Hang on to your hats – a lot of people across the country were impacted by severe weather over the weekend.

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We’ll let you know what the American Red Cross did about it by state:

OKLAHOMA – Tornado

Several tornadoes touched down Saturday evening in various locations across the state. The small town of Picher suffered 7 fatalities and had damage spread across a 20 block area. Additional damage ocurred across Ottawa and Delaware Counties. In Welch, there are 20 affected homes. In the jurisdiction of the Southeastern Oklahoma chapter, the town of McAlester has 5 residences destroyed.

The Tulsa Area chapter provided canteen services to the 175 emergency workers and opened a shelter. Disaster Assessment teams went into the affected areas on Sunday and a bulk distribution service site will open today.

MISSOURI – Tornadoes

A tornado touched down in Newton County on Saturday and killed at least 14 people, injured multiple others, and destroyed over 50 homes.

The Greater Ozarks Area Regional Chapter, Springfield, MO, opened 3 shelters, provided canteen services for 175 emergency workers, and set up 3 Emergency Response Vehicle command posts for search and rescue. The chapter partnered with the Salvation Army to provide feeding to the evacuees.

ARKANSAS – Tornadoes

A tornado touched down in the town of Stuttgart in Arkansas County, injuring 3 people and causing damage to several buildings as well as power outages in the south part of town.

The Southeastern Arkansas chapter provided blankets for shelter residents.

GEORGIA – Tornadoes

In the metro Atlanta region, there were tornado touchdowns in Douglas, Carroll, Troup and Clayton counties. In Clayton county a reported 117 homes were affected, with 53 destroyed. The Magnolia chapter in Dublin received reports of 2 housing developments that were destroyed, affecting an unknown number of residents. Both Savannah and Augusta report 5-10 homes with major damage in each of their jurisdictions. Power outage affected some 85,000 people, primarily around Atlanta and Macon. Water service was also disrupted in and around areas of Macon, prompting the mayor to declare a state of emergency. Many roads were closed.

The Altanta chapter provided canteen services for emergency workers in Clayton County. The Central Georgia chapter opened a shelter. Augusta chapter opened a shelter.  All chapters will continue to assist with emergency needs and conduct Disaster Assessment today.  

Florida – Wildfire

Wildfires scorched Volusia and Brevard counties, closing a major interstate and forcing the evacuation of 500 coastal residents.

The Coast to Coast Regional chapter and the Daytona Beach chapter opened a shelter for evacuees and deployed an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) for canteen services and Mass Care supplies.

Filed under: Disaster Response