Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm on September 26 on Florida’s Gulf Coast, with strong winds, heavy rains and a destructive storm surge that flooded communities. Over the next two days, the storm continued north, with heavy rains that triggered flash floods and caused rivers to overflow, resulting in catastrophic flooding from Georgia to western North Carolina and Tennessee, washing out roads and bridges and flooding entire communities. Before Helene made landfall, Americares emergency experts reached out to more than 360 partner clinics with offers of assistance.
The scope of Helene’s destruction became clear in the days that followed: With unpassable roads and widespread power outages, damaged communities were isolated. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, as many as 4.5 million customers were without power. A week after the storm, news outlets were reporting more than 200 people had died throughout the Southeast and more than 750,000 remained without power.
Americares response teams have been on the ground in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, focused on the health needs in the hardest-hit communities. The teams are coordinating deliveries of medicines and relief supplies and providing emergency funding to support the restoration of health services.
Americares has shipped 4 tons of relief supplies to partner organizations in affected areas, with more on the way. Shipments include antibiotics, hygiene kits and relief supplies. In addition, Americares is preparing to install water purification systems for partner organizations in North Carolina without running water and has coordinated deliveries of bottled water donated by BlueTriton Brands to Florida, Georgia and Tennessee.
At the Smith Mill Works in Asheville, N.C., Americares has installed an AquaBlock water purification system, which can provide clean drinking water for up to 10,000 people a day. The project is a collaboration with local partners Be Well AVL and Planet Water and is open to the community to fill immediate and ongoing needs for clean water. The AcquaBlock is expected to serve the areas of Smith Mill Works, Deaverview, Echo Hills, Wilshire Park, Lucerne and Lucerne Park. Americares is working with local community organizations to install AquaBlocks in other locations in and around Asheville.
An Americares mental health team has met with health organizations in North Carolina and Tennessee to provide psychological first aid, debrief health staff, many of whom have experienced trauma and loss and assess needs for future mental health programming.
To help meet immediate health needs of survivors, an Americares mobile medical clinic is operating in western North Carolina. The clinic’s medical doctor and nurse can diagnose health conditions, prescribe medicine, provide tetanus vaccine and refer patients to local health facilities for treatment if needed.
Americares has provided more than $400,000 in emergency funding to the following partner organizations to support access to essential health services, with more funding to come:
The funding from Americares will allow these organizations to repair storm damage, remove downed trees blocking access to health facilities, fund transportation for health center staff and support other storm-related expenses. In one badly damaged town in southern Georgia on Monday, Sept. 30, staff at a local clinic told the Americares team they were the first organization to offer help.
“Helene was one of the most destructive storms western North Carolina and Tennessee have seen in decades,” said Americares U.S. Director of Emergency Response Mariel Fonteyn. “At the same time, Florida’s Gulf Coast is bracing for what could be the third major hurricane in 13 months. We are ready to respond and committed to supporting the health needs in affected communities throughout the Southeast.”
At the lone hospital serving Taylor County, Florida, health facility staff were at work three days after Helene devastated the region. “We met health care providers continuing to serve their communities despite losing everything they own,” says Americares Emergency Response Team Member Kennedy Caskey. “With so much devastation and loss, the long-term mental health needs are going to be immense.”
10/7/2024