Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall along the Gulf Coast of Florida by Thursday evening, and volunteers from the American Red Cross Minnesota and Dakotas Region are en route to be in place when it gets there.
The storm could be a Category 3 hurricane when it hits.
Kimberly Vosseteig is Executive Director of the American Red Cross serving Eastern North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota. She says trips to the Gulf for hurricane relief have become increasingly common.
"We've recorded about 12 hurricane landfalls in the last five years happening in that Gulf Coast; so Louisiana, Georgia, panhandle of Florida. And this last year it's already been four - Beryl, Debby, Francine, and now Helene - and right after that, if anyone's watching the weather - there's already a couple more cyclones forming. So we've really moved at the Red Cross doing acute response, to chronic response, to - that's all we're doing."
She says two volunteers from eastern North Dakota are traveling down to Tampa, with eleven total volunteers from the region mobilizing. Vosseteig also says five more are on standby. She says hurricane response takes a lot of planning, so volunteers work to get in place before the storm hits so they are on the ground immediately when they are needed.
"They're really going down there to set the structure up, they're opening shelters, getting the cots out, they're getting their food supplies ready, they're getting their logistics warehouses ready. We're getting the emergency response vehicles down there and in place. They're there to be there for when that storm stops."
September is National Preparedness Month. Vosseteig says there are ways locals can help without having to leave the area; they can participate in local Red Cross Blood Drives, or give monetary gifts. She says families can also learn more about how to prepare for a disaster at home by downloading the Red Cross app.