Hurricane Helene leaves trail of destruction: American Red Cross responds

CAPE GIRARDEAU Mo. (KBSI) – Local teams around the area are picking up the pieces after Hurricane Helene.

The American Red Cross in Missouri and Arkansas are doing everything they can. 

“The damage has been very sad,” said Maxfield.

Nancy Martin Maxfield has been living in Florida for over 20 years. She said this is the second biggest hurricane she has faced. 

Maxfield lives in Springhill Florida which is about 20 miles from where Hurricane Helene came in.

“What we received is what we call rain bands. They came through the area that I live in and what we received was wind and rain,” said Maxfield.

Maxfield has come equipped with generators and her bags are packed if there was ever a need to evacuate but she tries to ride the storm out because she hates leaving her beloved home.

Luckily no damage was done to Maxfield’s home. 

“Luckily we weren’t damaged by any of it at my home but a lot of other people were not that lucky,” said Maxfield.

Maxfield says she is grateful there is help coming from citizens that don’t live in the state of Florida.

“There is help coming from almost every state in the United States,” said Maxfield.

Micheal Sullivan is the Executive Director for the American Red Cross that serves Southeast Missouri and Northeast Arkansas.

Sullivan says help from our area is on the way. 

“The red Cross has had a massive response along a 500-mile path of construction to make sure no one faces this challenge alone and so we’ve sent 900 Red Cross disaster volunteers to assist those local communities and of that 900 we actually sent 45 from the Missouri in Arkansas region and so our community members here are going there to help those communities that are in need,” said Sullivan. 

They join other volunteers from across the country. 

Men and women who have packed their bags to be boots on the ground providing cots, food, and overall, a helping hand. 

“I mean the entire east coast has sent all kinds of workers and helpers down here. The Red Cross is one of the very first people that come to our area. They’re doing everything in their power to help people. The amount of food and clothes that have been pouring in have been more than sufficient to help families at this point. The next thing they are going to need is help and rebuild and that’s costly,” said Maxfield.

Sullivan says he has dealt with several hurricanes in the past and he knows that people suffer with finding shelter in times like this. 

He says he is doing everything he can to ensure members of the Red Cross are there helping the states that suffer such as North Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida. 

“The mission of the red cross is to eliminate human suffering, and we do that through the power of our donors or volunteers in our communities and so when we have needs locally and we know that people will come here to help us and so the reverse is there as well we want to step up and be there for them as well,” said Sullivan. 

The American Red Cross is always looking for volunteers to find out where you can help and get trained, go to redcrossblood. Org.

The Red Cross supplies 40% of the nation’s blood supply and they are in need of blood donors. 

The Red Cross is encouraging people to find a blood drive near you since many blood drives have been canceled due to Hurricane Helene.

You can also help financially by texting HELENE to 90999.