Red Cross Prepares to Respond as Dangerous Weather Threatens Millions

The American Red Cross is preparing to respond as the eastern half of the country faces a weeklong threat of severe weather. Millions of people are facing the possibility of severe thunderstorms, large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes lasting until sometime next week.

The severe weather will begin today in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Missouri. Friday people in the Mississippi and Missouri valleys are in the bullseye, with the storms gradually moving east over the next few days.

The Red Cross has disaster teams, emergency vehicles and relief supplies standing by to support people in the path of this storm and urges them to take this threat seriously and get ready now.

You can find safety information here for all kinds of emergencies, such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, high winds and flooding.

GET READY NOW Planning is the key to being ready for an emergency. Make a plan to stay safe and know how you'll stay connected.

1. Contact your local office of emergency management to learn what hazards may affect your community.
2. Depending on the emergency, you may need to stay where you are or go somewhere else to stay safe. If you may need to leave, think about where you will go, how you will get there, where you will stay and what you'll take with you.
3. Plan well in advance if you'll need help leaving or use public transportation.
4. Don't forget to include pets in your plans.
5. Make a plan to reconnect with loved ones if you are separated or if the phone or internet is down. Write down important phone numbers on a contact card and carry it with you.
6. Plan to stay informed by monitoring local weather and news reports even if the power goes out. Have a backup battery or another way to charge your cell phone, and a battery-powered or hand-crank radio.
7. Sign up for free emergency alerts from your local government, and make sure you know what different types of alerts mean. For example, a WATCH means be prepared, and a WARNING means take action.
8. Gather critical supplies - like food, water and medicine - and organize them into a go-kit and a stay-at-home kit. Your go-kit should include three days of supplies that you can carry with you. Include backup batteries and chargers for your devices (cell phone, CPAP, wheelchair, etc.)
9. Your stay-at-home kit should have two weeks of food and water, and a one-month supply of medications and medical supplies. Customize your kit to meet your household's specific needs. If you have pets, include leashes, carriers, food, water, bowls, litter, litterbox and photos of you with your pet in case you are separated.
10. Keep personal, financial and medical records safe and easy to access (hard copies or securely backed up). Consider keeping a list of your medications and dosages on a small card to carry with you

CLIMATE CRISIS The Red Cross is responding nonstop, with a major disaster occurring as often as every 15 days. As the climate crisis worsens and disasters become more frequent and intense, the Red Cross is increasing our capacity to help those in need. We urge everyone to get ready now in case a disaster threatens your community.

DOWNLOAD OUR APPS Download the free Red Cross First Aid app so you'll know what to do if emergency help is delayed and the free Emergency app for weather alerts, open Red Cross shelter locations and safety steps for different emergencies. Choose whether you want to view the content in English or Spanish with an easy-to-find language selector. Find these and all of the Red Cross apps in smartphone app stores by searching for the American Red Cross or going to redcross.org/apps.

Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) Through the generosity of our American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder members, the American Red Cross is prepared before disaster strikes. ADGP and Disaster Responder members help secure a reliable funding base for disaster relief services that enables the Red Cross to respond immediately, meeting the needs of individuals and families affected by disaster.

Mission Leader Members: Amazon; American Airlines; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; Costco Wholesale; State Farm

ADGP $1M Members: American Honda Motor Company; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Caterpillar Foundation; Chobani; CMA CGM Foundation; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Mobility Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; McDonald's Corporation; Merck; Microsoft; Nationwide Foundation; The Pfizer Foundation; Porche; Six Four Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; Takeda; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo

ADGP $500k Members: ALDI; Altria Group; Aon; Baxter Foundation; Boeing; Bread Financial; Capital One; Chick-fil-A; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; DHL Supply Chain; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Philanthropy; Fox Corporation; GE Aerospace; General Motors; Google.org; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; ; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Mastercard; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; NTT Data; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; 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; Yum! Brands; Zoetis Foundation

Disaster Responder Members: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe Foundation; The AES Corporation; Aflac; Albemarle Corporation; The Allstate Foundation; American Family Insurance; American Tire Distributors; 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; The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Dollar Tree; Duke Energy; Erie Insurance; Fastenal; Equitable; Fifth Third Foundation; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; Johnson & Johnson Foundation; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; 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; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Norfolk Southern; Northrop Grumman Foundation; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis; Old Dominion Freight Line; Oxy; Pacific Life Foundation; Prudential; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Salesforce; Santander Bank and Santander Consumer USA Foundation Inc. ; Security Finance's Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Stephens; Tata Consultancy Services; Tennant Company; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation; US Foods; Zurich