The region has been devastated by major flooding.
Frederick, Md. (NS) – Heavy rains led to major flooding in south eastern Kentucky, and at least 37 people have died.
Curt Luthye, the Executive Director for the American Red Cross Chapters in Montgomery, Howard, and Frederick Counties, has gone to the region with over 200 local volunteers to help with the recovery effort.
He said they are first addressing people’s immediate needs.
“We actually have mental health professionals, we have spiritual care professionals that are volunteers with the Red Cross that are going out and making sure that, first, we provide care, and we are also making sure that they have a warm meal, and a safe place to stay until we can continue to work with them with our case workers for the long term recovery,” said Luthye.
He said, currently, the Red Cross provides three meals a day at shelters that have been set up in coordination with the State of Kentucky, and they are also providing essential medical care.
“In a flood, people lose their glasses, they lose their prescriptions, they lose their cane or their walker, and part of what our nurses do, is to make sure that we’re communicating with their doctors, their physicians, to replace some of that durable medical equipment, to make sure that they have their prescriptions that they need to carry on. So, that’s a big part of what our nurses do,” Luthye explained.
If you want to help in the recovery effort, Luthye said you can make a donation by texting “Red Cross” to 90999, or visiting RedCross.org.
