Oregon Red Cross disaster responders help Kilauea victims
Ten disaster responders from the local American Red Cross in Oregon and Southwest Washington (Cascades Region), including a Bend resident, are on the ground in Hawaii, helping communities affected by evacuations from the Kilauea volcano eruption.
Alaina Mayfield of Bend has joined other responders from Burns, Eugene, Klamath Falls, Longview, Monmouth, Portland, Salem, Summerville and Wood Village who are assisting communities affected by evacuations due to the Kilauea volcanic eruptions by working in disaster relief shelters, providing food and water to evacuees and delivering health and mental health services to those displaced.
Red Cross disaster responders are a mix of volunteers and staff, a spokeswoman said. Mayfield is a staff member, she added.
KILAUEA VOLCANO ERUPTIONS & EVACUATIONS – Residents on the Big Island in Hawaii continue to deal with various threats more than three weeks after the Kilauea volcano began erupting.
In addition to ongoing volcanic eruptions, residents are dealing with devastating lava flow, toxic gases and laze, which is made of clouds of toxic gas and steam containing tiny glass particles. The volcano has destroyed more than 40 structures, including more than 24 homes, and has caused power outages, road closures and brush fires. As many as 2,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders and officials say others should be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
RED CROSS RESPONSE – The Red Cross has five shelters open where more than 130 people spent the night on Monday night. Since the volcanic activity began, trained Red Cross workers have provided more than 3,400 overnight stays in shelters and served nearly 14,000 snacks. Red Cross health and mental health volunteers are in the shelters and have already provided more than 2,700 services. In addition, the Red Cross is working with the Salvation Army to provide meals.
People are urged to evacuate if told to do so by officials.
HOW YOU CAN HELP – Please donate to American Red Cross Disaster Relief to help people affected by disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Every single donation brings hope to those in need. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.
STAY IN TOUCH – People can reconnect with loved ones through both the Red Cross Safe and Well website at redcross.org/safeandwell and by using the “I’m Safe” feature of the Red Cross Emergency App. The Safe and Well site allows individuals and organizations to register and post messages to indicate that they are safe or to search for loved ones. The site is always free, open to the public and available in English and Spanish. Registrations and searches can be done directly on the website. Registrations can also be completed by texting SAFE to 78876.
You can download the free Red Cross Emergency App at redcross.org/apps to receive emergency alerts as well as locations of shelters. Users can also find the app in smartphone app stores by searching for the American Red Cross.
