Evan Peterson from The American Red Cross is in North Carolina where the non-profit organization is providing much-needed help and relief to the victims of Helene's historic flood disaster.
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00:00All right, Evan, you're in North Carolina now, where your teams are facing the biggest
00:05challenges.
00:06What can you tell us?
00:09I can tell you that, first, our hearts and our attention and our thoughts are with the
00:12people who've been impacted by this.
00:15As you guys have said, I've been traveling around to many of the different impacted areas.
00:20Helene has a massive far reach here.
00:23But there is so much devastation.
00:25There's so much destruction, especially in the western part of Northern Carolina here.
00:29I'm currently in Charlotte, but we want people to know that at the one week milestone here,
00:34we are still working to address people's immediate needs.
00:37Every single hour, it seems like we are learning about a new pocket of people somewhere who
00:41have been without for a week now.
00:44So you're working to make sure we get them to a safe shelter, a safe place to stay.
00:48We are getting them warm and healthy food to eat.
00:51And then we're also listening to them.
00:52We know many people are so traumatized by what they went through.
00:56We want to make sure that they have a shoulder to lean on and an ear to listen.
01:00Now, are you able to reach those isolated, flood-stricken areas with food, water, and supplies?
01:07I know it's been a huge challenge.
01:11Infrastructure has been a tremendous issue here, especially to our response in the Carolinas.
01:15For some communities, we've had to work with our partners at the state, county, and municipal
01:19levels to airlift supplies into some of these higher mountain communities.
01:25But for other areas, we are just behind those emergency responders who are working to clear
01:29those roads with chainsaws and trucks, pulling those trees out of ways.
01:33But in some communities, the roads that we had to go into these towns, the bridges that
01:37we needed to get over some of these rivers, they don't exist anymore.
01:40So a lot of emergency officials are working to figure out a troubleshoot.
01:44But as soon as that path is created, as soon as that all clear is given, and we know that
01:48it is safe to send people into those areas, we are doing that with our emergency supplies.
01:53We know those folks in Western North Carolina certainly need shelter.
01:56If you could tell us where the greatest need for shelter and where are you needing to send
02:00more Red Cross staffers and volunteers?
02:04Right now, we have about 1,200 people responding to this.
02:07It's the benefit of being a national organization.
02:09Ninety percent of our workforce is comprised of volunteers.
02:13But where is the need?
02:14Well, it's anywhere where this storm landed.
02:17This storm has left such an imprint and has impacted so many communities differently.
02:20When I was down in Tallahassee, many of these neighborhoods that I saw in the immediate,
02:24they looked completely fine.
02:26But if you go and knock on any one of those doors, residents will tell you, my house is
02:30standing, but there's no power, there's no running water, and I've got a foot of water
02:34in my basement and it's not draining anytime soon.
02:37And the Carolinas neighborhoods are completely gone.
02:40So we want people to know that we are here in your community.
02:43We are listening.
02:44And if anyone does need help, try to go call 1-800-RedCross or go to RedCross.org and make
02:49yourself known.
02:50We will work to come out to you and make sure that we are doing our best to serve your
02:54immediate needs.
02:55And those same numbers and descriptions are also ways that people can donate.
02:59Evan, we appreciate you being with us this morning, Red Cross National Spokesperson Evan
03:03Peterson and all the work that the Red Cross is doing.
03:05Thanks again.