Red Cross Prepares for Massive Relief Response As Hurricane Florence Nears U.S. Coast

Tennessee Red Cross Opens 3 Shelters for Evacuees

September 13, 2018

The American Red Cross is preparing for a large relief effort across multiple states as Hurricane Florence continues its march toward the East Coast. This is a dangerous storm and the Red Cross urges people in its path to obey evacuation orders and get ready now.

Here in Tennessee, the Red Cross is working with partners and government officials to assess the needs of hurricane evacuees as well as TN residents who may be impacted by flooding. On Thursday morning, the Tennessee Red Cross opened the following shelters for evacuees:

Johnson City: Crossroads Christian Church, 1300 Suncrest Drive, Gray, TN 37615

Knoxville: Central Baptist of Bearden, 6300 Deane Hill Dr, Knoxville, TN 37919

Chattanooga: Brainerd Recreation Center, 7745 E. Brainerd Road, Chattanooga TN 37421

Updated information on shelter locations can be found at redcross.org/shelters.

As the storm passes, the Red Cross is preparing to provide shelter for tens of thousands of people until they can return home or find other places to stay.

HOW YOU CAN HELP The Red Cross depends on financial donations to be able to provide disaster relief immediately. Help people affected by Hurricane Florence by visiting redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or texting the word FLORENCE to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from this disaster.

The Red Cross honors donor intent. Donors can designate their donation to Hurricane Florence relief efforts by choosing that option when donating on redcross.org or on 1-800-RED CROSS. The best way to ensure your donation will go to a specific disaster is to write the specific disaster name in the memo line of a check. We also recommend completing and mailing the donation form on redcross.org with your check.

PLEASE GIVE BLOOD The Red Cross has pre-positioned additional blood products and stocked many of our hospitals to capacity in areas of the Southeast likely to be impacted by the storm over the upcoming days. We are prepared to send more blood products to ensure patient needs continue to be met. Ahead of the storm, Red Cross Blood Services employees are also preparing facilities and equipment in case of power outages by ensuring back-up generators are working properly and vehicles are fueled.

We encourage eligible donors in parts of the country unaffected by the storm to give blood or platelets to help ensure a sufficient blood supply. Some Red Cross blood drives have already been cancelled and additional cancellations are expected in the Southeast in the days ahead. Platelet and type O blood donations are especially needed right now. Appointments can be made by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).