 St. Louis, Friday, October 7, 2005 - The disaster caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is unprecedented in Red Cross history, in terms of the number of people affected, the extent of the area impacted and the scope of the destruction. Katrina alone impacted 15 times the number of families needing assistance after all four hurricanes in 2004. And Rita, which mercifully did not live up to the worst projections, was still bigger than any one of those 2004 hurricanes.
The constant and consistent role of the Red Cross is to provide a safe place for people to stay and to see that their emergency needs are met.
Local Relief Efforts through the St. Louis Area Chapter:
EVACUEES IN ST. LOUIS: Beginning on Wednesday, August 31, St. Louis Area Chapter disaster services opened two Service Center operations, one at Corporate Square and one in Metro East. Through Wednesday, October 5, caseworkers had met with 5,490 people (2,338 families) who made their way to St. Louis from areas affected by Katrina and Rita; Red Cross is providing emergency food, shelter, clothing, prescription medication, mental health counseling, and more based upon the needs of the family. Direct aid disbursed through the St. Louis Area Chapter totals $1.58 million to date. Nearly all evacuees have come to St. Louis because they have family and friends in the area. Red Cross is working with United Way of Greater St. Louis and local agencies to bridge from emergency needs to fulfillment of longer term needs.
VOLUNTEERS: Inspired to help those affected by Katrina’s devastating impact, over 4,000 new volunteers have been processed and offered training through the St. Louis Area Chapter. Expanded volunteer training opportunities began last week (20 new classes were offered last week alone); 617 people registered for the classes. More than 371 new volunteers have already attended orientation, with 262 people immediately available for deployment (70%).
VOLUNTEERS IN AFFECTED AREAS: The St. Louis Area Chapter has sent 31 highly trained disaster volunteers and staff to the affected areas along the Gulf Coast; 330 more trained disaster volunteers are on stand-by for deployment beginning next week. Each volunteer serves a 2-3 week assignment. Chapter CEO Joe White is currently on a 2-week assignment to Baton Rouge serving as Organization Administrator for Red Cross Disaster Relief Headquarters for Louisiana.
PHONE BANK: Opened Tuesday, August 30, our toll-free phone bank was open for 18 days, staffed by nearly 200 people and serving over 8,200 callers. While many calls were from those who offered help (volunteer, donate, give blood), 13 percent of calls were from evacuees seeking help. While the phone bank has been deactivated, the toll free number remains active and is forwarded to and handled by our front office team.
ON-LINE ACTIVITY: Over 60,000 unique visitors visited the St. Louis Area Chapter web site, with over 2.8 million hits in the first 30 days. Through the Chapter web site, nearly 2,500 people submitted Volunteer Applications; more than 2,100 people made on-line donations, totaling $267,000.
DONATIONS: Through the generosity of individuals, community groups, corporations and foundations, the St. Louis Area Chapter has received over $13 million in contributions and pledges for hurricane relief efforts. While always thankful for all donations to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina, Red Cross is encouraging the community to also give to the United Way which supports many local organizations involved in the hurricane relief efforts.
QUICK REFERENCE: Red Cross contact information for the St. Louis area:
• For all inquiries—314.516.2800 or www.redcrossstl.org
National Relief Efforts:
SHELTERS: In the largest sheltering operation in its history, the American Red Cross has housed more than 400,000 survivors in more than 1,150 shelters across 27 states. As of Wednesday, October 5, more than 30,000 survivors were finding safety, food, water and comfort in 292 shelters. In addition, over 464,000 people in all 50 states were able to get hotel accommodations on their own, but were not able to return home right away and are exhausting their financial resources; Red Cross is covering the hotel costs for these families for a period of time and hopes to be reimbursed for this service by FEMA.
MEALS: Over the last six weeks, the American Red Cross, in partnership with the Southern Baptist Convention and others, has served over 20 million hot meals and another 13.2 million snacks to survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. On Sept. 3, the fifth day after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, the Red Cross handed out 995,969 meals – nearly four times the previous record of 276,000 meals in one day during the aftermath of last year’s hurricanes.
EMERGENCY SERVICES: In addition to providing more than 3.1 million overnight stays in shelters, preparing and distributing food and water, and processing and distributing supplies, the Red Cross has distributed more than $715 million in direct financial assistance for more than 721,000 families (2.3 million people). Assistance is provided in a variety of ways including client assistance cards, vouchers, checks and cash for survivors to purchase essential items; tens of millions of dollars of assistance continues to be provided each day. More than 522,300 survivors have received Red Cross mental health services, prescription replacement and first aid services delivered by trained mental health services and volunteer nurses.
VOLUNTEERS: More than 174,000 Red Cross relief workers have come from every corner of the United States to join thousands of local volunteers who responded immediately to help their neighbors in impacted areas. With tens of thousands of families needing our assistance for the foreseeable future, the Red Cross is rapidly augmenting its cadre of trained disaster volunteers by recruiting and training 40,000 new volunteers from across the country.
PHONE LINES: In a continuing effort to help as many evacuees as possible, the Red Cross Katrina and Rita Financial Assistance Center has been established to handle casework via phone, 1.800.975.7585. This service handled 14,584 calls in the past twenty-four hour period and has received 578,811 calls to date related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The number of call agents taking calls in the last 24 hours was 460.
FAMILY LINKING: Evacuees and loved ones separated by this disaster can go to www.redcross.org or call 1.877.LOVED.1S. Over 288,000 people are now registered on the Red Cross Family Links Registry. In order to connect with all other linking registries, the American Red Cross recently partnered with Microsoft and the San Diego Super Computer Center to create KatrinaSafe.org, a super-list database that includes all names submitted through Red Cross on-line, by phone or through the registry of other web sites run by many organizations.
DONATIONS: Through September 30, the Red Cross had received $1.125 billion in contributions and pledges. Approximately $1.21 billion has already been spent or committed to meet the emergency needs in the wake of Katrina; of this, more than $715 million in direct financial assistance has been provided for more than 721,000 families (2.3 million people). At least 91 cents of every dollar donated to the American Red Cross goes directly to assist disaster victims. Charity Navigator awarded the Red Cross four-stars, its highest rating for donor stewardship, for the fourth year in a row.
To help the survivors in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the American Red Cross estimates that more than $2 billion will be needed. We expect to meet the emergency needs of nearly one million people in three key areas:
1. The Red Cross will spend an estimated $744 million in food and shelter operations, including hot meals, snacks, drinks, cots, blankets, and supplies;
2. We are planning to give more than $1.4 billion in direct emergency financial assistance to individuals and families; and
3. We plan to provide $78.4 million in disaster-related physical and mental heath services, including replacing prescription medications, using our network of nurses and trained mental health counselors.
Red Cross has no intention of raising a single dollar more than needed for the 2005 Hurricane Response, and will announce when sufficient funds have been raised, as was done most recently for the Tsunami Relief Effort. Survivors will require the engagement of the entire charity sector, community groups and government at every level; therefore, Red Cross is urging the community to also support the United Way and the many charities engaged in long-term relief. In as much, Red Cross adopted a policy two weeks ago to not be the sole beneficiary of any hurricane relief telethons, instead insisting that they benefit the wider charitable community.
BRIDGE OF SUPPORT: Red Cross is expediting resources to serve as the bridge of assistance to meet disaster needs until local, state and federal aid is available. We are working with government and other agencies and charities to assess longer term needs.
QUICK REFERENCE: Red Cross national hotline information:
• For evacuee casework--1.800.975.7585
• For donations of time and resources--1.800.HELP.NOW
• For any general information--1.866.GET.INFO
• For blood donations--1.800.GIVE.LIFE
• For family linking--1.877.LOVED.1S
• All of these sources are available on line at www.redcross.org
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