>> RCO story

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.

Mom made sure I was up, fed and to school on time everyday. She maneuvered my brother, sister and me around all week to play practice and friend’s houses. When we went to the beach she made sure we had 30 SPF sun block and every time we took a long road trip, she’d make sure to pack enough snacks (healthy if possible) to last the journey.

I’m sure there are countless other things Mom did unbeknownst to me to keep our family safe, healthy and on track.

I think it’s in a mother’s genes to help prepare their children for the world, so it’s only natural that they take the lead in preparing their households for unexpected emergencies.

And one way to get better prepared is by making a disaster supplies kit as these mothers have done:

• Momformation
• SV Moms
• Bluntmoney
• Dura Mater

So have you made your kit yet? And how have (would) you personalized yours?

Photos from Myanmar taken by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Myanmar.

Below is the info we’re receiving as of now (it’s all subject to change).

• Much of the villages in the Ayeyarwady delta have been destroyed.
• According to the International Federation, the most urgent humanitarian needs are access to safe drinking water or purification tablets, cooking sets, hygeine kits, shelter materials, and mosquito nets.
• The first Red Cross flight arrived yesterday from Kuala Lumpur with 6 tons of shelter supplies - tarpualins, plastic sheeting, nails, hammers, ropes and insecticide-treated bed nets. We are expecting a commercial flight to land today with 8 tons of supplies from Kuala Lumpur.
• Yesterday (8 May), in just one area near to the city of Yangon, the Red Cross was able to distribute 15,000 water purification tablets.
• Today (9 May), we are parterning with UNICEF to load two trucks full of relief supplies to distribute in the delta region.

American Red Cross Response:

• American Red Cross is contributing relief supplies valued at up to $250,000 in support of the International Federation’s appeal, and stands ready to mobilize additional assistance as needed.
• The American Red Cross International Disaster Response Unit is mobilizing staff in anticipation of requests for personnel from the International Federation.
• $1 million will be used to procure and distribute relief supplies through a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA).
• The American Red Cross remains in contact with the Federation Asia and Pacific Zone in Kuala Lumpur.
• Please visit RCO for additional information.

1. Stafford County, Virginia - A possible tornado touched down. The Rappahannock Area Chapter opened a shelter for affected residents and served meals and snacks. The chapter is conducting Damage Assessment.
   >> Washington Post article
2. Mississippi - Severe storms affected Lafayette, Lee, Pontotoc, and Itawamba counties. The Northeast Mississippi Regional Chapter responded with supplies and Disaster Assessment.
3. Massachusetts - A train derailed in Essex County and spilled potentially hazardous materials, causing a temporary evacuation of residents in the area. The Mass Bay Chapter and the Merrimack Valley Chapter provided canteen services to the emergency workers, and shelter and meals to affected individuals.
   >>Boston Globe article
   >>Eagle Tribune article

I’ve been working from American Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C. for the past few weeks, helping to plan for World Red Cross Red Crescent Day, marking the birth of Henry Dunant, the founder of what is now the largest humanitarian network in the world. And no matter how much I planned for today, I can’t take one ounce of credit for how, in the face of a devastating disaster, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has honored Dunant’s legacy.

Today, we saw his vision in action. The American Red Cross stands ready to provide $1.25 million in aid and supplies to the Myanmar Red Cross as they cope with the growing needs. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies just received word that its shipment of shelter kits (tarps, hammers, ropes and other items needed for temporary cover) landed in Yangon and will soon be distributed by the Myanmar Red Cross to the cyclone survivors. And joining the American Red Cross and the International Federation today in supporting the Myanmar Red Cross are the Japanese Red Cross, British Red Cross and Swiss Red Cross societies.

We also learned today, J. Armand Musey is preparing to summit Mt. Everest, a climb that will benefit the American Red Cross International Relief Fund, a gift that will allow us to quickly launch a response to this disaster as well as future international crises.

>>Listen to him explain why he is raising money for this cause.

It feels strange to write this while so many are suffering in Myanmar.  We will have more posts about the American and International response to the cyclone today.

But, if you’re a hotmail user, this is pretty much the easiest way I can imagine for you to become involved in the American Red Cross, and we want to make sure you know that you can now donate to the Red Cross by sending Hotmail email in addition to IMing with Windows Messenger.

Alerting you to the RCO (redcross.org for those of you who are new here) Myanmar Cyclone resources page.  

From an International Federation colleague on the ground in Yangon, Myanmar:

As with similar disasters local Red Cross staff and volunteers are also affected,” said Bridget Gardner, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ head of delegation in Myanmar. “In Yangon many lost their roofs, have no access to running water and nobody in Yangon has electricity unless they have a functioning generator and can afford the high price of fuel. The situation in the delta is of course much more tragic with thousands of people still missing.

We are staying in close contact with the Myanmar Red Cross and the International Federation, preparing to provide supplies and additional assistance if it’s needed.

Additional updates when will appear here as we receive them.

RELATED: Press Release

We need your input on an ethical dilemma we faced this week regarding social media and client privacy in disaster situations.

We hope you will chime in with your opinions in the comments.

Three tornadoes ripped through southeastern Virginia on Monday. Thankfully no one was killed, but many were injured and many more homes were destroyed.

When this sort of event happens, the American Red Cross Disaster Assessment team often has access to areas that even residents are not yet allowed to see.

This week, we took photos in a restricted neighborhood and posted them to Flickr and our blog immediately.

Later in the day we learned that residents might be seeing their homes for the first time through the photos we took.  We felt nervous that these people would feel violated by us, so we took the photos down.

On Wednesday, we talked in a group and decided to put them back up, but we’re still not really sure how to handle restricted access photos in the future.

The benefit of doing this is that our photos & videos may serve to help people understand the scope of the event and may help those affected be prepared for what they’ll see when they’re allowed back in the area.

BUT

These photos and videos may also be disturbing for the very people we serve.

Question for you:

How much are you comfortable seeing? Where should we draw the line between providing information and violating the privacy of people affected?

Today at the forum we broke into workshops to learn about building new communications tools to help increase the visibility of our societies:  using photos and videos, celebrities, social media and how to communicate in crises. We also heard about some best practices our sister societies had developed.  One of the most popular is what Pumi Yeni from the South African Red Cross created, called the Humanity Chain.  This is a digital fundraising effort to get two million people to sign up online to donate 20 Rand (about $2-$3) to the South African Red Cross and “link hands” online across South Africa.

Hear Pumi Yeni describe her project:

>> AUDIO