PORTLAND, Ore. — Millions of people are without power and over 80 people have died after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a category 4 hurricane Thursday night. The devastation has been widespread in several states including Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas.
Over the last 48 hours, the number of volunteers sent to help victims of the hurricane from Oregon and Southwest Washington have jumped from 10 to 17, according to the American Red Cross. One volunteer is Juan Rosas, a Beaverton man who flew out to Georgia Friday night.
“They went through some terror,” Rosas said, describing what he saw during the weekend. “In the whole county there’s no power.”
He said there's also no water, and on Sunday, around 200 people stopped by to gather food and supplies from him and other Red Cross volunteers. By Sunday evening, Rosas said he was exhausted.
Although the volunteers aren't paid, for some like Rosas, the experience of helping others makes them feel accomplished.
“It gives me a great feeling, I love it. It makes me a better person," Rosas said. He has been deployed for other disasters in the past as well.
Rebecca Marshall with the American Red Cross explained that volunteers do a range of things at disaster sites.
"They'll take bottled waters, they'll take food, they'll take cleanup kits, and they'll just go there and assess the damage to see how we can help,” Marshall said.
They are also helping with family reunification, which is especially difficult for victims given the lack of electricity.
Marshall said the next big focus is blood, given that many blood drives have been canceled due to the storm in multiple states. Now, she is calling on people to donate blood locally in the Pacific Northwest. If it's needed, blood can be sent from Oregon and Washington to states impacted by the hurricane, while still ensuring there's enough blood for this region as well.
“These kinds of disasters are happening more and more frequently. They're getting bigger and bigger. They're lasting longer and longer, and we're in it for the long haul," said Marshall. "We know there's potential for other hurricanes lining up. We're not done. So our work continues."
In total, the Red Cross said there’s around 1,400 volunteers setting up and staffing shelters in impacted areas.
If you'd like to help, you can go to the Red Cross' website to learn more about donating or becoming a volunteer. You can also text HELENE to 90999 if you would like to contribute.