Red Cross Responds to Latest Tornadoes as Severe Weather Threat Continues

The American Red Cross is responding to the tornado which devastated a small town in northwest Oklahoma Monday night, while continuing to help people impacted by last week's tornadoes and Texas flooding. Meanwhile, millions of people face the threat of more tornadoes today.

Trained Red Cross disaster workers and partners are responding across Oklahoma. They are providing a safe place to stay, food, relief supplies, health services, and emotional and spiritual care for people in Barnsdall affected by Monday's devastating tornado and helping people in the southeast part of the state affected by last week's severe weather. In northwest Oklahoma, towns like Barnsdall have been hit repeatedly by severe weather.

Relief operations are also ongoing in Nebraska and Iowa after tornadoes hit parts of those states last week. Red Cross caseworkers are meeting with those impacted by the storms to help them plan their next steps and share information about what help is available. In Iowa and Nebraska, the Red Cross is supporting damage assessment to better understand what help people will need, delivering meals and distributing relief supplies to help residents clean up after the storms.

MORE TORNADOES POSSIBLE As many as 100 million people from Texas east to Pennsylvania face the threat of severe storms today. The Ohio Valley, especially parts of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, could see the worst of the dangerous weather.

The National Weather Service reports today's round of storms could bring tornadoes, frequent lightning, severe thunderstorms, heavy rain, strong winds and hail to the region.

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 indicate more than 465 homes are either destroyed or have received major damage. More than 390 trained Red Cross disaster workers are helping people affected by the tornadoes and flooding. The Red Cross and partners have provided:

• More than 840 overnight shelter stays in 25 Red Cross and community shelters.

• More than 18,910 meals and snacks

• More than 6,730 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.

COPING AFTER A DISASTER This is a difficult time for everyone affected and it's important for people to connect with and support each other.

• Be patient with yourself and others. It's common to have any number of temporary stress reactions such as anger, frustration and anxiety.

• Stay informed but limit media exposure of the events.

• Spend more time with family and friends, watch for signs of stress, offer your support and listen to one another.

• Don't forget to take care of yourself. Eat healthy, drink water and get enough rest.

• If you or a loved one needs help, reach out through the Disaster Distress Helpline for free 24/7 support by calling 1-800-985-5990 or texting TALKWITHUS to 66746.

• Children may also react, in part, to what they see from the adults around them. When parents respond calmly and confidently, they can provide better support.

• Limit exposure to news coverage of the event as children are especially vulnerable to stress reactions related to media.

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.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.