The Salvation Army is prepared to help survivors and first responders in vulnerable areas of the United States as the 2021 hurricane season becomes increasingly active. At this moment in Florida and other states along the East Coast, Tropical Storm Elsa threatens to bring localized flooding, high winds, and storm surge.
“After a devastating hurricane season in 2020, we are readying our personnel and resources for another,” said Jeff Jellets, Emergency Disaster Services director for The Salvation Army’s Southern Territory. “In many cases, The Salvation Army is still on the ground serving people affected by past storms, and we will continue to lend a hand for however long our services are needed after Elsa makes landfall.”
The Salvation Army’s Southern Territory is prepared for the most extreme effects of Tropical Storm Elsa:
- The Salvation Army disaster personnel are collaborating with federal, state, and local emergency management agencies and partners to monitor the system and prepare for service delivery after landfall.
- The Salvation Army has more than 300 disaster services vehicles strategically positioned across the United States, including mobile kitchens, rapid response food delivery vehicles, shower trailers, laundry trailers, Polaris® all-terrain UTVs, and mobile command posts.
- The Salvation Army has pre-positioned critical relief supplies such as water, shelf-stable meals, MREs, cleanup kits, and others at disaster relief warehouses in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas.
With more than 7,600 centers of operation and a presence in nearly every ZIP code, The Salvation Army is uniquely positioned to support survivors of widescale disasters. Tropical Storm Elsa comes in the midst of a deadly heatwave and widespread wildfires in the western United States. To help individuals and families who are vulnerable to the heatwave, The Salvation Army has opened cooling centers offering water, air conditioning, and shade. They are also conducting welfare checks on elderly and other vulnerable individuals.
