The American Red Cross is responding to the ever-changing crisis brought about by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in the Gulf Coast states.

Local Response to Hurricane Katrina

The American Red Cross in Greater New York has sent more than 70 responders to help in Katrina relief efforts.

Our Hurricane Call Center, staffed by volunteers, has handled more than 10,000 calls from Katrina survivors requesting aid and information.

More than 960 families from the region have received Red Cross family assistance here, including, as appropriate, shelter, food, financial assistance and counseling. We are servicing client needs at both the City's Hurricane Katrina Welcome Center at City College and the nearby Disaster Assistance Service Center on 135th Street.

The New Volunteer Training Program has launched, designed to rapidly transform qualified volunteers into certified disaster service workers eligible for deployment to the South. Click here for more information.

Local Response to Hurricane Rita

The volunteers at our Hurricane Call Center are ready to take calls from people who may be affected by Hurricane Rita.

Qualified volunteers who become certified disaster service workers through our New Volunteer Training Program may be deployed to areas affected by Rita. Click here to learn more.

National Red Cross Response to Katrina

The unprecedented destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina has generated the largest response to a single national disaster in Red Cross history.

The Red Cross has provided assistance to tens of thousands of Katrina victims who are dispersed across the nation, including the many people who continue to come north. We realize that the process of getting assistance to survivors will take weeks as we continue to reach out to the thousands of people who need our help.

The American Red Cross estimates the total cost to meet the financial, shelter, food and counseling needs of survivors will be $2 billion.

Since Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, the Red Cross has provided more than 2.4 million overnight stays to survivors in 902 shelters across 26 states and has served more than 13 million hot meals to evacuees. It is providing emergency financial assistance to meet urgent needs until state and federal aid is available. To date, more than 448,000 families have received more than $300 million in financial aid in the form of client assistant cards, vouchers, checks and cash.

The Red Cross, Partnered with Microsoft and the San Diego Super Computer Center, has created KatrinaSafe, a database to help families reconnect as they relocate across the country. KatrainSafe is a super list containing hundreds of thousands of names submitted by family members or friends searching for loved ones. The goal of KatrinaSafe.org is to make it easier to find loved ones by providing a consolidated clearinghouse of all relocation services.

The toll-free hotline at 1-877-LOVED-1S will continue to be an option for those who do not have Internet access or would like to check this list without a computer.

The Red Cross has launched a campaign called Give Hope Now-Hurricane Response Volunteers launched through its nationwide network of 851 chapters (with support of our eight regional Service Areas) to recruit and train 40,000 volunteers by November 30 in the skills that are needed most: feeding, sheltering, helping with physical and mental health services, worksite and transportation support, damage assessment, government and community liaison and community outreach.

National Red Cross Response to Rita

The Red Cross has a 100,000 person shelter capacity in place in Texas.

One million box lunches are in place and provisions have been made to serve 300,000 hot meals per day 48 hours after Rita's landfall.

More than 2,000 Red Cross staff members have been assigned to Hurricane Rita operations.

As of September 23, the American Red Cross has received more than $826 million in gifts and pledges for the hurricane relief effort. With an estimated $2 billion price tag for hurricane relief, much more is still needed.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of these disasters and thousands of other disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need.

If you wish to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita, you can donate money to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund online or call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish).