Maryland Red Cross Volunteers Continue Support Of Hurricane Victims, In Wake Of Irma
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Volunteers from Maryland are now helping hundreds of thousands of evacuees, avoiding in shelters in Florida.
Jonathan McCall has more with the support they're receiving.
Dozens of Red Cross volunteers from Maryland are volunteering at shelters in Florida and Georgia, many of them went straight there after helping victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas.
Arriving at Florida's doorstep in the middle of the night, packing winds of more than 120 miles an hour, people in Florida took no chances when it came to Hurricane Irma.
The monster 400-mile-wide storm swallowed both coasts of the sunshine state sent people seeking shelter.
"We're providing housing for those who have been displaced, as well as food and medical needs," says Jason Marshall, with Southern Maryland Red Cross.
Now, dozens of Red Cross volunteers from Maryland are on the ground providing aid, comfort, and relief to hundreds of thousands of evacuees in Florida and in Georgia.
"Right now in Georgia specifically, we have a little more than 40 shelters and in the shelters, we have about 6500 people," he says.
According to the Red Cross, more than 208,000 people across six states, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are packed into shelters.
The majority of them are in soaked Florida.
Mashall says the volunteers are critical for accomplishing the mission.
"These people are extremely dedicated and a lot of them go when called," he says.
Many of the Maryland volunteers came directly to Florida and Georgia, right after helping victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas.
Marshall says Maryland volunteers will be on the ground for a while.
"It's an ongoing operation, it will be for a few weeks," he says.
The Red Cross is still helping some 7,500 people still in Texas shelters after Hurricane Harvey.
To donate to the Red Cross and help their efforts with Harvey and Irma victims CLICK HERE.
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