Utah Volunteers Ready to Help Victims of Hurricane Dorian
Sep 1, 2019, 10:58 PM | Updated: 11:01 pm
Endre Eles places a hurricane shutter over a window as he helps prepare a business for the possible arrival of Hurricane Dorian on August 30, 2019 in Miami Beach, United States. Dorian could be a Category 4 storm when it makes landfall Monday somewhere along the Florida coast. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Volunteers with the American Red Cross are standing by for when Hurricane Dorian makes landfall in the U.S.
One unit from Utah has already been deployed. Several volunteers from Provo are now on the east coast, ready to give people food and aid once Dorian hits.
Dozens more will be ready to go at a moment’s notice, but the Red Cross still needs more help.
After making landfall in the Bahamas on Sunday as a powerful Category 5 storm, Dorian is now inching its way toward the Florida coast.
Volunteers with the American Red Cross are ready for him.
“We call these emergency response vehicles or ‘ervs’ for short,” said Rich Woodruff, spokesperson for the Red Cross. “Primarily they’re mobile feeding units.”
While the hurricane’s exact path is still uncertain, 19 million people live in areas that may be impacted. As many as 50,000 people could be evacuated.
“You know this is an all hands on deck situation,” said Woodruff. “We need lots of resources, people, volunteers. We have 1600 volunteers and counting on the ground now.”
Besides volunteers, Utah has already deployed one state-of-the-art emergency response vehicle. It joins a fleet of more than 100 vehicles just like it from around the country.
“When these disasters hit we go into neighborhoods and we look for people who need help,” said Woodruff. “Often times we’re the first on the scene and the first sign of help and hope.”
Now, all eyes are on the east coast, while dozens more Utahns are waiting for the call that would send them into a disaster zone.
“These are very traumatic events for people. So the Red Cross is there, we have sheltering, we have food, we’re going to take care of them and give them a warm meal and maybe a hug to help get them through it,” Woodruff said.
The Red Cross is currently in need of more volunteers, blood donations and money. If you’d like to donate you can text “dorian” to 90999 for a $10 donation. You can also call 1-800-red-cross or you can go to redcross.org.
