TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Employees and volunteers from the Baltimore area are in the southeastern United States responding ahead of the expected extensive damage caused by Hurricane Helene, which was upgraded to a category 4 storm on Thursday evening.
Saskia Lindsay, a Federal Hill resident and spokesperson with the Red Cross, told WMAR she flew down on Wednesday with a dozen Baltimore-area volunteers, and a dozen more are on the way after the storm hits.
"We've got hundreds of volunteers on the ground from all over the country, including Baltimore right now. They do all sorts of work; many of them are working in shelters, sleeping in shelters. When this storm hits, people are going to go to those evacuation shelters. We've got them there," Lindsay explained, zooming in with WMAR from a hotel room hours before landfall.
As the storm hits, the Red Cross will look into which areas need what, including meals, water, emergency supplies, and disaster mental health volunteers.
"As you can imagine people after losing their home or going through an event this large, they need support. And this is not something people here are going to get over in one day, a week, or even a year. We've got volunteers trained and ready to support the best way we can," said Lindsay.
Meantime, local energy provider Baltimore Gas and Electric is sending 76 employees to Georgia—also in the storm's path—to help Georgia get the power back on.
"It all depends on the amount of outages there are, the damage that is across the territory. So we're here to help; we're here to partner and collaborate with Georgia Power and their customers to make sure we do restore the power safely," said Lakeisha Akins, a utilities manager with BGE.
BGE provided WMAR a list of outage tips as Helene brings storm safety to the forefront.
