The non-profit said it’s communicating with partners to identify most urgent needs and will work to help throughout the widespread disaster region. CEO Tim Mettey said Matthew 25: Ministries is “heartbroken” for the people impacted by the hurricane.
“The impacts from this storm are devastating and incredibly far-reaching, and this will be a long-term recovery,” Mettey said in a statement. “Matthew 25′s domestic disaster response work began after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans 16 years ago. For weeks, I drove through the region, developing partnerships and distributing aid to help support these organizations’ work in their communities. That response laid a foundation for our current disaster response program, and we are ready to return to help again.”
Rescuers set out in hundreds of boats and helicopters to reach people trapped by floodwaters Monday, and utility repair crews rushed in, after a furious Hurricane Ida swamped the Louisiana coast and ravaged the electrical grid in the stifling, late-summer heat.
Residents living amid the maze of rivers and bayous along the state’s Gulf Coast retreated desperately to their attics or roofs and posted their addresses on social media with instructions for search-and-rescue teams on where to find them.
More than 1 million customers in Louisiana and Mississippi — including all of New Orleans — were left without power as Ida, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the U.S. mainland, pushed through on Sunday and early Monday before weakening into a tropical storm.
As the storm continued to make its way inland with torrential rain and shrieking winds, it was blamed for at least two deaths — a motorist who drowned in New Orleans, and a person hit by a falling tree outside Baton Rouge.
But with many roads impassable and cellphone service knocked out in places, the full extent of its fury was still coming into focus. Christina Stephens, a spokesperson for Gov. John Bel Edwards, said that given the level of destruction, “We’re going to have many more confirmed fatalities.”
Cash donations are the “Number One” most helpful way to aid hurricane relief efforts, according to Lynne Gump, executive director of Miami Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross.
“That way we can pay for what we’ve already spent, we can buy it locally (there), it helps boost their economy, helps move supplies and volunteers,” Gump said.
Approximately 600 Red Cross volunteers are already in place assisting those impacted and more volunteers are on the way.
Miami Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, which serves Hardin, Logan, Shelby, Champaign, Clark, Madison, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Darke and Preble counties, sent volunteers to Louisiana about a week ahead of the hurricane to help establish pre-evacuation shelters, which have become evacuation shelters, Gump said.
The organization’s Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) left Dayton departed on Saturday morning, she said. ERVs are typically used for mobile feeding or the distribution of emergency supplies in this type of situation.
“Already today it is out on the street feeding people,” Gump said. “They might start sometimes with cold snacks and water, but they rapidly ramp up to hot meals and we’re out there with clean up supplies once the flood waters go down.”
Another ERV will leave from the Miami Valley region by midweek, according to the Red Cross.
In addition to the help it is providing in Louisiana, local Red Cross volunteers are also out West assisting those whose homes have been ravaged by the relentless wildfires. Our local volunteers are also in Tennessee helping people recover from the aftermath of that deadly flooding.
Miami Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross is looking to recruit volunteers to help respond to future storms, Gump said. Volunteers will help with reception, registration, food distribution, dormitory, information collection and other vital tasks inside disaster shelters.
“While people are paying attention to Ida, Ida’s just ‘I’ in the alphabet,” she said. “There will be more hurricanes after this and we need volunteers to do the training now so they can deploy either right away or right before a hurricane hits.”
Nurses and mental health professionals are among those who are greatly needed for such efforts, Gump said.
To volunteer, visit www.redcross.org/volunteertoday. To donate to fund Red Cross disaster response efforts, visit to www.redcross.org/donate.
Members of Miami Valley-based search and rescue team Ohio Task Force 1 arrived in Louisiana Saturday to respond to needed rescue and recovery efforts during and after the hurricane, said Phil Sinewe, the team’s public information officer.
The team staged in Lafayette, La., Sunday as it awaited orders, then left for Jefferson Parish, which includes New Orleans, around 5 a.m. Monday, Sinewe said. It arrived around 9:30 a.m. Central Time and worked alongside FEMA teams from Colorado, Indiana and Missouri, according to Ohio Task Force 1 Program Manager Evan Schumann.
“This is the type of rescue work the team trains for year-round,” Sinewe said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
HOW YOU CAN HELP LOUISIANA
Matthew 25 accepts donations of the following types of items to supplement existing supplies, for restocking during their response to Hurricane Ida, and for future distributions:
· Monetary donations: Donate online or mail checks to Matthew 25: Ministries, 11060 Kenwood Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242 (100% of donated funds designated for Hurricane Ida relief efforts will be used for the purpose intended.)
· Cases of bottled water (12- and 24- count)
· Personal care products: Antibacterial soap, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, body wash, deodorant, lotion, etc.
· Cleaning supplies: Laundry detergents, general cleaner, sponges, bleach (powdered form is preferred), mops, scrub brushes, buckets, rubber gloves, etc.
· Paper products: Toilet paper, paper towels, etc.
· Baby and infant supplies: Diapers, wipes, diaper rash ointment, baby wash, baby shampoo, baby lotion, etc.
· First-aid items: Bandages, gauze, pads, first aid tape, antiseptic creams, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, latex gloves, instant cold packs, etc.
SOURCE: Matthew 25: Ministries
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