CALIFORNIA, USA — Eleven Mainers have been deployed to help with relief efforts after natural disasters struck four states in the past few months.
Steve Thomas is one of the volunteers with the American Red Cross who's helping at one of the 145 shelters in central and northern California, giving much needed aid to some of its displaced residents.
In California especially, there has been ongoing devastation from atmospheric rivers over the past few months. Thousands of people were left without a roof.
"The one thing I want to put some emphasis on is April is National Volunteer Month, and the Red Cross's workforce is 90% volunteers," Thomas explained. "And that means that the work that I'm doing right now is not possible without Red Cross volunteers. And, in some cases, these families have lost everything, so helping them put one foot in front of another is a really important thing to do and something that we have a lot of experience helping to do here at the Red Cross. Thinking about recovery? Not everybody has a plan of what happens if they lose everything. I think very few of us do."
Since March, the following numbers of volunteers from Maine have been deployed to various disasters:
- Five to California (atmospheric river flooding)
- One to Mississippi/Alabama (tornado recovery)
- One to Georgia (tornado recovery)
- Four to Arkansas (tornado recovery)
If you would like to learn more and see an updated story map on the Red Cross's efforts in California, click here.
"The fear now is that the record-setting snowpack left behind in the mountains may cause more dangerous flooding as the snow melts," Thomas said of the situation in California.
As of April 4, more than 1,700 Red Cross volunteers have provided nearly 25,000 overnight stays to 2,800 displaced individuals across all of the emergency shelters in California.
In the weeks since deadly tornados swept across the South and Midwest, Red Cross disaster workers have worked around the clock to provide comfort and support to people in need. Preliminary reports indicate more than 2,700 homes were destroyed or suffered major damage.
To make a donation to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund, click here. People can also call 800-RED-CROSS (800-733-2767), or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
