Back St. Louis, Thursday, May 8, 2003-- From the moments following the disastrous storms in Missouri earlier this week, American Red Cross volunteers have been providing shelter, water, First Aid kits, food, clothing and other essential items to storm victims. With emergency services spanning the affected area, hundreds of Red Cross staff and volunteers will continue to assist storm victims as their shock subsides and recovery begins. Red Cross expects to continue providing services for many weeks to come, including: - Providing for basic emergency needs including shelter, food and clothing for families affected by the disaster. - Providing nourishment and comfort for all emergency responders. - Conducting damage assessments to determine magnitude of damage for individual families. - Conducting welfare inquiries and facilitating communication between families and relatives out of town. - Conducting outreach casework with families to determine short term and long term needs, and connecting families with resources for recovery. The following statistics summarize the Missouri disaster relief efforts through Wednesday, May 7: - Estimated total cases: 600 - Projected number of Missouri homes destroyed: 2,500 - Disaster Volunteers and Staff: 414 - Persons Sheltered: 370 - Mental health contacts: 142 - Health Assessments (seen by a nurse): 284 - Meals and snacks served: 16,220 - Red Cross vehicles utilized: 190 - Projected cost of the job: Over $1,100,000 Following are a few stats isolated to reflect the DeSoto disaster (full stats are not yet available): - Estimated total cases: 100 - Disaster Volunteers and Staff: 21 - Persons Sheltered: 16 - Meals and snacks served: 800 Destruction is widespread and Red Cross assessments continue to reveal additional damage in hard-to-reach locations. “There’s virtually nothing here that wasn’t hit by the tornadoes,” said American Red Cross national public information officer Michael Spencer as he surveyed the damage in Pierce City, Mo., one of the towns hit hardest by Sunday’s disaster. “It’s going to takes weeks for people to get back on their feet.” “Our damage assessment teams began their work in DeSoto on Wednesday morning, so we will get an overall picture of the damage soon,” said Nancy Bates, emergency services director for the American Red Cross. “Until then, we are meeting the needs of the residents and we will continue to help the storm victims until we are no longer needed.” As dangerous weather looms, the American Red Cross is urging all residents in the area to prepare themselves now. Those in potential tornado and flood zones can ready themselves by: • Creating and Practicing a Home Tornado Plan: Pick an uncluttered place where family members could seek shelter: a basement, a center hallway, bathroom, or closet on the lowest floor. • Assembling a Disaster Supplies Kit: Kits should contain a First Aid kit and essential medications, canned food and manual can opener, bottled water, flashlights and a battery-powered radio with extra batteries and other emergency items for the whole family. • Heeding Storm Warnings: Listen to your local radio and TV stations for updated storm information. A tornado WATCH means a tornado is possible in your area. When a tornado WARNING is issued, go to the safe place you picked to protect yourself from glass and other flying objects. If you are outside, hurry to the basement of a nearby sturdy building or lie flat in a ditch or low-lying area. If you are in a car or mobile home, get out immediately and head for safety. • Preparing for High Winds: Make trees more wind resistant by removing diseased and damaged limbs, then strategically removing branches so that wind can blow through. Install permanent shutters on your windows and add protection to the outside areas of sliding glass doors. Strengthen garage doors and unreinforced masonry. Move or secure lawn furniture, outdoor decorations or ornaments, trash cans, hanging plants and anything else that can be picked up by wind and become a projectile. • Avoid all floodwaters: Do not drive into flood waters; they can be deceptively deep and fast moving. When a flood warning is issued listen to local TV and radio for updates on road closings and evacuations. If a flash flood watch is issued be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice. Your Help is Needed All Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by the voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the Red Cross assist victims of this and thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. Contributions can be made via website, www.redcrossstl.org, by calling 314.516.2800, or by mailing to American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, 10195 Corporate Square, St. Louis, MO 63132. About the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter Founded in 1917, the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter provides emergency and preparedness assistance more than 372,000 times each year. The Red Cross depends on the efforts of 12,900 volunteers and 150 staff to provide a wide range of community support services, including disaster relief, First Aid and CPR training, water safety, adult daytime professional care, services to military personnel, assistance to homeless families, and support for blood services. The Chapter provides programs and services to St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County and Jefferson County in Missouri, as well as Monroe, St. Clair and part of Madison County in Illinois. ###

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