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Tag: Red Cross

  • Red Cross Ups Its Response to Ebola Crisis in West Africa, Death Toll Continues To Rise

    The Red Cross says it plans to train more than 2,000 extra volunteers in an effort to combat the deadly Ebola outbreak in west Africa.

    “With dozens of new cases emerging daily, this outbreak is showing no signs of slowing down,” said Alasan Senghore, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ Africa unit, in a statement on Thursday.

    “People are dying. If we are serious about stopping Ebola, we cannot afford to delay ramping up our response,” he said.

    Since the outbreak began in March, IFRC said it has already trained approximately 3,500 volunteers in the three hardest-hit countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. With the additional trainees, the IFRC hopes to bring that number to over 5,600 volunteers.

    A reported 2,296 deaths attributed to Ebola have been reported in those three countries, according to the World Health Organization.

    “Engaging communities through our trained volunteers will have an immediate and large pay-off, as messages of prevention will be shared by community members themselves,” Senghore said.

    IFRC said it was significantly revising its fundraising goals to $32.3 million, an increase of more than $25 million, in oder to address the devastation in west Africa.

    With increased funding, the organization plans to reach 21.9 million people — more than double the number it had originally targeted — by expanding its operations into new districts and countries.

    Much of the funding will be used for increased communication and awareness-raising in affected communities. It would also help pay for a new 60-bed Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone.

    In addition to the three hardest-hit countries, IFRC said it has also launched an emergency appeal for $1.6 million to fund operations in Nigeria, where eight people have died from Ebola.

    It has also upped its response in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 35 people have died from a different strain of Ebola.

  • Mary Soames, Winston Churchill’s Daughter, Dies At 91

    Lady Mary Soames, the last surviving child of Winston Churchill, has died at the age of 91. The family announced that she passed away on Saturday, due to an illness.

    Soames was born in 1922, and is the youngest of the five Churchill siblings. When her father led the British against the German Nazis in World War II, Soames joined the first Red Cross to serve with her father. She also served in Germany, Belgium, and London.

    In addition, Soames spent time travelling with her father, and was present during the post-war planning conference in Germany.

    Nicolas Soames, Lady Mary’s son, said that his mother was a distinguished writer who led a great life and provided her service during the war. He also said that it is a coincidence that his mother passed away just before the 70th anniversary of D-Day, which is on June 6. “It is the great swing of history,” he said.

    He added, “She was not just a wonderful mother to whom we were all devoted, but the head and heart of our family after our father died, and will be greatly missed.”

    Soames spent her life giving service to the public, both by birth and marriage. She married Christopher Soames in 1947, who was a Conservative politician who served as a minister under Margaret Thatcher, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Macmillan, and Anthony Eden.

    Prime Minister David Cameron also expressed his grief over the death of Soames. He described her as a warm-hearted and wonderful woman. “In the week of the 70th anniversary of D-Day, we remember that she served her country in World War II and was an eye-witness to some of the most important moments in our recent history as she accompanied her father to key conferences.”

    Lady Mary Soames is survived by five children, Arthur Nicholas, Emma Mary, Jeremy Bernard, Charlotte Clementine, and Rupert Christopher.

    Image via YouTube

  • Mississippi Storm Overturns 25 RV Trailers

    At approximately 8 p.m. Monday night, the Santa Maria RV Park in Gautier, Mississippi experienced a strong storm which left as many as 25 RV trailers damaged or destroyed in its wake, along with downed power lines and much debris.

    Fortunately for the Gulf Coast community, the intense damage to the RV park only left two people injured badly enough to be taken to the hospital; 23 other people were treated for minor injuries at the scene.

    According to The Weather Channel, no severe storm warnings were issued when the storm blew through, perhaps adding to the amount of damage sustained in the trailer park.

    While the intensity of the damage seemingly indicates a tornado passing through, meteorologists are reluctant to support such a claim.

    “Archived radar indicates a cluster of thunderstorms accelerated and took on a bow-shaped appearance around the time of the Gautier event. This is suggestive of straight-line wind damage. This transition to a bow-echo happened quickly, as the cluster moved into Jackson County, Miss. The sharpness of the reflectivity gradient in radar imagery suggests a wet microburst also may have occurred,” reported Jon Erdman, senior meteorologist at weather.com.

    The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross were on-scene quickly following the end of the storm to assess the damage and help those affected by the strong winds.

    “Well, we’re just looking at the damages, assessing what’s happened. We don’t know exactly how much damage we have yet, but have at least 25 trailers so far,” stated MEMA Area Coordinator Carolyn Nelson.

    While few residents were injured significantly, the community was still taken aback by the suddenness and severity of the storm itself:

    “Well, they say it sounds like a freight train, but I’m gonna have to say it sounds like two freight trains because it was just deafening. It was just so loud,” recalled Santa Maria RV Park resident Rob Quinn.

    Forewarned by the cacophonous noise, Quinn immediately sought to protect those most dear in his life.

    “I grabbed my wife, grabbed the dog, threw us on the couch. Thank God we did because the hold on the slide-in slammed in and we would have been killed.”

    Trailer park resident Harold Robbins also recounted his experience with the storm: “The front end [of the trailer] flipped. It launched me back into the back end. Then it flipped over on the other side and came back up in the air and landed on our car.”

    Robbins was later treated at a local hospital for minor injuries.

    Almost all of the displaced families were able to find a place to stay following the incident, but the Red Cross is still on the scene and looking to assist any victims.

    “We don’t know the exact household composition, so we’re going to try to reach out to all the folks, who had an RV here or were residents that were affected so that we can ensure that if there any additional Red Cross assistance that we can provide with clothing or food or emergency items such as toiletries, things like that,” reported Red Cross South MS Chapter Executive Jay Huffstatler.

    Image via Twitter

  • Ripon Fire Forces 26 People to Leave Apartments

    A downtown Ripon fire erupted on Watson Street in the early morning of Wednesday that destroyed three businesses and burned through apartments impacting 26 people.

    Ripon District Fire Chief Tim Saul spoke about the fire. “It was too far ahead of us to put our guys in there and knowing everyone was out that was the mode we took. We were flowing over 5,800 gallons a minute at one point and we had to go to different fire hydrants to be able to supply all those ladder trucks that were flowing water, we couldn’t flow all that off of one hydrant,” Saul said.

    Firefighters worked through harsh conditions of snow and wind. Ripon District Assistant Fire Chief Lee Jess explained the dangers firefighters overcame while working in 11 degrees. “Very difficult today. The cold, wind, the ice, people slipping, falling, a lot of things like that, that just make it hard to do our job,” Jess said.

    According to Christopher Luvian, “I get up and I go to the door and there is a police officer and he’s saying to get out of our apartment that there is a fire next door. We don’t know how bad it is yet, but we pretty much lost our whole apartment. God works in mysterious ways and this can be a blessing in disguise because while we lost stuff as long as my wife and kids are alright we can’t complain too bad.”

    Tita Amiti, who works for Kristina’s Family Restaurant, received a phone call early in the morning. “It’s a scary situation where you don’t know what’s going on when you get a phone call at 5:15 a.m.,” Amiti said.

    The Ripon Chamber of Commerce is collecting donations such as plates, dishes, can openers, bedding, and feminine products to assist families affected by the fire. For a complete list of needed donations, click here.

    [Image Via NDN]

  • USS George Washington Gives Aid to Philippines

    This weekend, the Philippines was hit by perhaps the strongest storm ever recorded. Typhoon Haiyan (aka Yolanda) destroyed the Philippines when it reached shore last Friday, wreaking damage on an unimaginable scale. Current projections estimate that nearly 10,000 people may have been killed in Tacloban, the capital of the island of Leyte.

    Due to the grand levels of devastation and the fact that the Philippines are an island group, relief to the area has been hard to achieve. In fact, relief efforts thus far have been so deplorable that Valerie Amos, U.N. humanitarian chief, has stated, “I do feel that we have let people down because we have not been able to get in more quickly. I think we are all extremely distressed that … we have not managed to reach everyone.”

    As a result of the horrendous plight currently facing the Filipino people and the overburdened U.N., Secretary of Defense for the US, Chuck Hagel, announced on Monday that the US would be sending the George Washington Strike Group to the area in order to assist with relief efforts. The strike group consists of 7 ships total: Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Cowpens and USS Antietam, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Lassen and USS Mustin, and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Charles Drew, Pathfinder class oceanographic survey ship USNS Bowditch, submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS-39), and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington: “Specifically, the aircraft carrier, USS George Washington and the cruisers USS Antietam and USS Cowpens will go to a position just off the eastern coast of Samar island in order to begin to assess the damage and provide logistical and emergency support to include medical and water supplies,” stated Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, commander of the George Washington Strike Group.

    The ships will all be participating in Operation Damayan, which is Tagalog (Filipino language) for “solidarity.” The participation of the USS George Washington is crucial due to its capabilities. The ships currently holds over 5,000 soldiers and 80 aircraft, 21 of which are helicopters which will be key in lifting supplies to areas in which roads have become unnavigable.

    Besides serving as a floating airport, the USS George Washington has a distilling plant on-board which can distill up to 400,000 gallons of water per day, a pivotal tool in providing relief to those who have potentially been without food or water for the past 6 days. Today, the USNS Charles Drew helped to mitigate food and water concerns by transporting 11 pallets of supplies to the Tacloban airfield – 8 pallets containing 1,920 gallons of water and the other 3 containing food.

    As Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery stated, “One of the best capabilities the Strike Group brings is our 21 helicopters. These helicopters represent a good deal of lift to move emergency supplies around.” The helicopters may prove extremely useful in allaying the burden of choice placed upon the mayor of Tacloban when deciding whether to use his trucks for food supply or body transport: “It’s scary. There is a request from a community to come and collect bodies, they say it’s five or 10. When we get there, it’s 40,” Mayor Alfred Romualdez commented.

    In addition to the aid sent with the George Washington Strike Group, the United States has pledged $20 million in direct aid to the Philippines. However, this makes only a slight dent in the figure estimated by the UN needed to complete disaster relief – a whopping $301 million.

    If one is looking to contribute to relief efforts personally, donate money to the Red Cross or UNICEF, two organizations intimately involved in the relief efforts. (UNICEF also recently did an AMA on Reddit detailing what goes on behind the scenes with relief efforts and organizations.)

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

  • Typhoon Haiyan: Death Toll May Reach 10,000

    The estimated death toll from Typhoon Haiyan has reached staggering proportions. The super typhoon ravaged the Philippines on Friday, leaving devastation in its wake. Officials are projecting that the death toll may reach or even exceed 10,000.

    Leyte and Samar Island were the hardest hit areas. Tacloban is the capital of Leyte and occupies 3/4 of the island. Its city administrator Tecson Lim has said that the death toll in Tacloban alone could reach 10,000.

    Massive communication and power outages have made it difficult to assess the extent of Haiyan’s damage.

    There is still verification to be done, but it’s looking like Haiyan – known in the Philippines as Typhoon Yolanda – may be the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall, with one-minute sustained winds of 195mph. This easily earns it the classification of a super typhoon – one in which sustained winds attain or exceed 150mph. It would also mean that Haiyan’s winds surpassed the 190mph record set by Hurricane Camille back in 1969.

    After swooping through the Philippines, Haiyan entered the South China Sea where it was downgraded from a Category 5 to a Category 4 typhoon. By the time it hits Vietnam and Southeastern China, it will be Category 1 or 2. Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at US-based Weather Underground warns that the damage Haiyan can still wreck shouldn’t be underestimated:

    “I expect that the 8+ inches of rain that the storm will dump on Vietnam will make it a top-five most expensive natural disaster in their history,” Masters wrote on his blog.

    As US Marines are flying in from nearby Okinawa to assist with search and rescue operations, disaster relief organizations are quickly mobilizing.

    Image via Facebook

  • The Walking Dead Turns Peter Jackson, Jimmy Smits & The Black Keys Into Zombies

    AMC and The Walking Dead have teamed up with the American Red Cross on a blood drive. Makeup FX artist (and Walking Dead co-executive producer) Greg Nicotero has “zombified” some celebrities to help spread awareness. These include: Peter Jackson, Jimmy Smits, The Black Keys, Maria Menounos, Elisabeth Rohm, Laird Hamilton, Joel Madden, Kurt Busch and Whitney Port.

    The initiative includes a sweepstakes in which you can give blood and register for a chance to win a 3-day trip to The Walking Dead set during the filming of the fourth season. You can find the rules for that here.

    AMC is sharing the photos on its site. Here’s Peter Jackson, Jimmy Smits and The Black Keys (browse the full gallery here):

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    More on The Walking Dead here.

  • When Things Fall Apart: New Red Cross Campaign Destroys, Then Reassembles Your Twitter Pic

    I’ll admit, I’m one of the most skeptical people you will find when it comes to lackadaisical social media activism. Some people call it “slacktivism,” and I tend to agree in most circumstances. If you change your Facebook or Twitter profile pic for a few days, or maybe a week, does it really do anything to help a cause?

    And if so, isn’t there more you could be doing to help said cause if you’re really serious about it? I’m fully aware that if enough people participate in social media activism, it will at least generate conversation, which is never a bad thing. I just worry that some people edit their profile, or post one status or tweet and think they’re done – that nothing else is necessary.

    I feel a bit differently about a new social awareness campaign, partly because I think it’s really cool and partly because it at least involves some level of real action (albeit just a donation).

    It’s called “When Things Fall Apart,” and it works by destroying your Twitter avatar and gradually rebuilding it in 12-hour increments.

    “All over the world, when things fall apart, the Red Cross puts them back together.” That’s the simply message at the beginning of this promo video, and it’s also the basic premise behind the campaign. Things, like your Twitter pic, may fall apart, but they will be pieced back together by the good folks at the Red Cross.

    Check out how it works below:

    To get started, all you have to do is make a $10 donation to the Red Cross, then let the application take over.

    The project was developed at the comp.social lab and Georgia Tech. The “focus on the design and analysis of social media.” The lab’s head, Eric Gilbert, is an assistant professor at the School of Interactive Computing.

    @eegilbert
    Eric Gilbert    Introducing our new project with @RedCross: http://t.co/yuWfxgYT. After donating, your Twitter pic breaks apart, then rebuilds over 3 days. 3 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Apparently, When Things Fall Apart was inspired by not only the continuing effort of The Red Cross, but specifically the green Twitter pics you probably remember during the Iranian uprising in 2009.

    The most recent example of the profile-pic-changing phenomenon was of course, KONY 2012. Since the last time I checked, Joseph Kony still has not been “brought to justice,” and I don’t think that has anything to do with Jason Russell’s epic meltdown.

    But When Things Fall Apart is a lot cooler than most of these types of things, and as a prerequisite, you must donate. Hopefully, we’ll see plenty of people’s Twitter pics breaking apart and coming back together in the coming months. Don’t be surprised to see it quite a bit if another big natural disaster strikes somewhere in the near future.

    [h/t Mashable]