- By Darla VanOstrand
- News
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Tompkins County American Red Cross Responds to the need for aid
due to the effects from Hurricane Katrina to the Gulf Coast States
due to the effects from Hurricane Katrina to the Gulf Coast States
The Tompkins County American Red Cross has mobilized and is sending 6 staff members and volunteers to the Gulf Coast areas effected by Hurricane Katrina. These volunteers will initially be working in one of Shelters/Evacuation Centers currently open from the panhandle of Florida and west across coastal Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and Texas. The Red Cross will assess later in the week whether additional volunteers need to be deployed.
The Tompkins County American Red Cross is also gearing up to answer questions and assist with welfare inquiries about specific hurricane victims who may be in dire need of help due to medical or mental health concerns. We are also supporting national fundraising efforts for the Disaster Relief Fund. Already 2.4 million has been spent on relief efforts from Hurricane Katrina. You can make an online contribution to the Disaster Relief Fund at www.redcross.org. You can also help by calling 1-800-HELP-NOW. The Disaster Relief Fund enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling, and other assistance to those in need for this disaster and thousands of other disasters across the country each year.
The Red Cross would like to remind the residents of Tompkins County that this hurricane could cause local flooding and damaging winds as it heads inland. Therefore we urge families to prepare now by creating a Disaster Plan and a Disaster Supply Kit. Call the Red Cross at 273-1900 for information about what to include in the plan and the kit, or for any other inquiries regarding Hurricane Katrina.
What would you do if basic services—water, gas, electricity, or telephones—were cut off? What would you do if your home were flooded? Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone right away.
Disaster can strike quickly and without warning. It can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home. Each family should have a disaster plan in case of emergency and today is a good time to review it with your family. What is a family disaster plan? A family disaster plan is your own plan for how to prepare for an emergency and what to do when one occurs. The great thing about the plan itself is that it doesn’t cost a thing.
As hundreds of thousands of people in storm ravaged areas try to cope in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the American Red Cross is making it possible for potential volunteers to assist in the emergency disaster response efforts that lie ahead. Over 250 people from the Northeast are already on the way to bring comfort to hurricane victims, with many more volunteers needed to assist in the weeks and months to come
“A hurricane of this magnitude is a true act of nature, something totally beyond our control. We can make a difference, though, by responding to those who so desperately need our help now,” said Mike Raffe, Emergency Services Director “We will be offering trainings in September to anyone who can commit to a two week deployment and who can meet the criteria of our volunteer recruitment system.”
Meantime, in areas throughout Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama the American Red Cross is fanning out, rushing relief to storm-impacted people. This is the largest mobilization of resources for a single natural disaster involving thousands of trained disaster relief workers and tons of supplies. In coordination with the Southern Baptist Convention, preparations have been made to serve 500,000 hot meals each day.
What would you do if basic services—water, gas, electricity, or telephones—were cut off? What would you do if your home were flooded? Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone right away.
Disaster can strike quickly and without warning. It can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home. Each family should have a disaster plan in case of emergency and today is a good time to review it with your family. What is a family disaster plan? A family disaster plan is your own plan for how to prepare for an emergency and what to do when one occurs. The great thing about the plan itself is that it doesn’t cost a thing.
As hundreds of thousands of people in storm ravaged areas try to cope in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the American Red Cross is making it possible for potential volunteers to assist in the emergency disaster response efforts that lie ahead. Over 250 people from the Northeast are already on the way to bring comfort to hurricane victims, with many more volunteers needed to assist in the weeks and months to come
“A hurricane of this magnitude is a true act of nature, something totally beyond our control. We can make a difference, though, by responding to those who so desperately need our help now,” said Mike Raffe, Emergency Services Director “We will be offering trainings in September to anyone who can commit to a two week deployment and who can meet the criteria of our volunteer recruitment system.”
Meantime, in areas throughout Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama the American Red Cross is fanning out, rushing relief to storm-impacted people. This is the largest mobilization of resources for a single natural disaster involving thousands of trained disaster relief workers and tons of supplies. In coordination with the Southern Baptist Convention, preparations have been made to serve 500,000 hot meals each day.
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