Florida’s Capital Area Chapter of the Red Cross is accepting donations to support the Oklahoma City community as they begin to recover from yesterday’s tornado.
At least two dozen are dead – many of them children – and hundreds of residents have been displaced from their homes. Relief crews are still combing through the wreckage.
Dan Samborn, CEO of the local chapter of the Red Cross said the focus at this stage is reconnecting people with basic services like shelter, food, water, and healthcare.
Samborn also said there are a few ways the Tallahassee community can help.
“First off, they can get trained as a volunteer. Secondly, if people want to help the victims, they can make a financial contribution to the Red Cross locally, and earmark it for the tornadoes,” Samborn said.
The National Weather Service said the tornado was an EF5 with peak wind speed between 200 and 210 miles per hour*. Local reporting suggests the storm was as much as two miles wide.
The Red Cross accepts donations online, by text message, or by mail.
* an earlier version of this story noted initial reports rated the tornado as at least an EF4