Red Cross of Rhode Island gearing up for National Preparedness Month

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — From floods, to wildfires and tornados, New England has seen its share of disastrous weather this summer, and the Red Cross of Rhode Island has been on the ground responding.

September is recognized as national preparedness month, and the Red Cross says its shaping up to be one of the most important in recent years.

New Englanders might be used to things like blizzards and hurricanes, but the recent uptick in floods and tornados means it’s more important than ever to be ready for disaster.

“Some things that we do locally that our teams do work towards every single day is making sure that the community is prepared and that our teams are prepared for disasters. So, we ask the community that you always have an emergency kit,” Jamie Lynch, the Red Cross Senior Director of Disaster Services told ABC 6 News.

Those kits can include a range of items like non-perishable food, water, and a battery-operated radio to get weather alerts.

Lynch also recommends Southern New Englanders to make a plan for any disaster response, including knowing where safe areas are and how to stay informed.

“Unfortunately, as our organization has responded to these disasters across the country, we’ve actually realized that the Red Cross has responded to twice as many large disasters across the country than 10 years ago,” Lynch said.

“So, as you can imagine, this has really opened our eyes and we want to make sure this information gets sent to this community. we want to make sure everyone is prepared,” Lynch continued.

Lynch told ABC 6 that their Rhode Island office tries to respond to as many disasters it can, and hurricane Idalia making its way toward Florida is no exception.

“We have two Red Cross volunteers from Rhode Island going. They’re actually going to be driving down a vehicle that we call an emergency response vehicle. They’ll be leaving here tomorrow morning, and they’ll be heading down to Florida and getting there in a few days,” Lynch said.

“Most likely post-landfall of the hurricane, and our Rhode Island vehicle will be down there with our volunteers providing support, passing out meals to our communities that are struck by disaster,” Lynch concluded.