Red Cross Spokesperson Jonathan McNamara shares recent recovery efforts and what you can do if you were affected or want to help those affected by tornado damage and power outages.
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00:00Well, Bernie mentioned it about Houston. Power is being restored in Texas and surrounding states,
00:04and Mother Nature has been a cranking up the thermostat. Jonathan McNamara from the Red Cross
00:11is here to discuss what you can do to beat the heat and stay safe, especially if you're dealing
00:15from the fallout from severe weather. And Jonathan, the Houston area has been hit hard
00:20with flooding, hurricane force winds, and now the heat. So what can people do if they are stuck at
00:26home without power? How can they stay cool? Yeah, if I can, I'm just going to take 10 seconds
00:31to let you know. I saw your introduction. The Red Cross is on the ground in Iowa working with
00:36local officials to make sure that those families that were impacted get the support they need. But
00:40to answer your question directly, what families can do, it starts with making sure you're staying
00:44hydrated. You're wearing loose, light-colored clothing. That's going to keep your body cooler,
00:50that you're reducing your strenuous activities in the hottest parts of the day. And then if you are
00:55outside doing work, making sure you're taking frequent breaks. The Red Cross is working closely
01:00with local officials in Houston to staff cooling shelters to make sure that there are plenty of
01:05places to go. If you're in these areas that have been impacted, we can cool off or you can charge
01:09your electronic devices, get some water, making sure you're staying hydrated because we know those
01:15simple activities can be the best ways to keep anyone in the Houston area safe. I've deployed
01:19to the Houston area multiple times with the Red Cross. I know this area. I know the people. They're
01:23strong, they're resilient, but they do need help. And that's where the Red Cross is in these areas
01:27working with partners to make sure that they can get the help that they need.
01:30I'm glad you bring up they need help because, of course, the Red Cross is doing everything they
01:34can. But how about people in the community, those who maybe do have power? Do you have a message
01:39for them about how they can help their neighbors? I do. And first of all, I can say as somebody
01:43who's gone to Houston multiple times, this is a community that looks out for their neighbors,
01:47the people that stand up to offer the help that they need. But it starts with just being,
01:51if you have power, letting people come in, charge their devices, get cool.
01:55If you have the ability to connect to Wi-Fi, giving them information about where those cooling
02:01centers and emergency shelters are in their area. We do have a free tool that people can check,
02:06the American Red Cross Emergency App. They can find shelters, they can find cooling shelters in
02:10their area so that if they can't get into one of their neighbor's homes or if their neighbors don't
02:14have power, we want to make sure that they can cool off and they can charge those devices because
02:18we know that's critically important during this time. And we're going to continue to work with
02:21those local officials in Houston to identify additional ways that the Red Cross can provide
02:25that support to these residents as they deal with what can be a really challenging, not only
02:29cleanup process, but again, dealing with this extreme heat that is in these areas that can
02:33really be dangerous for those residents in these areas. If someone's watching that hasn't been
02:38impacted by severe weather or power outages so far this year, what could you tell them to prepare
02:43and get ahead of the storms? What could they do when it comes to being prepared when a power
02:47outage does hit? Yeah, we're only a few days away from the start of hurricane season and the steps
02:52that you take to prepare now are not only going to prepare you for hurricane season, but really
02:56work throughout the year, regardless of what Mother Nature throws your way. So it starts with
03:00having a personalized emergency kit that is basically designed for your family. I have small
03:06children, I have pets, including your small children and pets in your plans. If you have
03:10anybody who has special medical needs or needs equipment, including those in your preparations,
03:14and then practicing your plan. We know from previous experience in these types of weather
03:18events that families sit down to take time to prepare, to take time to plan, find themselves
03:24in a much better situation. We have all of the tools you need in our Red Cross emergency app to
03:28help build your personalized preparedness plan, as well as RedCross.org because an ounce of
03:32preparedness really does go a big way in making sure that you're in the best possible situation
03:37if you do experience a disaster. And Jonathan, I love that you veered off path in the beginning
03:41and brought us some updates about Iowa. Would you mind expanding a little bit more about the
03:45response efforts right now in Iowa from the Red Cross? Yeah, so it's closely coordinating with
03:49those local state officials as well as with FEMA to understand what the scope of the damage is.
03:53That will happen as we go through the early hours of today, getting a full understanding of what the
03:58impact is. And then our Red Cross teams will work with those local officials to first of all go out
04:03into communities, assess the damage, support emergency shelters, start to feed residents
04:08who have been impacted, and then offer the full line of services from the Red Cross that includes
04:12disaster mental health, spiritual care, psychological first aid, as well as making
04:17sure again that they have a safe place to evacuate to, so the Red Cross officials can walk them
04:21through what happens next in the next couple of days and the next couple of weeks. Because we know
04:25when you're dealing with a situation like this, it can be incredibly traumatic. We want to address
04:30all sides of this type of operation, and that includes the emotional and psychological impact
04:35that events like this can occur. You can feel happy though in knowing that the Red Cross has a
04:39great presence on the ground in Iowa, as well as the ability to bring in additional Red Crossers
04:44from across our network to make sure that we can provide the support that these families will need.
04:48You're hearing from Jonathan McNamara, National Spokesperson with the American Red Cross. We thank
04:53you so much for providing all that information about power safety and heat safety and also
04:58updating us on the current situation in Iowa. Thanks for having me.