HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Just a few weeks after Hurricane Helene tore through parts of Virginia and North Carolina, the American Red Cross in Virginia is now readying itself to respond to Hurricane Milton.
Jonathan McNamara, the communications director for the American Red Cross’ Virginia region, said that the organization is ready to respond to respond to Milton with the same vigor it used to respond to Helene in September.
“Fortunately, we’ve been in preparations for this, but I want to be crystal clear: this is a challenge for the Red Cross,” McNamara said. “This is a storm that has historic potential. The goal of the Red Cross is to make sure that it doesn’t [impact operations].”
The Red Cross was already down in Florida for Helene after it initially made landfall there. Now, volunteers like Katie Niehoff are keeping their sleeves rolled up in anticipation of an extended stay.
FOR HELENE: Virginia Red Cross volunteers head to Florida as Hurricane Helene approaches
“We’re in the process of standing back up — making sure that we have sheltering and feeding [available] for those that are still [facing] the impacts of Helene and now facing the impacts of what this next storm will bring,” Niehoff said.