Red Cross Month Retrospective – Disaster Services
The American Red Cross has been helping people during times of disaster since its inception and today responds to nearly 70,000 disasters every year.
Red Cross disaster response goes all the way back to Clara Barton and the beginning of the American Red Cross. The first disaster response was in 1881 when a forest fire in Michigan burned through a million acres in 24 hours. The fire claimed almost 300 lives and left thousands homeless. Red Cross chapters collected food and supplies which were shipped to Michigan to assist the 14,000 people in need of help.
Disaster responses today are both large and small, ranging from a fire damaging a single home to tornadoes, hurricanes and floods which impact entire communities.
Before the Red Cross existed, the U.S. War Department was the main responder to disaster in the country. After the fire in Michigan, the Red Cross proved it could respond to large disasters and President Chester Arthur and the U.S. Senate officially recognized the American Red Cross by signing the Treaty of Geneva on March 16, 1882.
During the years, Red Cross disaster workers have responded to emergencies like the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco which left more than 200,000 people homeless and the flu epidemic in 1918 during which millions succumbed to influenza.
In 1912, Red Cross workers provided relief for the survivors of the Titanic. In 1915, the Red Cross responded when the S.S. Eastland capsized in the Chicago River with 2,000 people aboard, killing 800. In 1923, the Red Cross responded in Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan after a disastrous earthquake. Other responses included flooding along the Mississippi in 1927 and helping victims of the Dust Bowl in 1932. Disaster workers were on the scene after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston in 1942 which killed 494, a massive earthquake in Alaska in 1964 and the destruction in the northeast by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. And on September 11, 2001, disaster workers responded to the terrorist attacks in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The largest single disaster relief effort ever undertaken by the American Red Cross was the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The storm killed nearly 2,000 people and left millions homeless. Hurricanes Rita and Wilma followed soon after, worsening the devastation and leaving behind more than $81 billion in damage.
In the largest sheltering operation in its history, the Red Cross opened nearly 1,400 evacuation shelters in 27 states and the District of Columbia. More than 3.8 million overnight shelter stays were provided. More than 90 kitchens were set up to prepare meals. Five days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, the Red Cross served nearly one million meals in a single day. More than 68 million meals were served during the response.
More than 244,000 disaster workers, 95 percent of them volunteers, responded to help the hurricane survivors. The Red Cross deployed thousands of health and mental health professionals to help the victims of Katrina. Truckload after truckload of food and supplies were shipped into the area. More than 4 million people received emergency assistance.
In October of 2012, the Red Cross began its response to Hurricane Sandy, the largest U.S. response in five years. Powered by more than 17,000 trained workers from all over the country, the response included a huge feeding operation that served more than 17.5 million meals and snacks, 74,000 overnight shelter stays, distribution of more than 7 million relief items and nearly 113,000 health services and emotional support contacts for people who have been living in very tough conditions.
The Red Cross continues to help people affected by Sandy today. Trained Red Cross workers are meeting with those in need, providing case management and financial assistance to help with security and utility deposits, home repairs and rent as well as linking them to available social service programs.
The Red Cross is working with government and community partners to provide assistance to those that need it most. In addition, the Red Cross has given grants to a number of nonprofits working in New Jersey and New York to help people with home repairs, mold remediation, food, financial assistance and financial counseling.
Article from redcross.org.
