Millions from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast to see heavy ice and snow;
donors needed as storm adds to strain on blood supply
The American Red Cross is launching a massive response across multiple states stretching from Texas to New England as the powerful winter storm starts its march across the country. Millions of people are in the direct path of the heavy snow, catastrophic ice and dangerously cold temperatures poised to affect communities from the South to the Northeast and everywhere in between.
Starting Friday and continuing through Monday, the storm could drop more than a foot of snow across the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Widespread freezing rain and sleet are expected across the Southern Plains, the Lower Mississippi Valley, the Tennessee Valley and the Southeast, causing catastrophic ice accumulations and long-lasting power outages. Travel will be disrupted and bitterly cold temperatures and wind chills will prolong the storm’s impacts.
RED CROSS RESPONSE As the storm begins its run across the country, we are working with national and local partners and local and state officials to coordinate our response.
More than 360 trained Red Cross responders are supporting readiness efforts across the country, with 18 response operations up and running from Texas to North Carolina. In some areas, the Red Cross has already received and is supporting active requests for warming centers and shelters in advance of the weather. We are working with partners to support over 125 warming centers/shelters that will be opening across the impacted states and are prepared to support additional locations as more requests flow in.
Ahead of the storm, the Red Cross is also prepositioning blood supplies to hospitals in the storm’s path to help ensure patients continue to have access to critical blood when they need it. We also have additional responders, material, trailers, and emergency vehicles on standby should the need arise.
See steps here you should take to help you stay safe during the storm.
FIND A SHELTER Find shelter locations on redcross.org, the free Red Cross Emergency app or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767). You can also follow your local Red Cross or emergency officials on social media, sign up for free local government alerts or monitor local news.
All disaster assistance is free. We don’t ask for identification, and you don’t have to stay overnight. We encourage people who plan to stay in a shelter to bring prescription medications, extra clothing, pillows, blankets, hygiene supplies, other comfort items and important documents.
We do everything we can to accommodate service animals and pets comfortably in our shelters. Sometimes, pets may need to be housed in a different location with support from local partners.
BLOOD DONORS NEEDED Meanwhile, the national blood supply remains at critically low levels. Full details here. With intense winter weather and dangerously cold temperatures forecast across much of the country, the nation’s blood supply faces renewed strain. In the coming days, snow, ice and freezing conditions could force widespread blood drive cancellations, leaving thousands of blood donations uncollected from Oklahoma to Maine. The Red Cross urges individuals to give blood now—before the storm hits—and encourages those in areas not impacted by severe weather to continue donating to help support patients during this critical time. There’s no time to wait. Book an appointment now to give blood by using the Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
HOW YOU CAN HELP Help people affected by disasters like storms and countless other crises with a Red Cross Disaster Relief donation by visiting redcross.org, calling 1- 800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small, whenever and wherever they occur across the country.
Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) Thanks to the dedicated commitment of our American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder members, the Red Cross stands ready to act at a moment’s notice. Their forward-thinking generosity keeps us prepared for crises of all kinds, ensuring we can be there wherever and whenever we’re needed most.
Mission Leader Members: Amazon; American Airlines; Bank of America; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Costco Wholesale; Dollar General; Lowe’s; State Farm
ADGP Leaders: Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Caterpillar Foundation; Chick-fil-A; CMA CGM Foundation; Delta Air Lines; Enterprise Mobility Foundation; FedEx; Honda; Lilly Endowment Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Merck; Nationwide Foundation; PetSmart Charities; The Pfizer Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; Takeda; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo Foundation
ADGP Members: ALDI; Altria Group; Aon; Baxter International Foundation; Bread Financial; Capital One; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; Edison International Foundation; Elevance Health Foundation; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Philanthropy; Fox Corporation; GE Aerospace Foundation; General Motors; Google.org; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; ; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Mastercard; Microsoft; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Northrop Grumman Foundation; NTT Data; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; Southeastern Grocers and the SEG Gives Foundation; Stryker; Suburban Propane; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco; Wingstop Restaurants; Zoetis Foundation
Disaster Responder Program Members: 3M; 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe Foundation; The AES Corporation; Aflac; Albemarle Corporation; The Allstate Foundation; American Family Insurance; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Bath & Body Works; Build-A-Bear Foundation; Canadian National Railway; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Cisco and Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; DENSO North America Foundation; DHL Supply Chain; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Dollar Tree; Duke Energy; Eli Lilly and Company Foundation; Enbridge; Equitable ; Erie Insurance; Farmers Insurance®; Fastenal; Grainger; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; John Deere; Johnson & Johnson Foundation; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation ; L’Oréal; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo ; LKQ; Macy’s, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Martin Marietta; Masco Corporation; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Mutual of Omaha Foundation; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Nike Foundation; Norfolk Southern; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis US Foundation; Old Dominion Freight Line; Old Republic International Corporation; Oxy; Pacific Life Foundation; Phillips 66; Prudential; QBE Foundation; Qualcomm; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reynolds American Inc.; RGA Foundation; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Salesforce; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Sunbelt Rentals; T-Mobile; Tennant Company; Toyota Tsusho America, Inc.; Uber; U-Haul International; Uber; Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation; US Foods; Westlake Corporation; Yum! Brands; Zurich
