Back St. Louis, Monday, August 29, 2005 – In the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s second U.S. landfall as a devastating Category 4 storm, the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter is dispatching an additional 8 volunteers on Tuesday to assist in the ongoing recovery effort. Most of these volunteers will report to a staging area in Houston, Texas prior to receiving their specific assignments throughout the impacted areas of the Gulf Coast.  Tuesday’s round of deployments brings the total number of local St. Louis area volunteers responding to Hurricane Katrina to 20. Red Cross volunteers provide the necessary resources to help disaster victims begin their recovery in the immediate aftermath of disasters and emergencies by establishing and managing emergency shelters, providing mental health counseling, and coordinating the distribution of food and clothing.  Locally, more than 100 volunteers are specially trained to respond to large-scale disasters nationwide.  Deployments typically last as long as three weeks.  “Preparation for disasters like Hurricane Katrina begins long before these storms make landfall,” said Mary Anderson, manager of disaster response for the St. Louis Area Chapter.  “The American Red Cross relies on the dedicated service of our volunteers, who are often the first link to emergency assistance.  Our volunteers exemplify the mission of the American Red Cross by remaining ready to help prevent, prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies.” In addition to volunteer deployment, the St. Louis Area Chapter has also dispatched an emergency response vehicle to South Florida to assist in feeding hundreds of disaster victims impacted by the strong winds and severe flooding.  These vehicles have the capacity to serve 600 meals at a time, and travel into the most severely impacted neighborhoods.  To date, the Red Cross has sheltered approximately 30,000 evacuees throughout Florida and the coastal areas of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. National Preparedness Month: On September 1, the American Red Cross is launching the second-annual National Preparedness Month, in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security, to emphasize the fundamental importance of preparing our homes, schools and working environments for potential disasters and emergencies.  The recent landfall of Hurricane Katrina is the latest example of the need to be as ready as possible by embracing preparedness as a personal priority. National polling conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide and the American Red Cross indicates that only 2 in 10 Americans feel prepared for a major disaster or emergency, yet 82% say they would get prepared if they knew what to do.  As a result, to help in the effort, the Red Cross introduced the five simple and important steps of the Together We Prepare initiative: 1.) make an emergency plan, 2.) build a disaster supplies kit, 3.) get trained in lifesaving CPR and First Aid, 4.) volunteer in the community and 5.) give the gift of life through regular blood donation. For More Information: Red Cross emergency services are provided free of charge, thanks to generous support from the American people, foundations, corporations, agencies and the United Way.  To make a financial contribution, to learn more about the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief operation, or for additional information on how to personally prepare for the unexpected by embracing the simple steps of Together We Prepare, please call the St. Louis Area Chapter at 314.516.2800 or log on to www.redcrossstl.org. 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 397,000 times each year. The Red Cross depends on the efforts of thousands of volunteers and 140 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 (including Scott Air Force Base) and part of Madison County in Illinois. # # #

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