Update 09/12/2005

Greenville, SC Sept. 6, 2005 – The American Red Cross is responding at a record-setting pace in its drive to bring shelter, food and safe drinking water to the tens of thousands of Americans impacted by Hurricane Katrina’s savage assault on the Gulf Coast. The Upstate SC Chapter continues to assist families and individuals devastated by the hurricane’s onslaught. To date, trained caseworkers have assisted 880 victims. Direct assistance such as food, clothing, prescriptions and other emergency supplies totaling over $300,000 has been provided to victims who have reached the Greenville area from the gulf coast.

Families who are unable to reach a Red Cross office can call 1-800-975-7585 toll free 24 hours a day to register for emergency financial assistance which they will obtain from a financial institution in the community where they are now staying.

The American Red Cross continues to meet the staggering challenge of providing relief to thousands of survivors in the widespread path of devastation and destruction left by Hurricane Katrina. To date, the Red Cross has housed 1.8 million survivors in over 700 shelters. The American Red Cross has served more than 7.2 million hot meals to survivors of Hurricane Katrina since before first landfall. The sheer volume of people affected, as well as the extensive geographical area impacted will require long-term massive feeding and sheltering operations for many months to come. 90,000 square miles have been affected—about the same size as Great Britain.

In order to accomplish this extraordinary level of relief, over 63,000 trained Red Cross disaster specialists have been deployed in 13 states and at the Red Cross national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Recruitment is continuing and local chapters across the country are expanding training for thousands of spontaneous volunteers who are willing to make the priceless donation of their time and skills to this enormous humanitarian outreach.

With families, friends and colleagues scattered in the face of Katrina’s fury, the American Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross have established the “Family Links Registry” to enable people to re-establish those essential relationships. Since its inception, the Registry has received a total of 115,242 calls with over 5,000 coming in during the past 24 hours. The “Family Links Registry” can be accessed through www.redcross.org or by calling toll-free 1-877-LOVED 1S (1-877-568-3317).