Hawaii Red Cross sends 17 volunteers to assist those in path of Hurricane Dorian
The Hawaii Red Cross has deployed 17 volunteers to the U.S. mainland to help residents in the path of Hurricane Dorian.
The volunteers are either en route or already in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and will be helping in the areas of mental health, spiritual care, sheltering, logistics, planning, and staffing, according to the Hawaii Red Cross this morning.
Nine of the volunteers are from Oahu, six from the Big Island, one from Kauai, and one from Molokai.
On Tuesday night, according to the American Red Cross, more than 9,000 people stayed in 140 Red Cross and community evacuation shelters in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. This included 7,070 people in 111 shelters in Florida; some 1,631 people in 14 Red Cross shelters in Georgia; and 603 people in 15 Red Cross shelters in South Carolina.
As the focus of the storm shifts away from Florida, the Red Cross will continue coordinating relief efforts with partners to support evacuation centers in South Carolina and North Carolina.
More than 1,900 trained Red Cross responders from all over the country are helping to support relief efforts. In advance of Dorian, some 110 emergency response vehicles and 104 tractor-trailer loads full of relief supplies, including cots, blankets and 63,000 ready-to-eat meals were mobilized.
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In the Bahamas, an estimated 76,000 people — the vast majority of residents on the two islands — were impacted by Hurricane Dorian, according to the Red Cross. More than 13,000 houses are believed to have been damaged or destroyed, equivalent to about 45% of all dwellings on the two islands.
Donations are welcome at redcross.org/hawaii or 739-8109.
