Valley Red Cross volunteers head to Florida for Hurricane Milton aid

FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – Local Red Cross chapters in the Valley and around the country are preparing their response to Hurricane Milton set to hit the Florida coast in just a matter of days.

A total of 30 American Red Cross volunteers from the Valley are already out East providing aid to those hit hardest by Hurricane Helene. Now that a second hurricane is expected to hit Florida, more people from the Valley are on their way to the area.

Nicole Maul is one of eight members of the local Red Cross who are flying to Florida Tuesday to help people in the path of Hurricane Milton.

“Knowing what’s ahead makes my heart race a little bit, but there is a sense of pride in being able to help where help is needed,” Maul said.

Maul and the rest of the team will land in Tallahassee on Tuesday afternoon and wait out the storm from there. Once Milton clears they will travel to the areas hit hardest by the storm.

“For me, my focus there is to help communicate out what the Red Cross is doing to help those who have been impacted,” Maul said. “What we’ve already seen so far from Helene and other disasters, is we know there is a great need for this.”

For Maul, this is not the first time heading to a disaster zone; she has served at several wildfire shelters here in California and was also on the ground in Louisiana in 2021 after Hurricane Ida decimated the area and claimed lives.

“Just because you have been to one disaster doesn’t mean you have seen everything that a disaster can bring. I know a lot of folks in Florida are preparing for the worst-case scenario right now and anything we can do to help is really important,” Maul said.

Those who want to help without traveling to the storm zone can do so by donating here .

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