Five Hawai‘i Island Red Cross Volunteers Head to Texas, Louisiana

Tropical Storm Harvey, Aug. 29, 8:45 a.m. NOAA gif

As of Monday evening, Aug. 28, 2017, a total of 16 Hawai‘i Red Cross volunteers have either deployed or will be deployed to assist with the Red Cross response to Harvey.Five volunteers from the Big Island, four volunteers from Maui, one volunteer from Moloka‘i, and six volunteers from O‘ahu will be heading to Texas or Louisiana to assist in relief efforts ranging from damage assessment, bulk distribution, sheltering, community partnerships, feeding and disaster mental health.

More Hawai‘i volunteers are on standby to possibly deploy.

The American Red Cross is working around the clock along the Gulf Coast to help the thousands of people whose lives have been devastated by Tropical Storm Harvey.

Thousands of people have been forced to leave their flooded homes, losing everything they own—and more rain and flooding is expected throughout the week. It is anticipated that many more families will be impacted.

Hundreds of Red Cross volunteers from all over the country are on the ground, working to provide safe shelter and comfort to people impacted by this devastating storm.

RED CROSS RESPONSE

• Preliminary estimates indicate that at least 6,000 people sought refuge in dozens of shelters in Texas Sunday night. The Red Cross believes this number to be much higher, and will share additional information as it becomes available. Shelters are also open in Louisiana as bands from the storm move to the east.
• More than 80 tractor-trailer loads of cots, blankets, ready-to-eat meals, comfort kits, kitchen supplies and cleaning supplies are now on the ground in Texas.
• The Red Cross has shelter supplies for more than 34,000 people, with additional supplies for 18,000 people en route.
• More than half of our emergency response fleet—200 vehicles—have been mobilized.
• At the end of last week, the Red Cross prepositioned additional blood products in Houston ahead of the storm to help ensure an adequate blood supply would be available for hospital patients. We also staged more blood product inventory in Dallas. We are closely working with local and federal authorities to continue the distribution of blood products to our hospital partners.
• Nearly 11 million hurricane and flood alerts were issued through Red Cross mobile apps since Thursday. The alerts provide people with real-time information so they can help protect themselves and their loved-ones.
• The Red Cross is working closely with the entire response community—government agencies, other non-profit groups, faith-based organizations, area businesses and others— to coordinate emergency relief efforts and get help to people as quickly as possible.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Collecting and sending food, clothing and other household items yourself often does more harm than good. It takes time and money to store, sort, clean and distribute donated items, which diverts limited time and resources away from helping those most affected. Instead, the best way to support disaster victims is with a financial donation.

The Red Cross depends on financial donations to be able to provide disaster relief immediately. The Red Cross has launched a massive response to this devastating storm and needs financial donations to be able to provide immediate disaster relief. Help people affected by Hurricane Harvey by visiting redcross.org, calling 1- 800-RED CROSS or texting the word HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

About the American Red Cross

The Red Cross is not a government agency and depends on public contributions to help others. All Red Cross assistance to disaster victims is free. Your gift supports the lifesaving mission of the American Red Cross in your community, across the country and around the world.

To send a contribution, mail your check to:

American Red Cross of Hawaii
4155 Diamond Head Road
Honolulu, HI 96816