espositol posted on August 27, 2010 16:42
The Triangle Red Cross along with local partners prepare to exercise their readiness this Saturday
Click here watch the story that aired on ABC 11
RALEIGH, Friday, August 27, 2010 — The Triangle Red Cross will mark the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in the most appropriate way possible, with a shelter drill to prepare for potential storms this fall, as well as disasters that happen throughout the year. “Ensuring that our volunteers and staff are as prepared as they can possibly be to respond to any disaster is at the heart of what we do, whether it is a single family fire, an isolated tornado or a catastrophic hurricane.” Barry Porter, Executive Director for the Triangle Red Cross explained.
“One thing that we learned during the 2005 Hurricane Season is that we can never be too prepared. Increasing our capacity to respond to catastrophic events, such as Hurricane Katrina, has always been a focus of local chapters throughout the US. Being in a Hurricane prone state like North Carolina, we need to be ready to respond on a large scale, but our ability to respond to single family disasters and smaller scale events, such as home fires is just as important, because those really do happen many times every day across North Carolina.”
In the past five years, the Triangle Red Cross expanded the number of trained disaster volunteers from 150 to more than 500, including nearly 100 available to travel to disasters around the country. The American Red Cross has also created tools for the public to use during a disaster, including a National Shelter System accessible online, and a “Safe and Well” website to reconnect families during disasters, including through social media.
The Triangle Red Cross played an instrumental role in the national response by serving several thousand evacuees that self-evacuated and traveled here, as well as those who were part of the evacuation flights here, in the Raleigh area.
Across the nation Red Cross assisted1.4 million families—approximately 4.5 million people—emergency financial assistance in response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, which was 19 times more families assisted than any the previous disaster. Donors gave the organization a total of $2.2 billion for people affected by the storms, which helped the Triangle Red Cross provide:
- Nearly $1 Million in local assistance to more than 1,000 evacuated families
- To help support a shelter near Cary that housed more than 320 evacuees
- Physical and mental health services to help them cope with stress and ease the trauma
- Disaster preparedness training so people know the steps to take to protect themselves and their families
- To sustain a nearly 4 month response that assisted evacuees with finding permanent housing or returning to New Orleans, and until they were well on their way to recovery
Five years after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma devastated the coastal communities of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, some of the evacuees are still living and working in the Triangle, having put their life back together with the help of the American Red Cross.
You can help people affected by disasters like floods, fires, tornadoes and hurricanes, as well as countless crises at home and around the world, by making a donation to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for and provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance in response to disasters. Visit www.redcross.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS. Contributions may also be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.
Red Cross Contact:
Barry Porter
porter@triangleredcross.org
Lu Esposito
Office: 919-212-1413
espositol@triangleredcross.org