Nurses Informations

Midwest Once Again Prepares for Winter Weather

Power has been restored to homes and businesses throughout most of the nation's midsection as winter weather is once again in the forecast for the weekend.

By Katie Lawson, Staff Writer, RedCross.org

Thursday, December 20, 2007 —

Red Cross volunteers delivered warm meals to Adna High School and allowed families to visit with friends, learn about services available in the community and take a break from cleaning up their homes and property. (Photo courtesy: Daphne Mathew/American Red Cross)

Many residents in the Midwest are finally out of the dark and cold today following winter weather last week that left more than 500,000 homes and businesses in Oklahoma without power for days.

For a fourth consecutive weekend, a storm system threatens to bring a mixture of rain and snow to the region as early as Friday.

A cold front that began nearly two weeks ago swept through the Midwest, bringing sub-freezing temperatures and a combination of rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow. In Oklahoma, ice accumulation ranged between a glaze and one inch across most of the state, causing widespread power outages and treacherous travel conditions. The storms caused the biggest power outage in state history and utility workers continue their efforts to restore power to the region.

American Red Cross disaster workers were among the first on the ground in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, delivering relief in the form of temporary shelters, warming centers, hot meals and snacks and other emergency assistance. Members of the Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program helped provide the funding to rush relief to the affected residents, but the need for additional donations is still great due to the vast devastation the storms caused throughout Kansas and Oklahoma.

The Red Cross opened more than 130 shelters in the region and worked with the Southern Baptist Convention to provide meals for the more than 18,000 people who needed safe shelter overnight. To date, the Red Cross has served more than 100,000 meals and snacks to those affected by the storms.

As custodians of nearly half of the nation’s blood supply, the Red Cross also took steps to prevent the ice storms from affecting blood collections. The Renaissance Hotel in Tulsa agreed to host a blood drive in the hotel to give stranded guests the opportunity to help out.

Elsewhere, schools in Iowa and Wisconsin were closed last week and Des Moines International Airport was also forced to close for a period of time due to ice. Media reports state that the storm predicted for the weekend will bring ice and snow along with wind gusts of between 25 and 35 mph.

Although the majority shelters have since closed their doors, the Red Cross remains on alert to provide shelter, food and comfort to residents in the nation’s midsection and elsewhere.