Washington, U.S.A. — In a busy year filled with hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods and deadly windstorms, the American Red Cross responded to 113 large-scale disasters in 42 states and territories from Alaska to Florida between January 1 and December 1.

“Hurricane Sandy was the biggest U.S. response in five years, but it wasn’t the only disaster that disrupted lives in 2012,” said Charley Shimanski, senior vice president for Red Cross Disaster Services. “Devastating tornadoes and raging wildfires wiped out entire neighborhoods while Hurricane Isaac affected communities all along the Gulf Coast. The Red Cross responded to each of these disasters, offering shelter, food and comfort to people on their darkest days.”

Disasters struck across the country, from the East Coast to the West, and few regions were spared.

Throughout the year, the Red Cross opened a total of 907 shelters and provided more than 109,000 overnight stays to help people forced from their homes. In total, more than 29,000 trained disaster workers served 9.9 million meals and snacks and distributed more than 6.8 million relief items. Health and mental health workers provided more than 141,000 consultations to help people on the road to recovery.

The Red Cross also responded to tragic events that impacted people’s lives in the last year, most recently the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, as well as the mass shootings at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado in July and at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin in August. In all three responses, the Red Cross provided emotional and mental health support, as well as food and drinks for first responders.

Hurricanes and Tropical Storms Impacted Many Lives

In June, Tropical Storm Debby marked the start of hurricane season by causing widespread flooding across much of Florida. Then in late August, Hurricane Isaac came ashore bringing with it strong winds and drenching rain that impacted Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. In response to Isaac, the Red Cross mobilized thousands of disaster workers to help people by opening 157 shelters, providing thousands of overnight stays. Volunteers served hundreds of thousands of meals, distributed more than 140,000 relief items and provided thousands of health and mental health contacts.

Hurricane Sandy made landfall along the Atlantic seaboard in late October, leaving massive devastation in its wake. In all, eleven states and Puerto Rico felt the impact with New York and New Jersey seeing the most devastation. The large Red Cross relief effort continues today, weeks after the storm’s landfall. As of December 1, more than 15,300 trained disaster workers mobilized to provide help. The Red Cross has handed out millions of relief items and meals, provided tens of thousands of health and emotional support contacts to people whose lives have been turned upside down. Even as relief work continues, the Red Cross will be on the ground supporting recovery efforts for some time.

Spring Tornadoes and Floods

In early March, as many as 95 confirmed tornadoes touched down, destroying communities across the Midwest and Southeast. Tornadoes slammed through the Dallas-Fort Worth area in early April and in mid-April, dozens of tornadoes ripped across the Midwest for a second time.

In all, severe spring weather affected communities in 16 states, including Kansas, Illinois, Missouri,Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi,Oklahoma, West Virginia and Texas. The Red Cross launched responses to provide safe shelter, warm meals and relief supplies to people forced from their homes. Disaster workers served nearly a quarter of a million meals and snacks and handed out more than 112,000 relief items like cleaning supplies and comfort kits.

June Derecho

A string of storms with winds up to 90 miles per hour swept across Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, New Jersey, Ohio and the District of Columbia in June, bringing with them hundreds of reports of impact from devastating winds. Millions were without power in sweltering areas as high temperatures broke records. The Red Cross provided thousands of overnight stays in more than 70 shelters, served more than 246,000 meals and snacks, and distributed about 128,000 relief items.

Summer Wildfires

Dry conditions fueled devastating wildfires across the western part of the country, forcing evacuations and destroying homes. In response, the Red Cross launched wildfire relief operations in nine states including Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington and California. The Red Cross provided nearly 4,000 overnight stays in shelters, served more than 159,000 meals and snacks, and handed out tens of thousands of relief items to people in need.

International Response

The American Red Cross helped almost 3 million people around the world in 2012, responding to 13 disasters in more than 20 countries. These included floods in Bolivia, Peru, Afghanistan, the Philippines,Bangladesh, Nigeria and Panama. Assistance was also sent to Senegal, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger,Mauritania, Mali and Malawi to help people affected by food shortages, as well as a drought in Paraguay. Red Cross workers are also responding to help people affected by civil unrest in Syria and a cholera outbreak in Sierra Leone. The American Red Cross responded in Jamaica and Haiti after Hurricane Sandy made landfall in those countries.

The Red Cross thanks everyone who has supported disaster relief operations this year. Every nine minutes the Red Cross responds to a disaster in communities across the country, and whether it’s a hurricane or a fire in someone’s home, the Red Cross is there. Click here to view a photo slideshow of disaster responses supported this year.

The Red Cross also provides 24-hour support to members of the military, veterans and their families – in war zones, military hospitals and on military installations around the world; collects and distributes more than 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply and trains more than 9 million people in first aid, water safety and other life-saving skills every year.

If someone would like to support the Red Cross mission and help those in need, they can visit www.redcross.org. Contributions may also be sent to someone’s local Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.

Image Courtesy : American Red Cross

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Alexandria, U.S.A. – Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) and its agencies are preparing for Tropical Storm Debby, which has impacted much of Florida, and could move in two directions—along the southern coast of the US or northward across Georgia. Catholic Charities USA is ready to help respond to flash floods and spinoff tornadoes in these areas and is currently in coordination with Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida.

Additionally, Catholic Charities USA is providing timely assistance to several regions that are currently suffering from flooding and wildfires. Severe thunderstorms hit areas in Minnesota and Wisconsin on June 18th, causing extreme flooding. Catholic Charities USA’s disaster response team is coordinating with the Catholic Office of Concern for the Diocese of Duluth, MN and Catholic Charities Bureau of Superior, Wisconsin to reduce the damage. Catholic Charities USA is also active in Colorado, where intense wildfires have been growing since June 10th.

“Our Catholic Charities agencies have been active in assisting disaster situations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Colorado, and we are monitoring and preparing to respond to any damage Tropical Storm Debby may cause. As always, the need for funding support is imminent,” said Rev. Larry Snyder, President of CCUSA.  “With the summer hurricane season beginning, we are hopeful that our cities, coasts and residents are unaffected, but we stand ready to provide immediate and long-term help if needed.”

To help support disaster victims, individuals can visit the Catholic Charities USA disaster donation webpage. Individuals can also contribute from a mobile device by visiting the mobile website and clicking on the homepage banner to access the donation app.

Catholic Charities USA’s members provide help and create hope for more than 10 million people a year regardless of religious, social, or economic backgrounds. For almost 300 years, Catholic Charities agencies have worked to reduce poverty by providing a myriad of vital services in their communities, ranging from health care and job training to food and housing. In 2010, Catholic Charities USA celebrated its centennial anniversary.

Image Courtesy of  Daniel Cima/American Red Cross

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Tropical Storm Debby has been slowly creeping its way across Florida, heading northeast. The storm began in the Gulf of Mexico and was projected to go to Texas, Alabama, and Florida on different occasions. On the morning of June 25 the storm was about seventy-five miles south of the Panhandle city of Apalachicola moving at a speed of three miles per hour northeast.

The tropical storm, a step below a category one hurricane, maintained forty-five miles per hour winds and has threatened some parts of Florida with ten to twenty-five inches of rain. Many low-lying areas in Northern Florida are expected to flood and many residents have been warned to evacuate these areas.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management issued a statement saying, “Debby is currently stationary, and no significant motion is expected through the next day or so as a weak steering flow remains in the region…All of the Florida Panhandle near and west of the Suwannee River is in the three-day error cone.” Debby is expected to move between Destin and Tampa within the next three to five days.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management also reported on the effects of the hurricane. “Tropical storm force winds, heavy rainfall and isolated tornadoes are the main concerns today…rainfall amounts of five plus inches today and tonight may lead to continued flooding for many areas of the state. In addition, locally heavy rainfall of potentially up to ten to twenty inches through the next few days will continue to exacerbate flooding concerns of some areas.” The governor, Rick Scott, has declared a statewide emergency.

Most of the damage so far has been in the western regions of Florida. Some streets in Tampa are underwater and the Howard Franklin bridge that connects Tampa and St. Petersburg was closed due to high winds and water. St. George Island was hit the hardest losing electricity and having its bridge to the mainland closed. Thirty-five thousand homes and businesses were without power after the storm ravaged Florida the night of June 24. Several Florida counties were put on the tornado watch list including Pinellas and Orange (St. Petersburg and Orlando).

Twenty-three percent of oil and gas production has been suspended and the employees have been evacuated from sixty-one production platforms and thirteen drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

One person was killed by a tornado the tropical storm caused in Florida. The other casualty of this storm was a South Carolinian man who disappeared in rough seas on June 24 in Alabama.

Some Floridians see the tropical storm as nothing to worry about, after surviving the year of Charlie, Frances, Jeanne, and Ivan, this storm is incomparable. Patrick Sparks, twenty-six, a manager at Eddy Teach’s bar, stated, “the tourists cleared out. It’s not a good thing and hurts the economy during a week in peak season. It’s a tropical storm – it’s not even a category one. It’s a little rash to send everyone home.”

Hurricane season began June 1 and will last until November 30. So far Debby is the fourth named storm that has occurred this year.

Image Courtesy of  NASA Goddard Photo and Video

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