HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The American Red Cross will be in Huntington for at least a few more weeks to help flood victims recover from last Friday’s storm that resulted in significant flooding.
Since Saturday, the organization has provided 941 meals and 121 cleaning kits to impacted residents.
“We’ve been providing cleaning supplies such as mops, brooms, rubber gloves, boots,” said Amber Whitley, executive director of the American Red Cross Tri-State Chapter.
More than 100 homes were damaged in the flood, mostly in the Enslow Park neighborhood where neighbors have been discarding washed up furniture on curbsides.
Whitley said the job of the 37 staff and other volunteers on the ground is to help people in need.
“When you’ve seen everybody, they have all of their belongings that were destroyed on the curb, that’s when they saw our emergency response vehicles driving down the road, they knew there was hope available,” she said.
During the clean up process, the Red Cross is reminding residents to be safe and protect themselves , which may include hiring services such as Roof Cleaning in Oyster Bay NY to ensure the job is done safely and effectively.
“They need to be wearing the protective clothing such as the rubber gloves and the boots and they need to be cautious,” Whitley said. “A lot of people don’t know that those things need to be thrown out like mattresses and carpets.”
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Food, beverages and medications also need to be thrown out, Whitley said.
“If those are exposed to flood waters and the mud, that could be dangerous,” she warned.
The Red Cross has 121 clients and had opened up 42 cases over the last week.
Meals were provided in part by the Salvation Army.
The storm caused a number of water rescues, power outages and road blockages over the weekend.
Officials said Monday they’re hoping to hear from FEMA soon about potential help from the federal government. The state Emergency Management Division asks residents of Cabell, Putnam and Roane counties to report damages to emd.wv.gov.
Cabell, Putnam and Roane counties remain under a State of Emergency.