KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Although Sandy is no longer a hurricane, the storm and its aftermath is causing major disruptions in the lives of tens of millions of Americans – and the effects of the storm are being felt far away from the East Coast.
Officials say that at least three million customers are without electricity on Monday night from the storm, which rolled onto shore along the southern New Jersey coast with winds up to 90 miles per hour – sending high water rolling over sea walls and into towns and cities up and down the East Coast.
Early estimates are that the storm could cause anywhere from $10-20 billion in damage – making it one of the costliest disasters in U.S. history.
Here in the Kansas City area, the American Red Cross is urgently asking local volunteers for help. The local chapter has already sent 15 volunteers to the East Coast to help, and were contacting at least 100 more to see who would be available to deploy at a moment’s notice.
“A lot of people may be without some of the basic needs in their own homes so the Red Cross may be opening up additional shelters to provide those people a safe place to be for several days or for as long as needed,” said JoAnn Woody of the American Red Cross.
The additional volunteers will be deployed as soon as travel resumes – at least 40 flights to and from the East Coast have been cancelled at KCI alone, upending the travel plans of hundreds of travellers.
“We’ve got volunteers that are already there,” said Woody. “So just that mother hen instinct kind of kicks in. You want to know what’s happening, where are my people and making sure you know whats going on with them as well.”
The storm is affecting everyone who does business on the East Coast to one extent or another. Hallmark says that they were forced to close a distribution plant in Connecticut, while Sprint engineers deployed back-up generators just outside the storm’s path to restore power to the wireless provider’s grid, if necessary.
There are two blood drives scheduled for Tuesday, October 30th here in the metro area:
- Legends 14 Theaters, 1841 Village West Parkway, Kansas City, Kan., from 2-7:00 p.m.
- Fireman’s Union Hall, 322 SE Douglas, Lee’s Summit, Mo., from 3 – 7:00 p.m.
For those who are unable to donate blood but still wish to help the people affected by Sandy, you can donate to the American Red Cross here.
