American Red Cross Disaster Newsroom

Thirty-One Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles

Rolling Into Raleigh Over the Next 24 Hours, in Response to Hurricane Earl

Raleigh, NC Thursday, September 2, 2010 –

Hurricane Earl Response Preparations – Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) Staging

Time: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

The Red Cross will be receiving 31 ERVs, used for mass feeding operations during a disaster, from states around the southeast, including Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. Red Cross volunteers will be on scene preparing the vehicles for deployment to coastal counties in response to Hurricane Earl.

Location:

Beacon Plaza
Beacon Plaza Parking Lot
3915 New Bern Ave.
Raleigh, NC 27610

Red Cross Preparations to date:

Before the Hurricane Watch was issued yesterday, your Red Cross called upon our Disaster Coordination Team for the state of North Carolina. Our leadership team includes experienced managers, ready to coordinate our response with local and state government officials; and also includes our Emergency Operations Center Liaison, placed in your State Emergency Operations Center. As of this morning the American Red Cross and county officials opened a shelter in Bethel, NC in response to the Ocracoke Island evacuation.

The American Red Cross is prepared to open and support shelters as necessary, or as requested by our NC Emergency Management agencies. Our local government partners are working with us, and supporting our efforts, as well. We, along with our government partners, have identified 82 potential shelter locations across the state and have placed 14 of those shelters on stand-by. Our national headquarters is moving equipment and supplies into our area, including 2 drop trailers of relief supplies, to support any Red Cross response that may be necessary.

While we hope for the best, we are also preparing for the worst. In addition, we will continue to remind the public that now is the time to prepare for a disaster, to update emergency supply kits and to remain informed and know what to do in the event of severe weather from Hurricane Earl.