Special to the Opelika Observer
On Sunday afternoon, an EF-4 tornado ripped through East Alabama like “a giant knife scraping the ground,” leaving a path of destruction 24 miles long and a mile wide.
This EF-4 was one of numerous tornadoes reported across Alabama, Georgia and Florida on March 3, leading to the deadliest tornado outbreak in the United States in the last six years.
The Red Cross took immediate action in Beauregard and Smiths Station.
Currently, a team of more than 50 Red Cross responders are in Eastern Alabama responding to the tornados – and more are arriving every day. These individuals include Integrated Disaster Care Teams (IDCT) consisting of disaster mental health, health services and disaster spiritual care volunteers – who will be meeting individually with affected families.
DONATED ITEMS
The Red Cross does not need donated items or household goods. In fact, the Lee County Community has been so generous, donated items have taken over some of the spaces that would be allotted for people in need of safe shelter.
People who have lost their homes do not need clothing and household items – they have no home to take them to and no place to store these items. Financial donations are what is really needed now to help the Red Cross serve our neighbors.
OTHER WAYS TO HELP
Become a Red Cross volunteer at http://redcross.org/volunteer.
Download the free Red Cross Emergency App for expert advice at your fingertips, on what to do before, during and after disasters strike.
Take Red Cross training and learn how to save a life with first aid and CPR.
Give blood – the need is constant – find a blood drive at redcrossblood.org.
Make a financial donation to help people affected by this and other disasters at: www.redcross.org.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org.