Responding to Devastating Storms in IL, OK, & TX

AmeriCares rushed medical and humanitarian aid to local partners in Oklahoma, Texas and Illinois after days of tornadoes and record rainfall in the Plains and Midwest region caused major flooding in May and June.  In their seasonal assault on the region, the severe storms killed over 30 people, damaged or destroyed more than 8,000 homes in Texas alone, and displaced thousands of residents. 

More than $225,000 in aid received by local partners in severely affected areas included:

• Tdap vaccines to protect homeowners and response workers cleaning up storm debris;
• bottled water for those with boil-water alerts;
• cleanup and hygiene kits for those with flooded homes;
• critical medicines and medical supplies to support those with chronic medical conditions or medical needs;
• bug spray to prevent mosquito-transmitted illnesses;
• bandages for cleanup injuries and wounds;
• and masks to prevent respiratory infections during cleanup.

AmeriCares also provided a flash grant to replace flood-damaged medical and communication devices at a school serving medically fragile and disabled children.

In June, an AmeriCares emergency response and recovery team member in Texas, monitoring the storm activity, coordinated our work with local partners and participated in local disaster response meetings to identify needs.

AmeriCares works with a network of over 800 free clinics and health centers around the country as well as local and national relief organizations to plan for and respond to natural and manmade crises. In the past decade alone, the organization has responded to severe storms and other disasters such as tornadoes and floods in the Midwest and South, wildfires in the West and Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy.