NORFOLK, Va. — Virginia-based volunteers with the American Red Cross are staying in Florida as cleanup efforts from Hurricane Helene continue and Hurricane Milton makes landfall.
The Red Cross says more than 70 volunteers from Virginia are working across Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Those volunteers each have their own duty, from housing to food distribution.
“We were making sure that impacted folks had a safe place to shelter, had meals,” Katie Niehoff told 13News Now about the group's work after Helene. Niehoff is Virginia’s Regional Disaster Officer for the American Red Cross and has been based out of Tallahassee, Florida for the past two weeks.
“There have been days that have been 12-14 hours long," she said. “I know that somebody else is being impacted and having a life-changing event; you don’t seem to feel those hours.”
Even before Hurricane Milton makes landfall, Red Cross volunteers have been busy, with some shelters up and running for people who have evacuated.
Niehoff said, “We already have Red Crossers that are in shelters, that have shelters up and ready with community members already in them, so we’re in action right now and making sure people have a safe place to be.”
Volunteers may be based in Tallahassee, but the spread out to areas impacted by the storm. The agency says their safety is also paramount.
“We make sure we’re in staff sheltering and we have great leadership that works to keep us safe,” explained Niehoff. “They send out messaging to make sure we’re not putting ourselves or others in any danger.”
For those who aren’t able to help directly in southern states, Niehoff recommends giving blood or volunteering locally. She says both of those resources are depleted during and after big storms.
Of the American Red Cross's 21,000 trained disaster workers across the country, 90% are volunteers.