With Helene's damage spread across multiple states, the American Red Cross has thousands of people on the ground to provide critical aid.
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00:00Hurricane Helene's damage continues to impact residents in at least five states.
00:06And the American Red Cross is on the ground ready to assist, and they are actively doing that right now, as always.
00:12National spokesperson Evan Peterson joins us again.
00:15Evan, I know that you were just mentioning you're in Tampa now.
00:18You're not far from some huge problems just to your west of the Pinellas County.
00:22We've had a lot of problems to the north up into the Carolinas. You're headed that way, too.
00:25So damage from this storm is over such a wide area.
00:28Where are your Red Cross teams in place to help where the need is the greatest?
00:33Well, I'm happy to report that as soon as we saw in your forecast this storm being sent out into the country,
00:40we started moving hundreds and thousands of people into the path of this storm
00:45so that they could ride it out with those community members,
00:47making sure that if an evacuation order was going to be given, that they would have a safe place to retreat back to.
00:53As of last check, we had just over 1,400 disaster trained personnel responding to this.
01:00Many of these people are in Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, providing immediate service and helping people who have lost so much.
01:10And with dangerous floodwaters and blocked roads, major disruptions,
01:14is getting food and water to some locations difficult or even impossible where the roads have been washed out right now?
01:21Yes, it is proving very challenging. Some areas, again, it may be as simple as just driving down the middle of the road
01:28and making sure people know we're there and giving them food, giving them water, giving them cleanup kits.
01:33But for other people, like in the Carolinas, it has been proven very difficult because we are trying to make sure that they have a safe way to get into.
01:41We're not going to send supplies in if we know it's going to put some other people in danger.
01:45So we've even had to airlift supplies into some very remote areas in the Carolinas, but we are getting it in there.
01:51It's just taking time.
01:53And looking ahead this week, are shelters still being established or all that are going to be needed in place at this point?
01:59And also, where are you sending additional help?
02:02That's a great question. We are in constant communication with our municipal partners at the local level, at the federal level, at the county level, even at the state level.
02:11And this is really a fluid situation. It seems like every single day, every single hour that passes,
02:16we are getting a different understanding of the communities that are impacted, the type of impact residents are experiencing.
02:22And so because we are in that communication, we're constantly being able to pivot and maneuver resources wherever they are needed most.
02:29As to what our ultimate operation scale is going to look like, I think it's still too soon to tell.
02:34But we are ready, we are prepared, and we are making sure that more responders are on standby in case they are needed.
02:40And finally, how can people help with the American Red Cross?
02:44I would say if people feel compelled to help support our mission, the two most effective ways to do that are first to make a blood donation.
02:51In advance of this storm, we moved hundreds of blood products into areas so that hospitals had the ability to reach for them.
02:57Others making a financial donation, just go to redcross.org and contribute there. A little bit goes a long way.
03:03And thank you so much.
03:04Thank you so much there, Evan Peterson with the American Red Cross.
03:07We appreciate all your insight and all that you're doing, especially with the folks at the American Red Cross.
03:12You're making a big difference.