The American Red Cross is aiding in areas of the state that were heavily impacted by Hurricane Ida. President and CEO Gail McGovern has visited southeast Louisiana herself and seen the widespread devastation. She said they are providing a number of services.
“We’re providing shelters, we’re providing hot meals, we’re driving our emergency response vehicles into the highly affected parishes,” said McGovern.
McGovern said at the height of providing shelter, the Red Cross assisted up to forty thousand people.
The Red Cross is also distributing cleaning supplies to help those who are able to return to their homes and she said more than ninety-five thousand supplies have been given out. The Red Cross also has 80 feeding trucks in the state, and they serve approximately sixty-thousand meals a day.
McGovern said they are even providing counseling for residents to meet their mental needs also.
“We have grief counselors and mental health counselors available as well. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to see the damage and unfortunately, Louisiana just keeps getting clobbered,” said McGovern.
Despite the fact that the country has been impacted by numerous disasters during the ongoing pandemic from wildfires, floods, and hurricanes McGovern said they are fortunate the public is still engaged with donations to assist, and ninety percent of their workforce consist of volunteers.
“I’m always amazed at the generosity of the American public. Our volunteers, I mean they step up all the time, even in the middle of the pandemic, and we couldn’t do it without our volunteers,” said McGovern.
McGovern said shelters will remain open until everyone is situated.
For Red Cross services click here.
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