Red Cross also helping Hurricane Helene victims across several states
The American Red Cross is working nonstop alongside our partners to support the 83,000 people who took refuge in Florida evacuation shelters Wednesday night as Hurricane Milton slammed into the beleaguered state. It will be days before there is a full picture of the devastation left behind.
Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, a barrier island off the state’s west coast, and crossed the entire Florida Peninsula, leaving more than 3 million customers without power, dropping more than a foot of rain and spawning numerous tornadoes. The third hurricane to hit Florida this year, Milton follows on the heels of Hurricane Helene, bringing devastation to the region for the second time in two weeks.
As Floridians struggle with the new damage from Milton, the Red Cross is working tirelessly in the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee to provide shelter, food, water, relief supplies and comfort to those still coping with the unimaginable destruction left behind by Hurricane Helene. The Red Cross has been helping people since this onslaught of devastating weather began and will be supporting people in the weeks and months to come.
WE NEED YOUR HELP People need urgent support now, and the Red Cross can’t do this alone. Please help by making a financial donation, an appointment to give blood or platelets, or signing up to become a volunteer by visitingredcross.orgor calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767). Financial donations to help people affected by Hurricanes Milton and Helene enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from these disasters. You can also text the word HURRICANES to 90999 to make a donation.
The cancellation of blood drives across the Southeast has caused thousands of blood donationsto go uncollected. Those outside the affected areas are encouraged to schedule a blood donation appointment here.
If you want to make a difference in the lives of others, consider becoming a Red Cross volunteer.
HURRICANE MILTON Red Crossers from across the country are in Florida, ready to help. Their priority is making sure people have a safe place to stay with food and water. As conditions improve, dozens of emergency response vehicles will begin to travel through affected neighborhoods, delivering meals and relief supplies.
Evacuation shelters will transition to emergency shelters, and the locations may change as we find places better equipped to support people who can’t return home. If you need a safe place to stay visit redcross.org, download the free Red Cross Emergency app or call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767). You can also find shelters by following your local Red Cross and local emergency officials on social media, or by monitoring local news. People don’t have to stay overnight in shelters to have access to Red Cross services. If you need help getting to a shelter in Florida, call 800-729-3413 for help or visit floridadisaster.org.
Red Cross shelters are open to everyone in need, regardless of race, ethnicity, age, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability or citizenship status. All disaster assistance is free. We don’t require people to show any kind of identification to enter a shelter — just their name and where they were living before the disaster.
HURRICANE HELENE Recovery continues in the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee, and the hundreds of Red Crossers are working with partners to provide shelter, food, water, relief supplies and comfort.
Already, some 560,000 meals and snacks, and 32,000 relief items — like cleaning and hygiene supplies — have been provided for thousands of families affected by Helene. Dozens of emergency response vehicles are on the roads providing meals, water and supplies to those living without electricity and struggling to clean up their homes.
Helene’s destruction stretches over several states and we’re coordinating closely with local officials, government agencies and other nonprofits to reach communities every day. In western North Carolina, the heartbreaking damage and lack of connectivity have made it difficult to reach some communities, but with the help of partners we are gaining access to more neighborhoods to help people who previously have been cut off from everything.
People are still trying to find loved ones missing after Hurricane Helene and Red Cross reunification staff are working nonstop to help. If you need assistance, visit redcross.org/helene.
CLIMATE CRISIS These back-to-back storms are examples of how the climate crisis is worsening and why communities are relying on the Red Cross for much needed support on a continual basis. We can’t do this alone. Disasters this large require a team effort and we rely on community partners and generous donors to ensure we can mobilize quickly when it matters most. To respond effectively, we depend on a large network of trained volunteers and disaster employees, as well as a fleet of response vehicles and warehouses stocked with relief supplies across the country.
Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) Through the generosity of our American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder members, the American Red Cross is prepared before disaster strikes. ADGP and Disaster Responder members help secure a reliable funding base for disaster relief services that enables the Red Cross to respond immediately, meeting the needs of individuals and families affected by
ADGP $1M Members: Amazon; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Caterpillar Foundation; Chobani; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; CMA CGM Foundation; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Mobility Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Merck; Microsoft; Nationwide Foundation; The Pfizer Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; State Farm; Takeda; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo
ADGP $500k Members: Altria Group; American Express; Aon; Bread Financial; Capital One; Chick-fil-A; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; DHL Supply Chain; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Philanthropy; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Google.org; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Mastercard; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stryker; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco; Zoetis Foundation
Disaster Responder Members: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; ALDI; American Tire Distributors; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Bath & Body Works; Big 5 Sporting Goods; Build-A-Bear Foundation; Canadian National Railway; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Dollar Tree and Family Dollar; Duke Energy; Erie Insurance; Equitable; Fifth Third Foundation; FirstEnergy Corporation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; L’Oréal; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LKQ; Macy’s, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Martin Marietta; Masco; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Norfolk Southern; Northrop Grumman Foundation; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation; Phillips 66; Prudential; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reliance, Inc.; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Santander; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Suburban Propane; Tata Consultancy Services; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation; U.S. Foods; Yum! Brands; Zurich
