DeKalb Times

American Red Cross issued the following announcement on Sept. 15.

The American Red Cross is helping people in multiple states impacted by Hurricane Florence, providing food and shelter to the thousands of people who have had to flee their homes as the danger from this massive storm continues.

Florence has dropped down to a tropical storm but will bring more heavy rain as it moves slowly through the region, leading to catastrophic flash floods and river flooding. The storm is moving very slowly with 50 mph winds and heavy rain. Water accounts for more than 75% of all hurricane-related deaths and we urge everyone to follow the orders of local officials and stay safe.

As Tropical Storm Florence batters the Carolinas, the Red Cross is providing safe shelter and comfort for evacuees across multiple states. More than 17,000 people sought refuge in over 240 Red Cross and community shelters Friday night to escape the storm’s wrath.

As of midnight, more than 17,100 people were in more than 240 Red Cross and community shelters. This includes at least 10,400 people in 153 shelters in North Carolina, and 6,200 people in 73 shelters in South Carolina. An additional 480 people stayed in 22 shelters in Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Maryland and Kentucky. View some of their stories here.

Working with partners, the Red Cross has served 95,600 meals and snacks across eight states.

About 2,200 Red Cross disaster workers from all over the country have been mobilized to help shelter, feed and support people affected by Florence.

The Red Cross is mobilizing 140 emergency response vehicles and more than 120 trailers of equipment and supplies, including more than150,000 ready-to-eat meals and enough cots and blankets for more than 42,000 people. We’re also working with the Southern Baptists to deploy 9 field kitchens that can together produce 170,000 meals per day.

Since September 11, more than 3.6 million weather alerts have been sent through Red Cross apps to help people make lifesaving decisions.

Some evacuation centers may not have cots, food, running water or electricity; they are meant to safely house people for about 72 hours until the storm passes and weather conditions improve. If needed, local government officials may transition evacuation centers into emergency shelters if residents can’t return home after the storm passes. The Red Cross supports pre-landfall evacuation centers and post-landfall emergency shelters with trained workers, shelter supplies and other aid.

STAY IN TOUCH In an emergency, letting your loved ones know you are safe can bring them great peace of mind. The Red Cross has two easy ways to help people reconnect:

1. The Red Cross Emergency App features an “I’m Safe” button that allows users to post a message to their social accounts, letting friends and family know they are out of harm’s way. The Emergency App is free and can be found in the app store for your mobile device by searching for “American Red Cross” or by going to redcross.org/apps.

2. The Red Cross also offers the Safe and Well website a secure option that allows people to list their own status and allows friends and family to search for messages from their loved ones. To register yourself or search for a loved one on the Safe and Well website, visit redcross.org/safeandwell. You can also call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to be connected with your local chapter.

HOW YOU CAN HELP The Red Cross depends on financial donations to be able to provide disaster relief immediately. Help people affected by Hurricane Florence by visiting redcross.org, calling 1- 800-RED CROSS or texting the word FLORENCE to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from this disaster.

The Red Cross honors donor intent. Donors can designate their donation to Hurricane Florence relief efforts by choosing that option when donating on redcross.org or on 1-800-RED CROSS.

The best way to ensure your donation will go to a specific disaster is to write the specific disaster name in the memo line of a check. We also recommend completing and mailing the donation form on redcross.org with your check.

PLEASE GIVE BLOOD More than 150 blood drives have been canceled through early next week due to Hurricane Florence, resulting in over 4,400 uncollected blood and platelet donations. Eligible donors in unaffected areas are urged to make an appointment now to give blood or platelets to help maintain the nation’s blood supply. There is a critical need to platelet and type O blood donations. Appointments can be made by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Get tips on how to prepare and stay safe at redcross.org/hurricane.

CORPORATIONS HELP The 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 big and small, respond whenever and wherever disasters occur and help families during the recovery process.

ADGP $1 Million members are: Adelson Family Foundation; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Anthem Foundation; Bank of America; Brown & Brown Insurance; Caterpillar Foundation; The Clorox Company; ConocoPhillips; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation; FedEx; Grainger; The Home Depot Foundation; LDS Charities; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; Mazda North American Operations; Microsoft Corp.; Nationwide Foundation; New Balance Foundation and New Balance Athletics; PepsiCo Foundation; State Farm; VSP Global; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; and The Walt Disney Company.

ADGP $500,000 members are: 21st Century Fox; Altria Group; AmazonSmile; American Express; Aon; Capital One; CBS Corporation; Cisco Foundation; Citi Foundation; Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation; Discover; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Motor Company; General Motors; Humble Bundle; IBM Corporation; International Paper; John Deere Foundation; Johnson Controls; LabCorp; Medtronic Foundation; Meijer; Merck Foundation; Mondelēz International Foundation; Nissan; Procter & Gamble Company; PwC; Southwest Airlines; Target; Tata Consultancy Services; TD Ameritrade; The TJX Companies, Inc.; United Airlines; UPS; The USAA Foundation; The Wawa Foundation; and Wells Fargo.

Disaster Responder Program members are: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; AdvoCare International L.P.; Alliance Data; Assurant; AT&T; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; AXA Equitable Life; The Ball Foundation; Barclays; BMW of North America; Boise Paper; CarMax; Choice Hotels International; Cox Automotive; DICK’S Sporting Goods; Duke Energy; Entergy Corporation; Farmers Insurance; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; HSBC Bank; Ingersoll Rand Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Land O’Lakes, Inc.; Mastercard; Morgan Stanley; Neiman Marcus Group; Northrop Grumman Corporation; Northwestern Mutual and the Northwestern Mutual Foundation; Prudential Foundation; Raytheon Company; Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Foundation; Ryder; SC Johnson; Southeastern Grocers Home of BI-LO Harveys Winn Dixie; Standard Textile; Stearns Bank; Toyota; U-Haul International; United Technologies Corporation; U.S. Bank; and Visa.

Original source can be found here.