediate disaster-related needs.

Red Cross Clean-Up Kits Aid Flood Victims

As rivers crest and temperatures warm, the American Red Cross and its partners in disaster relief continue to assist residents along flooded rivers in Florida and Georgia.

“Our focus is providing shelter, meals, and relief supplies to help people when disasters strike,” said Carrie McCabe, director of the two-state relief operation. “The Red Cross helps people with their emergency needs caused by a disaster – needs that must first be met in order for an individual to begin to recover.”

Most of the eleven Red Cross shelters previously open have returned to standby status, ready to reopen if needed. Nearly 250 disaster relief workers have provided more than 2,300 meals, 8,600 snacks, and distributed hundreds of relief items to residents. As areas become accessible, the Red Cross will be there to help residents recover.

The Red Cross is establishing distribution sites through the weekend where items such as clean-up kits and bleach are available for pick up. Between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19, residents with flood damage to their homes may visit the following locations:

• Lee Fire Station, 314 County Rd., Lee, Fla.
• Pinetta Fire Station, 509 NE Persimmon, Pinetta, Fla.
• First Baptist Church, Dowling Park, Fla. (Corner of Church Rd. and County Rd. 250)
• Branford Fire Station, Station 63, 678 Suwannee Ave. NW, Branford, Fla.
• Luraville Fire Dept, 180 St., Luraville, Fla.
• Falmouth Fire Station, Station 32, Hwy 90 West, Falmouth, Fla.

In addition to cleaning supplies, the Red Cross has a helpful step-by-step guide, Repairing Your Flooded Home (PDF), to help residents through the recovery and rebuilding process. This guide is also available from local Red Cross chapters.

The Red Cross offers the following safety tips for residents as they return home:

• Return home only after authorities say it is safe to do so.
• Avoid flooded roads and washed-out bridges.
• Wear protective shoes, gloves, long pants, and long sleeve shirts to protect you from sharp edges and other hazards.
• Beware of snakes, insects or animals driven to higher ground by floodwater.
• Take pictures of the damage to the house and its contents for insurance claims.
• Open windows and doors to ventilate and dry your home.

Throw out all food, beverages and medicine exposed to floodwaters and mud, including canned goods, capped bottles and sealed containers. When in doubt, throw it out.

Red Cross Delivers 12,000 Meals and Snacks Food, Water, Clean up Kits, Grief Counseling Continues

[Murfreesboro, Tenn., April 13, 2009] – Red Cross continues providing relief to local tornado victims following Friday’s devastating tornado that carved a path through Murfreesboro. Volunteers are continually traveling through all affected communities to distribute water, meals, snacks, comfort kits and clean-up kits to tornado victims who working to pick up the pieces left of their homes.

Since the tornado relief operation began, your American Red Cross has:

• Activated 255 Local Volunteers
• Distributed more than 12,000 meals and snacks
• Provided grief counseling and first aid to more than 500 victims

The Red Cross shelter remains open so that those who were affected can get a hot meal, a place to stay and pick up clean-up kits to help with the recovery efforts.

The shelter is located at:

New Vision Baptist Church
1750 North Thompson Lane
Murfreesboro, TN 37129
>>View map of this location<<

With continuing inquiries from friends and family members from outside of the Murfreesboro area worried about those affected, the Red Cross is urging everyone who was affected by these storms to visit www.redcross.org and register themselves as being Safe and Well. Then, family members and friends can visit the same site and see that their family members are okay. If victims cannot access the Internet, they can call 1 (800) RED CROSS and have a Red Cross volunteer register their name on the safe and well website.

HOW TO HELP
You can help people affected by this disaster, by donating to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. On those rare occasions when donations exceed Red Cross expenses for a specific , contributions are used to prepare for and serve victims of other disasters. Your gift enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of all disasters. You can visit www.redcross.org or call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or mail your donation, to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.

You can also donate to help the victims of the Murfreesboro tornadoes at any Middle Tennessee Kroger store at the register as you check out. Just tell the cashier you would like to make a donation to the Red Cross for the Central Tennessee tornadoes.

The Red Cross is NOT accepting any donations of clothing, furniture or any other material items. If you would like to volunteer, the CITY OF MURFREESBORO is asking you to call (615) 890-1934.

Red Cross Urges Victims to Register as Safe and Well

Volunteers Distribute Thousands of Meals, Snacks, Comfort and Clean Up Kits

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (April 11, 2009) — The American Red Cross continues to provide assistance to more than 1,000 victims of Friday’s massive tornado disaster that has become a national disaster for the American Red Cross. With continuing inquiries from friends and family members from outside of the Murfreesboro area worried about those affected, the Red Cross is urging everyone who was affected by these storms to visit www.redcross.org and register themselves as being safe and well. Then, family members and friends can visit the same site and see that their family members are okay. If victims cannot access the Internet, they can call 1-800-RED CROSS (1800-733-2767) and have a Red Cross volunteer register their name on the safe and well website.

Since the tornado relief operation began, your American Red Cross has provided more than 1,000 meals, bottles of water and snacks and provided emotional support for victims by visiting communities affected by these storms and passing out these materials.

The Red Cross has also opened a shelter where those affected can get a hot meal, a place to stay and pick up clean-up kits to help with the recovery efforts. The shelter is located at:

New Vision Baptist Church
1750 North Thompson Lane
Murfreesboro, TN 37129

(Please note that shelter location information is subject to change at any time. Please call 1-800-RED CROSS (1800-733-2767) to verify this information)

Only four tornado victims stayed in the shelter overnight, which means most victims are residing with friends or family during this time. However, the shelter WILL continue to be open as long as it is needed. The Red Cross is also providing mental health counseling to those affected by the storms and their families. During this emotional time, the mental health is just as important as providing for the physical needs of those families affected. The Red Cross has trained mental health providers on site to give emotional support.

HOW TO HELP

You can help people affected by this disaster, by donating to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. On those rare occasions when donations exceed Red Cross expenses for a specific disaster, contributions are used to prepare for and serve victims of other disasters. Your gift enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of all disasters. You can visit www.redcross.org or call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or mail your donation, to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.

You can also donate to help the victims of the Murfreesboro tornadoes at any Middle Tennessee Kroger store at the register as you check out. Just tell the cashier you would like to make a donation to the Red Cross for the Central Tennessee tornadoes.

The Red Cross is NOT accepting any donations of clothing, furniture or any other material items.

If you would like to volunteer, the CITY OF MURFREESBORO is asking you to call (615) 890-1934.

For ALL Red Cross media inquiries, please contact Beth Ferguson at (615) 653-2309 or Jill Gorin at (615) 456-2250.

Posted in Spring Floods 2009 Tagged: news release, Press Release, tennessee, tornado ]]> http://newsroom.redcross.org/2009/04/12/press-release-murgreesboro-tennessee-tornado/feed/ 0 amrecro newsrelease Murfreesboro Tornadoes 4.10.09 http://newsroom.redcross.org/2009/04/03/spring-floods-update-from-se-alabama/ http://newsroom.redcross.org/2009/04/03/spring-floods-update-from-se-alabama/#comments Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:32:26 +0000 amrecro http://newsroom.redcross.org/?p=1074 ]]>

Red Cross continues relief operation for Wiregrass floods

Rain has ended, but need still persists

DOTHAN, Ala. (April 3, 2009) – The rains may have ended in southeast Alabama, but the need for help is still great. To help meet that need volunteers with the American Red Cross continue to fan out across the region to provide personal hygiene items, clean-up kits, emotional support, and snacks to individuals and families coping with the mess left behind.

Overnight, Thursday, April 2, the Red Cross operated a shelter at Westgate Park in Dothan for residents whose homes were affected by the flood waters and needed a safe, warm, dry place to stay, in addition to providing feeding services for those working in the clean-up efforts.

“We provided 98 meals for dinner last night and we operated the shelter at Westgate Park for people who needed a place to stay,” said Dan Chandler, mass care manager for the Red Cross disaster relief operation in Dothan. “Throughout the day we served 220 snacks throughout Houston and Geneva County to those who were working hard to clean up their homes and businesses after the flood.”

In addition to Thursday’s activity, the Red Cross continues to provide service throughout the affected areas of Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva and Houston Counties.

“Disaster Assessment crews remain active today (Friday) in Houston and Geneva Counties,” Chandler said. “Our emergency response vehicle (ERV) is in Geneva and Samson today dropping off clean-up supplies and bulk materials.”

As the operation continues, the Red Cross is ready to re-open shelters if the need arises. Two shelters in Houston County remain on stand-by – one at Westgate Park and the other at Wiregrass Park.

Since the disaster began on Thursday, March 26, more than 200 people throughout Covington, Geneva and Houston Counties have been provided emergency assistance, including sheltering, feeding, hygiene and personal items, cleaning supplies, and emotional support.

Louisiana - Severe storms caused flooding that damaged dozens of homes and threatened thousands others in the St. Tammany and Washington Parishes on Thursday. The Southeast Louisiana Chapter provided food and snacks  to emergency responders and distributed clean-up kits to flood victims.

• More information from the chapter

jefferybiggs‘s Mobile post sent by AmRedCross using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3
Posted in Spring Floods 2009 Tagged: al, alabama, audio, floods, prepare ]]> http://newsroom.redcross.org/2009/04/02/se-alabama-floods-the-red-cross-prepares/feed/ 0 amrecro reply-count http://newsroom.redcross.org/2009/04/01/se-alabama-floods-video-postcard-from-jeffery-biggs/ http://newsroom.redcross.org/2009/04/01/se-alabama-floods-video-postcard-from-jeffery-biggs/#comments Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:39:43 +0000 amrecro http://newsroom.redcross.org/?p=997 ]]>
Posted in Spring Floods 2009 Tagged: alabama, Conecuh River, flooding, floods, se alabama, video ]]> http://newsroom.redcross.org/2009/04/01/se-alabama-floods-video-postcard-from-jeffery-biggs/feed/ 0 amrecro http://newsroom.redcross.org/2009/04/01/disaster-alert-flooding-in-mississippi/ http://newsroom.redcross.org/2009/04/01/disaster-alert-flooding-in-mississippi/#comments Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:16:26 +0000 amrecro http://newsroom.redcross.org/?p=987 ]]> Disaster Alert

Mississippi - Flooding caused varying degrees of damage to homes and two publicly owned buildings in Jackson County on Saturday. Several roads are still flooded and impassable. The Southeast Mississippi Chapter is in contact with the Emergency Operations Center and local government. Red Cross disaster teams were deployed and damage assessment is ongoing. We stand prepared to open shelters and provide assistance as needed.

Louisiana – Heavy rainfall, straight-line winds and a tornado caused flooded roads, power outages and damaged the homes of hundreds of residents throughout the state last Friday night.  The Red Cross deployed a Disaster Action Team, provided bulk distribution of clean up kits and emergency assistance to disaster victims. A shelter was opened and we provided canteening for emergency responders.

Responding chapters:

• Louisiana Capital Area
• Southeast Louisiana