How Central Texans can help hurricane victims
TEXAS - Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday evening as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key, Florida, just south of Sarasota.
The American Red Cross urgently needs help from Central Texans after Hurricane Helene strained its resources when it hit the coastline less than two weeks ago.
"Throughout the summer alone, we have seen disaster after disaster," said Delia Krippelz, the regional communications director with the American Red Cross. "We had Beryl, Debby, Francine, Helene, and now Milton, so we are definitely strained right now with our volunteer workforce."
As Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida's Gulf Coast, Krippelz said the need for volunteers is critical.
"If it wasn't for them, we would not be able to do what we do every single day, and now we are continuously seeing these disasters," said Krippelz. "If it wasn't for the workforce of our volunteers, we wouldn't be able to do this work."
Forty Central Texans are already in Florida waiting to take action, but the American Red Cross needs more helping hands, specifically for its shelter operations.
"They just make sure that residents that come to our shelters have a safe place to stay, whether that's making sure that they have a warm meal, food, snacks, water, whatever the case may be," said Krippelz.
Others in Central Texas couldn't look away after the destruction from Hurricane Helene, so they decided to do something about it, too.
"It's been absolutely devastating, you know," said Dr. Emeka Ofobike Jr. MD, owner and medical director of Vessel Longevity and IV Bar ATX. "I think it's hard for a lot of people to imagine that kind of impact on their lives and so, for us, anything we can do to help support those people. I know a little bit goes a long way."
Dr. Emeke is helping a Cedar Park high schooler, Grace Love, organize a donation drive this Saturday at The Crossover.
They're asking for non-perishable items like canned food, water and clothes.
"Our plan is at the end of Saturday's drive, we will take everything straight to the American Red Cross and donate it," said Dr. Emeke.
But one of the important ways to help from afar is by donating blood.
"Because of Hurricane Helene, we did have to cancel some blood drives unfortunately because of that, so we are asking the community to step up to sign up and become a blood donor if they can," said Krippel. "If you don’t have the commitment to be able to deploy that is the next best thing you can do, just sign up to give blood."
This weekend's event at The Crossover is from noon to 2 p.m.
For more information on volunteering, donating blood, or making a monetary donation, click here.