Central Valley volunteers aid Hurricane Helene victims

FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – Central Valley volunteers are chipping in a nationwide effort to help the people affected by Hurricane Helene.

Hurricane Helene has already killed more than 215 people and cut thousands off from energy. 50,000 utility workers from at least 40 states and Canada are in the southeast restoring power – 400 of them are PG&E workers.

“Within the last 24 to 36 hours is when it was determined that we were going to send PG&E crews there,” said Jeff Smith, PG&E spokesperson. “These are mostly electric crews, not gas crews. And they’re just going to be going to locations and restoring the power. It’s a great commonality among utilities in order to try and make sure that customers, wherever they may be, have those types of essential services.”

Fresno volunteers with the American Red Cross are already in North Carolina, which is one of the hardest hit states by Hurricane Helene.

“People have come into our shelters with nothing but the clothes on their backs. And so right now, you know, we’re just making sure their basic immediate needs are met,” said Taylor Poisall with the Red Cross.

The plan is to continue to send more people to aid relief efforts. In total, 10 Central Valley Red Cross volunteers are in the south.

“Some are supervising shelters. Some are making sure our more than 1,200 people have a safe place to sleep at night. And we have others who are manning logistics or community relations,” Poisall said.

To learn how to help people affected by the hurricane, visit the Red Cross website.

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