‘We’re also here to provide hope’: Virginia Red Cross prepares to help victims of Hurricane Milton in Florida

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Just a few weeks after Hurricane Helene tore through parts of Virginia and North Carolina, the American Red Cross in Virginia is now readying itself to respond to Hurricane Milton.

Jonathan McNamara, the communications director for the American Red Cross’ Virginia region, said that the organization is ready to respond to respond to Milton with the same vigor it used to respond to Helene in September.

“Fortunately, we’ve been in preparations for this, but I want to be crystal clear: this is a challenge for the Red Cross,” McNamara said. “This is a storm that has historic potential. The goal of the Red Cross is to make sure that it doesn’t [impact operations].”

The Red Cross was already down in Florida for Helene after it initially made landfall there. Now, volunteers like Katie Niehoff are keeping their sleeves rolled up in anticipation of an extended stay.

“We’re in the process of standing back up — making sure that we have sheltering and feeding [available] for those that are still [facing] the impacts of Helene and now facing the impacts of what this next storm will bring,” Niehoff said.

Niehoff has been in Tallahassee, Florida for almost two weeks. Her deployment was already extended.

“We’re coming into a time in that community when they have faced their worst days,” Niehoff said. “[We’re focused on] remembering that not only are we here to provide shelter and food, we’re also here to provide hope.”

McNamara said that, as of Oct. 8, there are over 2,000 Red Cross volunteers responding to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

But both officials like McNamara and volunteers like Niehoff said that it will take more than the assistance of the Red Cross to get this job done.

“What’s really been just great to see is how many organizations are here working together,” Niehoff said.

“No one organization can respond to the needs of these communities after an event of this magnitude,” McNamara said. “It’s going to take governments, it’s going to take churches, it’s going to take local volunteers — but we all work together to try to get this right.”

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