ROGERS, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Less than two weeks since Hurricane Helene left many states devastated, Hurricane Milton is just days away from making landfall on Florida’s west coast.
Now, the American Red Cross serving Northwest Arkansas is asking people across the region to step in and fill a vital need.
Over 100 Red Cross volunteers from Northwest Arkansas and Missouri have already made their way down to the southeast region of the United States to provide relief, while another 100 are on standby.
Volunteers are the organization’s first line of defense.
“We’ve got a lot of our local volunteers, our volunteers from Missouri, Arkansas, who are just seeing the devastation and so many people who have lost everything,” said Julie Brown, Executive Director of the American Red Cross serving NWA.
However, its next line of defense is being affected as well.
“We’ve had over 100 blood drives canceled throughout where Helene’s path went through,” said Brown. It is causing an unexpected blood shortage.