Red Cross deploying volunteers, as Hurricane Michael gets set to slam into Florida

PHOENIX (KSAZ) -- As Hurricane Michael gets ready to make landfall Wednesday afternoon, the local Red Cross chapter in Phoenix will be sending volunteers to help those affected.

Officials with the local chapter say they are actually still sending out volunteers to help with clean up efforts following Hurricane Florence, so they are definitely seeing some overlap. Officials say although this does strain resources, they say they're prepared to help in any way.

The Red Cross currently has 2,600 volunteers in the Carolinas, with 25 of them from Arizona.

"We've pre-positioned 500 trained volunteers into the Florida, Georgia, Alabama area in the south, in anticipation of Hurricane Michael," said Red Cross' Regional Communications Officer, Colin Williams. "Those are very significant numbers."

Williams said some volunteers are just getting back from Florence, and are now heading out to Michael. Their main job is feeding and sheltering people in need, but Williams said their duties, like the storm, could change in an instant.

"There's a lot of things we can anticipate," said Williams. "Roads may be cut off, large spread power outages. There could be a transportation disaster. There could be an incident where nursing homes or hospitals are cut off. So we need to be nimble and flexible, and be prepared for whatever may come our way."

There are several other ways people can help out, either by donating directly to the Red Cross, or donating blood. According to Williams, during a hurricane, blood donations go down in those particular areas, and the supply could be severely affected.

American Red Cross
https://www.redcross.org/