Tropical Storm Gordon may intensify into a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall on the Gulf Coast this week, and residents in multiple states are preparing for the storm’s impacts.
On Tuesday, Direct Relief reached out to more than 100 partner health facilities in Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi and Oklahoma to offer support, should those clinics and health centers need assistance in the storm’s wake.
Large amounts of rain, along with high winds and storm surges, are expected to batter the coast. The swath of coastline from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to Alabama and Florida’s shared state line are under hurricane warning, with a larger area of coast under tropical storm warning.
Remember that impacts from #Gordon will extend well beyond the "forecast cone" that we see as part of official forecasts. Consult your local forecast at https://t.co/VyWINDk3xP and heed advice from local authorities. pic.twitter.com/4MT21Kkbd2
— National Weather Service (@NWS) September 4, 2018
Governors of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana have all declared states of emergency in anticipation of the storm.
Direct Relief is ready to assist with immediate requests, and also operates a hurricane preparedness program throughout the region, which pre-positions caches of medicines and medical supplies in storm-prone areas.
Each pack contains enough medicines and supplies to treat 100 patients for three to five days after a hurricane hits, and includes medicines to manage chronic conditions like diabetes and high-blood pressure. Storm events like hurricanes often prompt evacuations, during which people often forget medications needed to maintain their health and stay out of medical crisis.
The program was formed after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region in 2005, and has been expanded and refined since.
