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Each year nationally, the American Red Cross
responds immediately to
more than 70,000 disasters, including house or
apartment fires
(the majority of disaster responses), hurricanes,
floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hazardous materials
spills, transportation accidents,
explosions, and other natural and man-made
disasters.
The Good News Is That We Can Help
Although the American Red Cross is not a government
agency, its
authority to provide disaster relief was formalized
when, in 1905, the Red Cross was chartered by
Congress to "carry on a system of national and
international relief in time of peace and apply the
same in mitigating the sufferings caused by
pestilence, famine, fire, floods, and other great
national calamities, and to devise and carry on
measures for preventing the same." The Charter is
not only a grant of power, but also an imposition of
duties and obligations to the nation, to disaster
victims, and to the people who generously support
its work with their donations.
Red Cross disaster relief focuses on meeting
people's immediate
emergency disaster-caused needs. When a disaster
threatens or strikes,
the Red Cross provides shelter, food, and health and
mental health
services to address basic human needs. In addition
to these services,
the core of Red Cross disaster relief is the
assistance given to individuals and families
affected by disaster to enable them to resume their
normal
daily activities independently.
The Red Cross also feeds emergency workers, handles
inquiries
from concerned family members outside the disaster
area, provides
blood and blood products to disaster victims, and
helps those affected
by disaster to access other available resources.
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