TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Resources in Florida are already stretched thin from Hurricane Helene and with Milton on the way, agencies are sending more help to the state.
"There are people who have already lost their homes, or their homes were severely damaged, and they're trying to rebuild, and it's not been long enough for them to really start getting their feet under them, but for those that did, then all of a sudden, comes along another big hurricane," Missouri Red Cross volunteer Dan Sutton said.
Both Missouri Task Force 1 and the Red Cross have sent more people from our area this week in preparation.
Missouri Task Force 1 sent two more people down to help.
Ahead of Hurricane Milton, Sutton made the trek down to Tallahassee, Florida. He said one of his first tasks is helping others prepare.
“We’re delivering supplies to shelters to make sure that they have what they need to ride out the storm. And of course, anything for several days following that,” Sutton said.
Sutton said right now the Red Cross is hard at work getting people out of harm's way especially those who are still in Tampa and already in shelters.
“We are moving them to hurricane-hardened buildings so they will be safe, and we're going to be moving clients into those buildings,” Sutton said.
The Red Cross is working with other agencies in Florida as there are 51 counties and counting under a state of emergency.
“The Florida Division of Emergency Management is actively addressing storm related resource requests. They're currently in the process of fulfilling 850 missions, they've deployed everything from sandbags to shelf-stable meals to tens of thousands of water bottles to thousands of tarps,” Gov. Ron DeSantis (R - Florida) said.
54 Missouri Red Cross volunteers have deployed to help with either Helene or Milton, 24 of them are from St. Louis, but they still need more for this massive relief effort.
“They can go through some of the training, a lot of it is online, and get through that training within a week or two and we can send them out to this hurricane. We've really reduced the amount of time it takes to get through the training so that we can get people there much quicker,” Sharon Watson with the Red Cross said.
Donating funds or blood are two ways to help from Missouri, but if you have the time they really do need more volunteers. Volunteers are often sent on a two week mission. You can find out more information about all three ways to help right here.