Final Hurricane Harvey Shelter Closes in DFW

Nearly 34,000 Overnight Shelter Nights Stays Recorded Since Aug. 25

DALLAS (10/1/17) – The City of Dallas and the American Red Cross DFW have closed the final shelter following Hurricane Harvey’s landfall on Aug. 25. Working with government and community partners, the Red Cross DFW supported eight emergency shelters in Dallas, Fort Worth and Irving, serving 3,900 people over five weeks.

The Red Cross DFW will continue working with the entire response community – government agencies, nonprofit groups, faith-based organizations, area businesses and others – to assist Hurricane Harvey evacuees with the long term recovery process as many families have relocated to the area.

The Red Cross continues disaster relief efforts in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands following three historic hurricanes – Harvey, Maria and Irma. For more information on ongoing relief efforts, visit www.redcross.org.

In North Texas:

• The Red Cross and its partners provided shelter to 3,900 displaced Texans for a total of nearly 34,000 overnight shelter stays. Shelters were open Aug. 25-Sept. 30, 2017.
• With the help of generous partners, including The Salvation Army, North Texas Food Bank and local eateries and grocers, the Red Cross served nearly 214,000 meals and snacks.
• Red Cross volunteers provided 15,000 health, mental health and spiritual care services to evacuees and volunteers.
• Red Cross volunteers distributed 5,000 comfort kits, which include basic toiletry items.
• More than 1,000 disaster workers, many recruited locally by Red Cross and VolunteerNow, assisted in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in North Texas. Dozens of North Texas staff and volunteers are deployed to assist in relief efforts across all areas impacted by the hurricanes.
• The Mass Care Task Force activated Sunday, Aug. 27, in response to Hurricane Harvey. Comprised of the American Red Cross DFW, the North Texas Food Bank, The Salvation Army DFW Metroplex Command and VolunteerNow, the Mass Care Task Force worked together to leverage the strengths of each agency in support of the immediate needs for food, shelter and volunteers.

Response-wide (total numbers include Harvey, Irma and Maria unless noted):

• As of September 28, the Red Cross has authorized more than $148 million in financial assistance to help more than 370,000 Texas households severely affected by Hurricane Harvey, and continues to process applications.
• Over the last five weeks, the Red Cross, along with community and government partners, has provided nearly 1.2 million overnight stays in emergency shelters.
• The Red Cross has served more than 5 million meals and snacks and provided more than 1.9 million relief items.
• Red Cross volunteers have provided more than 149,000 mental health and health services.
• Nearly 13,000 trained disaster workers, 91 percent of them volunteers, have been mobilized to support hurricane relief efforts. Many of these workers have supported multiple relief operations or deployed multiple times. In addition, more than 4,100 spontaneous local volunteers have joined the Red Cross in Texas and Florida.
• Currently 4,300 Red Cross disaster workers and nearly 300 emergency response vehicles are on the ground.