DETROIT (WXYZ) — Less than a week after devastating tornadoes ripped through the South, help is on the way from metro Detroit.
Over the weekend, at least 27 tornadoes touched down across five different states, leaving 21 people dead in Mississippi. Volunteers from the American Red Cross are preparing to deploy to the area just as more storms threaten the region.
The devastation is something Red Cross volunteer Pam Marcil has sadly seen before.
“With Hurricane Ida, it was really eye-opening," Marcil said. "We were there when the hurricane hit, so it was pretty scary."
Marcil is a Red Cross volunteer from Grosse Pointe, who’s deploying to Mississippi to help families with reunification. On Thursday, she was spending valuable time with her granddaughter before her flight to Jackson, Mississipppi in the morning.
“They’ve lost everything, they've been devastated," Marcil said of victims of the storm. "I feel like two weeks of whatever I go through is nothing because I get to come home to this.”
Three hundred and eighty volunteers are already in the South, including five from Michigan, but that number is growing along with the help that’s needed.
“This has just been a terrible storm this week,” said Mary Lynn Foster, regional CEO of the American Red Cross Michigan. "Right now, it’s about serving in the shelters and making sure that those impacted by these horrible storms have a safe place to stay.”
Foster says the Red Cross has served more than 47,600 meals and has served more than 2,800 households with relief supplies in the affected communities. They are also in need of monetary donations to continue their efforts that Marcil says goes a long way.
"They just feel so, like there's hope," Marcil said. "That's what the Red Cross does is give people hope and help them through what they’re going through.”
If you would like to donate or sign up to volunteer in the future, visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED-CROSS (800-733-2767) or text the word TORNADO to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Ensure your donation helps people affected by Southern Tornadoes and Storms by choosing that option.
