RED CROSS NEWS RELEASE
Five volunteer members of the Northern Nevada Chapter of The American Red Cross (NNCARC) departed today to the east coast where Hurricane Sandy is expected to create life threatening conditions when it arrives sometime late Monday or early Tuesday.
The volunteers have been deployed to the follow locations:
· Kelly Boyd and Sabrina Amon, NNCARC AmeriCorps members, to White Plains NY
· Nancy Barrett, Paige Shaw, and Bill Shaw to New Jersey for a shelter assignment
The volunteers have committed to three week deployments and will perform various duties including, sheltering and caring for evacuees including registering, feeding, and referring residents to other service agencies when needed.
Across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, the Red Cross is moving disaster workers into areas that weather experts say will be affected by the storm and has more than 100 emergency response vehicles on alert. The Red Cross is also working closely with government officials, as well as community partners to coordinate response efforts.
HOW TO HELP. Northern Nevada who would like to help those being affected by this hurricane, as well as countless crises at home and around the world, are urged to make a donation to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Their 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, call 1-800-RED-CROSS, or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. 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.
RED CROSS APPS. If Northern Nevadans have friends or relatives in the path of Hurricane Sandy and would like to track their status, be aware that the free Red Cross Hurricane App for mobile devices provides real-time hurricane safety information such as weather alerts and where Red Cross shelters are located. The app also features a toolkit with a flashlight, strobe light and alarm, and the one-touch “I’m Safe” button lets someone use social media outlets to tell family and friends they are okay. The Hurricane App is also available in Spanish. Users just need to make sure the language setting on their smart phone is set to Spanish before downloading. The First Aid app puts expert advice for everyday emergencies in someone’s hand. The apps can be found in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for Android by searching for American Red Cross.
GET READY. While Northern Nevada is not likely to have a hurricane, it does experience its own set of disaster characteristics, such as wildfires and floods. You are your best defense against emergencies, the Red Cross can help you take simple steps to prepare yourself and your loved ones for emergencies ranging from severe weather to a flu outbreak. We help with emergency preparation by working within communities to prevent, prepare and respond to emergencies. By making a kit, having a plan, and being informed, the American people can cast out once and for all the complacency that surrounds emergency preparation.
About the American Red Cross:
The Northern Nevada American Red Cross chapter area covers 87,000 square miles with a population of more than 670,000 people. Our chapter territory is from Tonopah north, with our main chapter in Reno and branch offices in Elko, Incline Village and Winnemucca.
