Local volunteers head to Florida to help with Hurricane Ian relief

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - Responders from across the St. Louis region are gearing up to help those impacted by Hurricane Ian.

The American Red Cross has more than a dozen volunteers from the area heading to Florida. One of the last American Red Cross responder groups will leave around 8 a.m. Thursday to head down to impacted areas in the Sunshine state. Duties will range from handing out supplies to running shelters if needed.

As of Tuesday morning, nearly 100 disaster responders from across the Missouri and Arkansas region have raised their hands to respond, with 40 more on standby to leave if needed. Teams consisting of two drivers will deploy four emergency response vehicles full of supplies to Florida. The first group left yesterday from Jefferson City and volunteers from St. Louis will join them.

The state of Florida requested assistance from the Boone County-based Disaster Situational Awareness and Reconnaissance team to help with damage assessment and recovery. Their deployment is expected to last no more than 10 days. The crew assisted with multiple disasters over the last year including the flooding in Kentucky, Hurricane Ida in Louisiana, and the tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky.

Ameren will also be on standby to respond if requested.

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