Red Cross focuses on Haitian recovery efforts as it prepares for Hurricane Matthew heading to U.S. coast

Record ID: 84611

  • Title: Red Cross focuses on Haitian recovery efforts as it prepares for Hurricane Matthew heading to U.S. coast
  • Date: 6th October 2016
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A. (OCTOBER 6, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SUZY DEFRANCIS, CHIEF PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER, AMERICAN RED CROSS, SAYING: "One of the things we have done in the wake of the earthquake was to try to enhance their resiliency for disasters. We tried to give them information about evacuation routes and how to get away from them, we tried to reinforce homes, the roofs on homes so they wouldn't be blown off, we have dug trenches so that water can be drained away from communities. A lot of work has been done to try to prepare them for this type of disaster." DEFRANCIS WALKING WITH CO-WORKERS IN OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SUZY DEFRANCIS, CHIEF PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER, AMERICAN RED CROSS, SAYING: "Well of course, there's this very large storm going up the east coast and it's likely to affect Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, maybe North Carolina, so the Red Cross has been preparing for days to open shelters all up and down that coast. Last night, we had about 86 shelters open. We had about 3,600 people in those shelters and we expect that number to maybe double as the storm begins to affect Florida and those states." VARIOUS OF AMERICAN RED CROSS SIGN AND DOOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) SUZY DEFRANCIS, CHIEF PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER, AMERICAN RED CROSS, SAYING: "We open shelters and evacuation centers before the storm hits so people will have a safe place to stay as the storm goes through. Then after that, we go out and we try to assess the damage: how many homes are destroyed, do people have places to go back to. If they don't, our shelters will remain open so people can have a place to get meals and sleep and take care of their family. We also go out into neighborhoods and we provide hot meals in mobile trucks that go around through neighborhoods and we will be doing that. We have about 90 of those vehicles on stand-by for after the disaster. And then we will also be distributing clean-up supplies. People need, if there's flooding, they need bleach, they need mops, they need all sorts of supplies and we deliver those into neighborhoods as well." VARIOUS OF FRONT OF AMERICAN RED CROSS HEADQUARTERS RED CROSS ON BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 21st October 2016 22:38
  • Keywords: Hurricane Matthew hurricane storm Unite States
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A. AND NORD-OUEST, HAITI
  • City: WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A. AND NORD-OUEST, HAITI
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wind/Hurricane/Typhoons/Tornadoes
  • Reuters ID: LVA00452VDGLJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As Hurricane Matthew's death toll rose to at least 140 people in the Caribbean, mainly Haiti, the Red Cross simultaneously prepared disaster relief for the stricken Caribbean nation and set up shelters in the U.S.
    The Category 4 storm pounded Haiti earlier this week, leaving a trail of destruction and isolated communities in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.
    American Red Cross Chief Public Affairs Officer Suzy DeFrancis on Thursday (October 6) said the organization works with over 50 relief and NGO organizations in Haiti, but primarily supports the local Red Cross.
    "We will be helping to support the Haitian Red Cross which has thousands of volunteers throughout the country and one of the things we will be doing in the beginning is getting those communications systems up; we will bring in technology to help do that. We also have warehouses with relief supplies that we will be distributing. Some of the needs that families may have are kitchen kits so they can cook meals, any kind of hygiene kits and then we are most worried about cholera, so we will be helping to distribute aqua tabs to purify the water," she said.
    At least 15,000 people are currently staying in Red Cross shelters in Haiti, DeFrancis said, adding that the organization has maintained an ongoing presence in the country since the devastating 2010 earthquake that left 200,000 dead.
    She said that because of Haiti's vulnerability to natural disasters, the Red Cross has been working with them on emergency preparedness.
    "One of the things we have done in the wake of the earthquake was to try to enhance their resiliency for disasters, We tried to give them information about evacuation routes and how to get away from them, we tried to reinforce homes, the roofs on homes so they wouldn't be blown off, we have dug trenches so that water can be drained away from communities. A lot of work has been done to try to prepare them for this type of disaster," she added.
    Matthew, the first major hurricane threatening a direct hit on the United States in more than 10 years, pounded the northwestern part of the island chain en route to Florida's Atlantic coast with winds of 140 mph (220 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
    The storm was likely to remain a Category 4 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity as it approached the United States, where it could either take direct aim at Florida or tear along the state's coast through Friday night, the center said, warning of "potentially disastrous impacts."
    Roads in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina were jammed, and gas stations and food stores ran out of supplies as the storm approached.
    Florida Governor Rick Scott warned there could be "catastrophic" damage if Matthew slammed directly into the state and urged some 1.5 million people there to evacuate.
    DeFrancis said the Red Cross has opened shelters all along the southeastern coast for evacuees.
    "Well of course, there's this very large storm going up the east coast and it's likely to affect Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, maybe North Carolina, so the Red Cross has been preparing for days to open shelters all up and down that coast. Last night, we had about 86 shelters open. We had about 3,600 people in those shelters and we expect that number to maybe double as the storm begins to affect Florida and those states," she said.
    She said the organization is prepared to help affected communities before, during and after the storm.
    "We open shelters and evacuation centers before the storm hits so people will have a safe place to stay as the storm goes through. Then after that, we go out and we try to assess the damage: how many homes are destroyed, do people have places to go back to. If they don't, our shelters will remain open so people can have a place to get meals and sleep and take care of their family. We also go out into neighborhoods and we provide hot meals in mobile trucks that go around through neighborhoods and we will be doing that. We have about 90 of those vehicles on stand-by for after the disaster. And then we will also be distributing clean-up supplies. People need, if there's flooding, they need bleach, they need mops, they need all sorts of supplies and we deliver those into neighborhoods as well," she added.
    It was too soon to predict where Matthew might do the most of its damage in the United States, but the NHC's hurricane warning extended up the Atlantic coast from southern Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina. More than 12 million people in the United States were under hurricane watches and warnings, according to the Weather Channel.
    The last major hurricane, classified as a storm bearing sustained winds of more than 110 mph (177 kph), to make landfall on U.S. shores was Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
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