Red Cross Responds as New Round of Severe Weather Threatens Millions

The threat of severe weather and tornadoes continues as between 50 and 60 million people from Texas to the mid-Atlantic states face the possibility of tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds, frequent lightning, flash flooding and heavy rain over the next several days.

The American Red Cross is standing by to respond if necessary as hundreds of trained disaster workers work around the clock across multiple states to support people impacted by the earlier tornadoes.

TEXAS FLOODING Meanwhile, floodwaters are starting to recede in southeastern Texas where flooding damaged homes in the greater Houston area. Trained Red Cross disaster workers and partners are providing shelter, meals and snacks, health services and relief supplies.

RED CROSS RESPONSEPreliminary reports from Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma and Texas indicate more than 485 homes are either destroyed or have received major damage. More than 400 trained Red Cross disaster workers are helping people affected by the tornadoes and flooding. The Red Cross and partners have provided:

• More than 1,000 overnight shelter stays in 23 Red Cross and community shelters.

• More than 21,450 meals and snacks

• More than 9,090 relief supplies

HOW TO HELPYou can help people affected by disasters like tornadoes, flooding and countless other crises by making a donation to support Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

FIND A SHELTERAnyone who has been affected by the storms is welcome to stop by a shelter to get information, a hot meal, charge their phone, pick up relief supplies and get other essential support. Find open shelters on redcross.org, the free Red Cross Emergency app or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) and selecting the disaster option. You can also find shelters by following your local county and city officials on social media or monitoring local news.

TORNADO SAFETYWatch for tornado danger signs: dark and greenish clouds, a wall cloud or cloud of debris.

• During a tornado warning, go to your safe place immediately, whether it's a basement, storm cellar or interior room on the lowest floor with no windows. A small, windowless interior room or hallway on the lowest level of a sturdy building is the safest alternative.

• If you live in a mobile home, find a safe place in a nearby sturdy building. No mobile home is safe in a tornado. If you have access to a sturdy shelter or vehicle, go there immediately.

• If you're outside, seek shelter in a basement, shelter or sturdy building. If you cannot quickly walk to a shelter, immediately get in a vehicle and try to drive to the closest sturdy shelter. Remember to buckle your seat belt.

• Stay away from bridges or highway overpasses.

• If strong winds and flying debris occur while driving, pull over and park. Keep on your seat belt and the engine running. Put your head down below the windows and cover your head with your hands and a blanket.

• Download the free Red Cross First Aid app so you'll know what to do if emergency help is delayed and the free Emergency app for weather alerts, open Red Cross shelter locations and safety steps for different emergencies. Choose whether you want to view the content in English or Spanish with an easy-to-find language selector. Find these and all of the Red Cross apps in smartphone app stores by searching for the American Red Cross or going to redcross.org/apps.

FLOODING SAFETY As Texas floodwaters go down, keep these steps in mind:

• Stay away from floodwaters. Beware of snakes, insects and other animals or around floodwaters and your home.

• If power lines are down, don't step in puddles or standing water.

• Wear protective clothing, including rubber gloves and boots, and be cautious when cleaning up.

• Throw out items that absorb water and cannot be cleaned or disinfected. This mattresses, carpeting, cosmetics, stuffed animals and baby toys.

• Discard all food, beverages and medicine exposed to floodwaters and mud.

POWER OUTAGE SAFETYUse flashlights in the dark - not candles.

• Don't drive unless necessary. Traffic lights will be out and roads could be congested.

• Turn off and unplug any appliances, equipment and electronics. When the power comes back on, surges or spikes can damage equipment. Leave one light on, so you'll know when power is restored.

• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to protect your food. Use perishable food from the refrigerator first. Then, use food from the freezer.

• If the power outage continues beyond a day, prepare a cooler with ice for your freezer items. Keep food in a dry, cool spot and cover it at all times.

If you are using a generator, keep it dry and don't use it in wet conditions.

• Never use a generator, grill, camp stove or other gasoline, propane, natural gas or charcoal-burning device inside a home, garage, basement or other partially enclosed area. Keep this equipment outside and away from doors, windows and vents, which could allow carbon monoxide to come indoors.

• Operate the generator on a dry surface under an open canopy-like structure, such as under a tarp held up by poles. Don't touch a generator with wet hands.

• Turn the generator off and let it cool down before refueling. Gasoline spilled on hot engine parts could catch fire.

• Plug appliances directly into the generator. Never plug a generator into a wall outlet.

CLIMATE CRISISThe Red Cross is responding to nearly twice as many large disasters as we did a decade ago to help families and communities struggling with more frequent and intense disasters.In 2023 alone, the U.S. experienced an all-time high of 28 billion-dollar plus disasters that ravaged communities and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee from severe storms, floods and wildfires.

Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGPThrough the generosity of our American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder members, the American Red Cross is prepared before disaster strikes. ADGP and Disaster Responder members help secure a reliable funding base for disaster relief services that enables the Red Cross to respond immediately, meeting the needs of individuals and families affected by disaster, regardless of cost.

ADGP $1M Members: Amazon; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Caterpillar Foundation; CMA CGM Foundation; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Mobility Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; McDonald's Corporation; Merck; Microsoft; Nationwide Foundation; The Pfizer Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; State Farm; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo

ADGP $500k Members: Altria Group; American Express; Aon; Bread Financial; Capital One; Chick-fil-A; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; DHL Supply Chain; DraftKings; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Motor Company Fund; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Google.org; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Mastercard; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, home of Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket, and Winn-Dixie; Stryker; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco.

Disaster Responder Members: The 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; ALDI; American Tire Distributors; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Bath & Body Works; Big 5 Sporting Goods; Build-A-Bear Foundation; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Choice Hotels International; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; Deluxe Corporation; The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Duke Energy; Equitable; FirstEnergy Corporation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; L'Oréal; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LHC Group; LKQ; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Macy's, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Company LP; Martin Marietta; Masco; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; The Middleby Corporation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Norfolk Southern; Northrop Grumman Foundation; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation; Phillips 66; Prudential; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reliance, Inc.; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Santander; Security Finance's Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Tata Consultancy Services; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty; U.S. Foods; Yum! Brands; Zurich.

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