Fast Facts - Washington State Flood ResponseFast Facts for American Red Cross Disaster Relief in Southwest Washington

	Currently	To Date
Shelters Open	5	12
Overnight Stays in Shelters	80	1,112
Fixed Feeding Sites	0	15
Meals and Snacks Served	7,167
Red Cross Disaster Workers	291	291
Emergency Response Vehicles	14	16
Calls to 1-866-GET-INFO line	27	239

Individual Assistance and Emotional Support Available

The American Red Cross will open a Service Center on Sunday, December 9 to provide assistance to individuals and families affected by the Washington flood. This center will allow people who live in affected areas to meet one-on-one with a Red Cross caseworker to discuss their immediate emergency disaster-caused needs.

Location:

Bethel Church

132 Kirkland Road

Chehalis, WA 98532

Hours of Operation:

Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

At Red Cross service centers, trained relief workers — including nurses, crisis counselors and caseworkers — will talk confidentially with residents affected by the flood. The Red Cross may be able to help disaster victims with the means to pay for what they need most: groceries, clothing, rent and essential household items. Additionally, Red Cross health nurses assess sanitary conditions, assist with disaster-related minor injuries and illnesses and may help victims replace eyeglasses, dentures, hearing aids or prescriptions lost in the disaster. Individuals or families who apply to the Red Cross for assistance must bring with them some form of identification showing their address, as proof that they lived in the area affected by the disaster. Those who are unable to get to the service center can call the Red Cross disaster assistance hotline at 1-866-GET-INFO.

American Red Cross Video Feeds Now Available

All material from ARC video crews is available for viewing and download via our FTP site.

To access the FTP site go to:

www.videobluemoon.com/login.php

In the e-mail address field, type oregonflood (as written: lower case – one word)

Password: redcross (again, as written)

In the index page that follows, just click on the link for the video you want to see.

A page will build (after a few moments) that includes a viewing frame with a still image from the video.  To view the video, just click on the image. QuickTime must be installed on the computer for this video to be seen. (most computers used by TV personnel will have it installed) It’s a free plug-in from Apple available at www.apple.com.

The video can either be viewed for preview, or downloaded by newsroom personnel for broadcast. The video is a MPEG-2 program stream file – high resolution for broadcast.

Holiday Joy - Delivered

Imagine if Santa pulled up for Christmas this year in a Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle. He’s not at your house to place toys under the tree or eat cookies left by the fire, but delivering warm meals and a smile to children and families who have lost so much to the Washington flood. Red Cross volunteers, Rob Fuller and Tom Brock, have left the warm weather and their own holiday celebrations behind in Tucson, Arizona to be the one’s delivering those much needed meals and smiles.

The Red Cross Family

A little over two years ago, before she became a mom, Veronica Jackson volunteered at a Red Cross shelter following Hurricane Katrina. Now, as the floods strike her own home in Lewis County, Wash., she is grateful that Red Cross could be there for her family just as they were for so many families in the Gulf Coast. Since the beginning of the week, the American Red Cross has provided families like the Jackson’s with warm meals, a safe place to stay, clean clothes and emotional support. Veronica wants her neighbors to know that “if you’re in trouble, contact the Red Cross and they will be there to help.”

If you need assistance, please call 1-866-GET-INFO

American Red Cross Provides Tips for Safety, Repair and Clean Up

The American Red Cross offers the following tips for those affected by this week’s storms and floods in Washington state and Oregon. Many people are expected to do without power for the coming days as power outages continue to plague parts of southwest Washington and northwest Oregon. Hundreds of Red Cross volunteers are among the neighbors helping neighbors get through this crisis at a time when most would be gearing up for holiday celebrations.

A Life-Saving Interruption

When the Sheriff’s department knocked on their door at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the Lopez’s had no idea the water had gotten so high. It was so high, in fact, that it was up to their hips and above their 6-year-old’s head.  With less than 20 minute’s notice, the Lopez’s had to leave their home and nearly all of their belongings, including their new mini-van. Rescuers swiftly lifted the children into a boat and secured their life vests as the couple waded out in the chilly water. They were immediately taken to a Red Cross shelter at the Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds and given warm blankets. All Anel and Leonel Lopez had left was comfort in knowing their four children, all under the age of 10, were safe.

“They’ve made us feel so comfortable and really help take care of the kids needs; they even make them laugh,” said Anel of the Red Cross shelter workers.  “For me, that’s the most important thing that the kids get what they want.”

Anel said that the volunteers at the shelter made them so comfortable that the only thing her children were missing from home was their Christmas tree. The table full of games and toys in the shelter served as a nice distraction to everyone in the family though. Their 8-year-old son, also named Leonel, is unable to return to school due to the flood damage, but grateful for the extra quality time with his parents and siblings. The Red Cross volunteers called his dad’s employer after the flood to let them know he was safe, but couldn’t return to work because their van was trapped by the standing water still surrounding their home. Together, they spent much of the day challenging each other to matches of Trouble, a board game donated to the shelter by a local community member. In the true spirit of the holidays, the Lopez’s are counting their blessings and hoping when they are able to return home their Christmas tree is there to greet them.

Red Cross Flood Relief Headquarters Relocates

Today, the American Red Cross headquarters for flood relief in Western Washington moved to Tumwater, Wash. The State of Washington generously donated space at its printing facility on New Market Boulevard to accommodate more than 400 volunteers, dozens of vehicles and pallets of relief supplies. From here, the Red Cross will launch its Emergency Response Vehicles, delivering meals to emergency crews and those cleaning up their homes as well as dozens of outreach teams that will visit with individuals and families to help them begin the recovery process.

Use of Safe and Well website encouraged

The American Red Cross continues to provide relief to residents affected by the flooding throughout Western Washington and urges residents to register on the Safe and Well list. Concerned family and friends can search the list of those who have registered themselves as “safe and well” and obtain a much-needed peace of mind. The Chehalis Timberland Library and Techline, a technology company in Aberdeen, are allowing friends and family members without power to access the Safe and Well Web site from their computer terminals. If you are unable to travel call someone to register for you. To register visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767) for assistance from a Red Cross agent, or visit the following locations.

Chehalis Timberland Library
350 N. Market Blvd.
Chehalis, WA 98532-0419

Hours: Tuesday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The library is located across the street from the Red Cross shelter at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Chehalis.

Techline

914 E. Wishkah

Aberdeen, WA 98520

Hours: Thursday until 5 p.m., Friday & Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Techline is running on generator power so the available hours are subject to change.

The company is located across the street from Wal Mart in Aberdeen.

You can help with Red Cross recovery efforts in Pacific Northwest

Many Washington residents have inquired about where they can donate clothing and household goods so those affected by the flood can return to normalcy as soon as possible after the flood waters recede. Many community organizations, including the American Red Cross, are not accepting donations of individual items, such as food, clothing, furniture and cleaning supplies, because it is logistically impossible to distribute a wide variety of individual items in a meaningful and responsible way. Some donations, though well-intentioned, have hidden costs and pose many complications. You can, however, support your community by donating these items to an organization that is not participating in relief efforts and is equipped to put them to the best possible local use.

 

The best way to help those affected by this and other disasters is to make a financial contribution to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Monetary contributions enable organizations, like the American Red Cross, to purchase the most urgently needed items as close to the disaster site as possible. Purchasing near the disaster site ensures supplies get to those affected as quickly as possible, without delay and hefty transportation costs. And because communities hit by disasters generally experience significant economic loss, buying goods locally also helps to stimulate a weakened economy and support area businesses.

 

Monetary contributions can be made to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund by calling 1-800-Red Cross or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). You can also make a secure online credit card contribution by visiting: www.redcross.org.