Organizations

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that provides disaster relief in times of need in the United States. Every year, they respond to more than 70,000 disasters. These disasters include house or apartment fires, which make up the majority, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, hazardous materials spills, transportation accidents, explosions, and other natural and manmade disasters. It has been granted a congressional charter in 1905 to "carry on a system of national and international relief in time of peace and apply the same in mitigating the sufferings caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods, and other great national calamities, and to devise and carry on measures for preventing the same" even though it is not a government agency. This gave them the authority to provide disaster relief. The focus of the American Red Cross is to aid with emergency disaster-caused needs. The Red Cross provides shelter, food, and health services which aim to provide basic human needs when a disaster threatens or strikes.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)

FEMA is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It was created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders on April 1, 1979. It is similar to Red Cross as it's primary purpose is to coordinate disaster responses that occur in the United States when local and state authorities' resources are overwhelmed. The main difference is that for FEMA to respond, the governor of the state in which the disaster occurs must declare a state of emergency with a formal request to the president that FEMA and the federal government respond to the disaster.

Most Common Disasters in the U.S. (Red Cross)

| House Fires | Heat Waves | Droughts | Floods | Earthquakes | Thunderstorms | Wildfires | Tornadoes | Volcanoes | Hurricanes |

What They Do?

American Red Cross Help American Red Cross Help
  • Overnight Shelter Stays
    • Opens shelters to make sure people have a safe place to stay and access to other support from volunteers and workers.
  • Distribution of Emergency Supplies
    • Emergency supplies help immediately after a disaster as well as days and weeks that follow. Kits are provided that contain basic personal supplies needed such as a toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo, etc.
  • Health and Mental Health Contacts
    • Health workers can provide first aid treatment for injuries, monitor the well-being of people staying in Red Cross shelters, and replace prescription medications or eyeglasses.
  • Meals and Snacks
    • Work with community partners to provide hot meals, snacks and water served at shelters or from emergency response vehicles
  • Emergency Response Vehicles
      • Circulate throughout affected communities after disasters to hand out food, relief supplies, information, and comfort to those in need

Recent Natural Disasters

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Irma
  • Areas Affected: United States (particularly Texas and Lousiana), Windward Islands, Suriname, Guyana, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Yucatán Peninsula, United States
  • Ends a record 12-year drought of no hurricanes at such intensity in the country
  • 40 in. of rain in a four-day period
  • Resulting floods displaced more than 30,000 people and prompted more than 17,000 rescures
  • Peaked as a Category 4 hurricane
  • August 17th, 2017 - September 2nd, 2017
  • Powerful tropical cyclone that recently made landfall in Florida as a major hurricane
  • Most intense Atlantic hurricane observed in over a decade
  • Caused widespread and catastrophic damage on its track across the Atlantic
  • Category 2 hurricane within 24 hours of developing on August 30 near the Cape Verde Islands from a tropical wave that had moved off the west African coast two days prior
  • Peaked as a Category 5 hurricane
  • Marked the first time on record that two Category 4 or stronger hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. in the same year (Hurricane Harvey and Irma)
Sources