KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Hurricane Idalia tore into Florida Wednesday, splitting trees in half, ripping roofs off hotels and turning small cars into boats before sweeping into Georgia as a still-powerful storm that flooded roadways and sent residents running for higher ground.
It made landfall near Keaton Beach at 7:45 a.m. as a high-end Category 3 hurricane, with maximum winds of 125 mph. By late Wednesday afternoon, if weakened to a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph.
Before the storm hit, volunteers from Tennessee were ready to help communities impacted by the storm.
"Our volunteers are trained here in the Tennessee region, or in at least our East Tennessee chapter, we have 330 volunteers. many of them enjoy going and helping and serving our mission," said Sharon Hudson, Executive Director of the East Tennessee American Red Cross.
They arrived in Tallahassee and organized their response days before the storm made landfall. The Red Cross said that it's vital to deploy groups ahead of time so they can be ready for immediate rescues.
Over the first few hours of a disaster, they said response crews save several lives. Volunteers from Tennessee said they are working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency as well as several other partners.
The Red Cross also said people can take steps of their own to make sure they stay safe during a disaster.
"Having a plan and making sure that you and your family is safe is critical. It's kind of like making sure that you have a working smoke alarm. You need to have a plan in place to ensure that you and your family's needs are going to be mapped," said Hudson.
Families should prepare kits they can grab in case of emergencies. Those include first aid supplies, batteries, medicine and water.
Anyone interested in helping people recovering from emergency situations can find ways to help through the American Red Cross website.