Heavy rain and damaging winds are expected to cause storm surge damage onshore as Florence lumbers to landfall late this week.
So far, a million coastal residents have received evacuation orders, with extensive power outages and freshwater flooding expected from prolonged rainfall. Emergency supplies, gasoline, and lodging are already in short supply in many communities, whether residents are fleeing the storm or hunkering down for the duration.
Florence is forecast to develop into the worst East Coast storm in decades, recalling the extensive damage caused by other major storms, most recently, Hurricane Hugo in 1989. State and agency officials are urging people in the storm’s path to find refuge elsewhere before the Florence hits.
World Renew is accepting donations to begin to plan a response to help those most affected by Hurricane Florence in the days ahead. Give today to support World Renew Disaster Response Services (DRS) as volunteers assist hurricane survivors in the days and weeks ahead.
Early this week, East Coast Regional Managers from World Renew’s Disaster Response Services (DRS) had already begun preparations for a response to the storm. The representatives and World Renew DRS staff are collaborating with government and other non-profit organizations to plan for the possible launch of early assessment and rapid response teams into the damage areas after an “all clear” is issued by search and rescue personnel.
World Renew DRS provides volunteer labor and free recovery services in communities that are affected by a disaster in the U.S. and Canada. World Renew prioritizes assisting disaster survivors who may “fall through the cracks” in these communities, such as the elderly, people who live below the poverty line, people with disabilities, and homeowners without insurance or with other circumstances that prevent them from recovering on their own.
World Renew DRS has a cadre of approximately 3,000 trained volunteers and is currently active in responding to 2017’s hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico, as well as wildfires on the West Coast and damage caused by Hurricane Matthew in Tarboro, North Carolina, in 2016. Volunteers headed to this site have been delayed by Florence.
World Renew specializes in providing home repair and reconstruction services in the recovery process, and offers early assessments, rapid response, training in local community organizing, unmet needs assessment surveys, building estimates, and skilled volunteer work teams as well as short-term work groups.
