WASHINGTON, D.C. March 17, 2025 ─ The powerful storm system that caused violent tornadoes and devastating wildfires over the weekend has moved away from the U.S., leaving behind a heartbreaking path of destruction across the Midwest and South.
The American Red Cross is focused on making sure no one faces this heartbreaking crisis alone. With partners across multiple states, Red Cross disaster workers are providing safe shelter, meals, emotional support and comfort.
While the danger of severe storms has passed, critical wildfire conditions will continue through this week over much of the Plains due to strong winds and dry conditions. Find safety information here.
WEEKEND STORMS Particularly hard hit are Missouri and Mississippi where multiple tornadoes destroyed entire neighborhoods. The massive storm was also responsible for numerous wildfires in Oklahoma where hundreds of homes were impacted across 12 counties. There have been more than 1,500 reports of severe weather and more than 65 tornadoes since the first storms began on Friday. Some tornadoes carried winds as strong as 170 mph.
Shelters are open across the impacted area. Where it is safe to do so, Red Cross volunteers will help to assess the residential damage in affected communities and distribute meals, snacks and water, along with relief items such as blankets, tarps, water, snacks, mops, sponges, gloves, cleaning solution, trash bags and more. Assessing the damage will help us to better understand what help families may need in the coming days and weeks.
Trained Red Cross volunteers are also helping families cope during this challenging time and replacing prescription medications, eyeglasses or critical medical equipment like canes and wheelchairs.
The Red Cross is not accepting donations of food, household items or clothing — as they cannot be distributed by our teams. Right now, financial donations are the quickest and best way to get help to those who need it most, which give people the flexibility to purchase what they need.
FIND A SHELTER Find open shelters on redcross.org, the free Red Cross Emergency app or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) and selecting the disaster option. You can also find shelters by following your local county and city officials on social media or monitoring local news.
Red Cross shelters are open to everyone in need, and all disaster assistance is free. We do not turn away people who need assistance during a disaster. We provide aid to all those in need, regardless of race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation or citizenship status. We don’t require people to show any kind of identification to enter a Red Cross shelter, just their name and where they were living before the disaster.
Download the free Emergency app for weather alerts, open Red Cross shelter locations and safety steps for different emergencies. Choose whether you want to view the content in English or Spanish with an easy-to-find language selector. Find all of the Red Cross apps in smartphone app stores by searching for the American Red Cross or going to redcross.org/apps.
HOW YOU CAN HELP People are depending on the Red Cross for help now, and we need your support. Please click, text or call to support Red Cross Disaster Relief and help people affected by disasters like storms and countless other crises. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to donate. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.
For those interested in helping people specifically affected by the recent storms, we ask that they write “Spring Storms and Floods” in the memo line of a check and mail it with a completed donation form to the address on the form or to their local Red Cross chapter. Find the donation form at redcross.org/donate.
PLEASE GIVE BLOOD Over the weekend, the Red Cross had a handful of blood drives canceled due to the severe storm outbreak across several states causing more than 100 blood donations to go uncollected. We urge individuals to make a blood donation appointment to ensure we continue to have a readily available blood supply this spring. People of all blood types — especially those with type O negative blood and those giving platelets — are needed. Find a donation opportunity and schedule an appointment at RedCrossBlood.org, 1-800-RED CROSS or the Red Cross Blood Donor App.
Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) Through the generosity of our American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder members, the American Red Cross is prepared before disaster strikes. ADGP and Disaster Responder members help secure a reliable funding base for disaster relief services that enables the Red Cross to respond immediately, meeting the needs of individuals and families affected by disaster.
Mission Leader Members: Amazon; American Airlines; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; Costco Wholesale; State Farm; Truist Foundation
ADGP $1M Members: Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Caterpillar Foundation; Chobani; CMA CGM Foundation; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Mobility Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Merck; Microsoft; Nationwide Foundation; The Pfizer Foundation; Six Four Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; Takeda; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo
ADGP $500k Members: ALDI; Altria Group; American Express; Aon; Baxter International Foundation; Boeing; Bread Financial; Capital One; Chick-fil-A; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; DHL Supply Chain; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Philanthropy; Fox Corporation; GE Aerospace; General Motors; Google.org; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; ; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Mastercard; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; NTT Data; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stryker; Suburban Propane; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco; Yum! Brands; Zoetis Foundation
Disaster Responder Members: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe Foundation; The AES Corporation; Albemarle Corporation; The Allstate Foundation; American Family Insurance; American Tire Distributors; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Bath & Body Works;; Build-A-Bear Foundation; Canadian National Railway; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Cisco and Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; DENSO North America Foundation; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Dollar Tree and Family Dollar; Duke Energy; Erie Insurance; Equitable; Fifth Third Foundation; FirstEnergy Corporation; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; Johnson & Johnson Foundation; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; L’Oréal; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo ; LKQ; Macy’s, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Martin Marietta; Masco Corporation; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Norfolk Southern; Northrop Grumman Foundation; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis; Old Dominion Freight Line; Oxy; Pacific Life Foundation; Prudential; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reliance, Inc.; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Salesforce; Santander Bank and Santander Consumer USA Foundation Inc. ; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Stephens; Tata Consultancy Services; Tennant Company; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation; US Foods; Zurich
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.