Red Cross Responds as Hurricane Beryl Creates Dire Food Emergency in Texas

If an emergency arises, your best defense is to be prepared

The American Red Cross sent hundreds of disaster workers and truckloads of relief supplies to southeast Texas after Hurricane Beryl left millions of people without power while deadly heat and humidity enveloped the region. This massive power outage created an urgent need for food and water in many communities across the area. Red Cross disaster teams deployed to the region to help meet life-sustaining needs by providing not only shelter, but food and water to those in need.

DIRE SITUATION People were left without anything to eat as they watched the food spoiling in their refrigerators. Many markets were closed, eliminating the possibility of purchasing food. Long lines formed at any restaurant with power.Working with partners, the Red Cross opened and supported numerous emergency shelters to offer a safe place to stay and have access to meals and snacks.

URGENT NEED TO HELP SENIORSIn addition to feeding people in emergency shelters, the Red Cross received urgent requests from the State of Texas and City of Houston to begin mobile distribution of meals to more than 40 different senior living facilities where residents were without power.

When the buildings lost power, there was no air conditioning, the elevators no longer worked, effectively trapping a lot of people in their very warm apartments due to their limited mobility. Some had no way to power critical medical equipment. Many had not eaten for several days.

Despite the extreme heat, Red Cross volunteers climbed the stairways to deliver hot meals to residents in these senior living facilities. After meeting the initial urgent need, Red Cross volunteers returned with additional shelf-stable meals and milk, water and ice, along with hurricane preparedness information to help them be ready for the next storm.

Of the more than 10,000 calls for help that came through the Red Cross Call Center (1-800-RED CROSS 800-733-2767), more than 4,000 were specifically for food. These calls were routed to the main disaster relief operation to help the teams make informed decisions on where to send Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) with food. More than 30 ERVs were filled with hot meals and the teams on board delivered food throughout the greater Houston area and beyond. Over 35 additional requests for feeding came from community partners which were accepted and completed by the Red Cross over the last 2 weeks.

With the help of partners like the Houston Food Bank, Cracker Barrel and Operation BBQ, more than 382,000meals have been provided after Hurricane Beryl. The Red Cross also supported the Houston Food Bank with shelf stable meals. Of the total meals served, 239,519are shelf stable meals delivered to the Houston Food Bank for distribution to families where other sources of food were no longer available.

The Red Cross is still on the ground in Texas, helping people impacted by Hurricane Beryl, and will be there in the challenging weeks and months to come as people get back on their feet. More than 11,000 customers are still without power and Red Cross disaster workers are providing safe shelter, meals, emergency relief supplies, emotional support, health services and financial assistance to those in need.

YOU CAN HELP Please click, text or call to support Red Cross Disaster Relief and help people affected by disasters like storms, fires and countless other crises. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.

For those interested in helping people specifically affected by the recent storm, we ask that they write "Hurricane Beryl" in the memo line of a check and mail it with a completed donation formto the address on the form or to their local Red Cross chapter. Find the donation form at redcross.org/donate.

VOLUNTEER

You can help your community after before, during and after a disaster by becoming a Red Cross disaster volunteer. Visit redcross.org/volunteerto learn more about top needed positions and sign up to volunteer today.

BEING PREPARED IS CRITICAL

Beryl was the earliest major Atlantic hurricane in 58 years, breaking a record set by Hurricane Dennis in 2005. Experts forecast a very active hurricane season this year ─ as many as 25 named storms with 4 to 6 having a direct impact on the U.S. The Red Cross urges everyone to take these steps and get ready for hurricanes and other emergencies now:

1.Make a plan to stay safe and know how you'll stay connected.

• You may need to stay where you are or go somewhere else to stay safe. If leaving, think about where you will go, how you will get there, where you will stay and what you'll take with you. Plan well in advance if you'll need help leaving or use public transportation. Don't forget to include pets in your plans.

• Write down important phone numbers on a contact card and carry it with you to reconnect with loved ones if you are separated or if the phone or internet is down.

• In case the power goes out, have a backup battery or another way to charge your cell phone, and a battery-powered or hand-crank radio.

• Sign up for free emergency alerts from your local government and know what different types of alerts mean. For example, a WATCH means be prepared, and a WARNING means take action.
  

2.Gather critical supplies and organize them into a go-kit and a stay-at-home kit.

• Your go-kit should include three days of supplies that you can carry with you. Include backup batteries and chargers for your devices (cell phone, CPAP, wheelchair, etc.)

• Your stay-at-home kit should have two weeks of food and water, and, if possible, a one-month supply of medications and medical supplies.

• Customize your kit to meet your household's specific needs, for instance if you have children or pets.

• Keep personal, financial and medical records safe and easy to access (hard copies or securely backed up). Consider keeping a list of your medications and dosages on a small card to carry with you.

Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP)Through 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; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; 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; 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; 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; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, 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; Zoetis

Disaster Responder Members: 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; Canadian National Railroad Association; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Dollar Tree and Family Dollar; 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; LKQ; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Macy's, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Martin Marietta; Masco; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; 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; Stephen's Inc.; 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.