The American Red Cross is preparing for a large relief effort across multiple states as Hurricane Florence continues its march toward the East Coast. The Red Cross is preparing to help as many as 100,000 people in the affected areas and is working with state and local officials to identify and prepare evacuation shelters. More than 700 disaster workers are in route to the region to help, including a number of volunteers from Nebraska.
Three metro volunteers, along with eight other Nebraskans, headed to North Carolina Tuesday afternoon to prepare. While many of Nebraska's current volunteers will be preparing for when the storm hits, their main priority is also setting up shelters in the Carolinas and Virginia.
Along with the Red Cross, Nebraska Task Force One is deploying people to help with recovery. As the storm passes, the Red Cross is preparing to provide shelter for tens of thousands of people until they can return home or find other places to stay.
To help people affected by Hurricane Florence, you can visit redcross.org, call 1- 800-RED CROSS or text 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.
Eligible donors are also asked to donate blood ahead of the storm. The Red Cross has pre-positioned additional blood products and stocked a number of hospitals to capacity in areas of the Southeast likely to be impacted by the storm over the upcoming days. The organization is prepared to send more blood products to ensure patient needs continue to be met. Platelet and type O blood donations are especially needed right now. 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).