Illinois Red Cross Volunteer Going To Florida To Help With Hurricane Relief Efforts

There are some people on this planet who will do anything to help others in their time of need. One of those persons is in Illinois and he is preparing to head to Florida to help residents recover after Hurricane Ian rips through most of the state. His name is Dean Otta and he is ready to help.

In a press release on Wednesday, the American Red Cross of Illinois said that in preparation for Hurricane Ian, they have moved hundreds of trained volunteers from across the country and tens of thousands of relief supplies to Florida and are opening dozens of shelters to make sure people have a safe place to ride out the storm.

American Red Cross officials say they are working closely with our partners and local officials to ensure help is available when and where people need it most.

About Hurrican Ian

Hurricane Ian will make landfall on Wednesday as a category 4 hurricane. Ian has maximum sustained winds of 155 mph. On Wednesday, Hurricane Ian's storm surge reached 12-16 feet near Fort Myers, FL, and 4-6 feet near Tampa. It has been more than 100 years since a major hurricane hit the Tampa Bay area.

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The Hero Volunteer From Illinois

Dean Otta, a Red Cross volunteer from Mount Zion, IL (about 3 hours from the Quad Cities) in the South Central Illinois chapter of the Illinois region, is on standby to deploy to Florida this week to join the efforts of hundreds of Red Cross volunteers.

Dean has served as a Red Cross volunteer for nearly 12 years and has volunteered in other disaster relief roles, including deploying to Oregon in 2020 during the wildfires in that state.

We thank Dean for his dedication to helping people via the American Red Cross!

How You Can Help People In Florida Recover After Hurricane Ian

You can help people affected by disasters like storms and countless other crises by making a gift to Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org or call 800-RED-CROSS to make a donation.

ImpactLife in the Quad Cities is also sending type O blood to Florida to help people who need blood impacted by Hurricane Ian. You can read more about that here.