Hurricane help: Best ways to lend a hand after the storm
Sitting somewhere safe and dry wondering how to help friends, family or strangers beset by the ravages of Hurricane Mathew? There are lots of ways to lend a hand – but relief workers say some gestures are more helpful than others.
While the storm sideswiped Florida’s Atlantic coast early Friday – flooding streets, knocking down trees and cutting power to more than a million homes – it crippled Haiti, leaving hundreds dead and thousands homeless, and hit the Bahamas and Cuba hard. Authorities are warning that a serious flooding threat still exists for Georgia and South Carolina, as the most powerful hurricane the Atlantic Seaboard has seen in over ten years continues its northerly path.
It will take a while for the damage to be assessed in areas already hit and to know what people need, American Red Cross spokesperson Dan Halyburton told CBS News.
“Hurricanes are a little different from other disasters because you just don’t know what the damage is going to look like until you get the light of day and go back to the area,” said Halyburton, speaking early Friday afternoon from Cocoa, Florida, in Brevard County, where the winds were still too strong for the organization to make assessments.
He said they’ll get a sense of how many people are displaced and in need of longer-term shelters to help them make plans, and then the cleanup will start when the winds die down.
In the meantime, people living in unaffected areas can help out in lots of ways, including donating blood, said Halyburton. It’s not because there is increased demand at this point due to hurricane-related injuries, he explained, but because regular blood donors in the storm zone have been displaced and won’t be able to give until they return home and are back to their normal routines.
The Red Cross says Hurricane Matthew forced the cancellation of about a dozen blood drives in South Carolina, resulting in about 570 donations going uncollected. Dozens more blood drive cancellations are possible depending on the path and impact of the storm. The Red Cross is also at risk of being unable to collect more than 100 platelet donations if donation centers are forced to close over the next few days. Platelets are a key clotting component of blood often needed by cancer patients – they have to be transfused within five days of donation and are always in demand.
Money donations are most appreciated and can be made at RedCross.org, or you can give specifically to people affected by the Hurricane by calling 1-800-RED CROSS or texting the word MATTHEW to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
Halyburton suggested you can also donate to other reputable organizations that work closely with the Red Cross, including the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, which works in crisis situations across the country, and The Salvation Army.
Other types of donations, though well-intentioned, can actually complicate relief efforts. While it may be tempting to send blankets and toothbrushes and the like, Halyburton said, “Don’t send stuff. People want to help and do things because they feel this in their heart” but handling all those personally-donated supplies actually requires more manpower, he said.
To help victims in Haiti, you can donate to The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which is working to provide medical aid, shelter, water and sanitation to tens of thousands of people in the storm-ravaged southwestern area of the country.
Another well-regarded nonprofit working in Haiti is Partners In Health, which has been providing medical care in the country for almost 30 years.
“We are moving as quickly as we can to mobilize medical staff and supplies to those most in need in Haiti, particularly in the South,” Dr. Charles-Patrick Almazor, chief medical officer in Haiti for Partners in Health, said in a press statement. “The loss of life, damage and destruction is overwhelming.”
“Haiti is in desperate need of help,” he added.
Practical and emotional support
For those who have friends or family members in areas affected by the storm, there’s a natural urge to reach out and lend a hand on a more personal or emotional level, said Dr. Victor Fornari, director of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, New York, and the Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park.
“Speak to friends and family in the affected area and encourage them to heed the recommendations of the local authorities,” he advised.
After the danger has passed, offer reassuring words to help ease anxieties.
If their property or home was damaged or destroyed, they may need practical support while they make insurance claims and arrange for alternate living options. Help them navigate the process.
“Be in close touch and help to problem-solve with them about what they need to do. It may be they want some concrete support. You can say, I’ll come down to help you, or I will send you some money, or I will arrange a hotel for you until we can find other shelter,” he said.
Elderly people may be especially rattled if they’ve been evacuated, even if it was just for a day or two.
“Make sure they have access to their medications and that they’re taking their medications, and that they are taking them as directed. Because they are upset, their whole routine is disrupted. They may leave their 7-day pill box behind,” Fornari explained.
If you can’t connect with a loved one via email or phone or social media immediately after the storm, check with friends in nearby towns that may not have lost power, suggested Fornari. “Ask them to send emails out and ask if anybody has information about your friends or family, and ask them to contact you if they see them.”
Friends who’ve had property damage may need help, too, but may not want to ask. Fornari said, “Ask, ‘Is there’s anything I can do for the kids? Anything I can send? Send an Amazon gift card or a new piece of equipment? Was your cellphone damaged in the storm?’”
If you know parents who will be preoccupied with post-storm cleanup and home repairs – which can last weeks or months – who have young children and teens, send supportive notes and care packages to boost the kids’ spirits and give their parents time to take care of things.
“Games, snack foods, art supplies, coloring books. They can help children release some anxiety,” he said.