Regional Disaster Workforce Engagement Lead Carmen Garcia makes ready to welcome evacuees to a shelter in Texas on 8/28. (Photo credit: Tom Bernal/American Red Cross)

Updated 9/6/21, 12:45 pm CST

For media inquiries:

  • Please contact txgulfcoastmedia@redcross.org or call 713-313-5319 for story leads, interviews, or the most recent information about the Red Cross response.
  • New b-roll is linked here and here
  • Photos are available here
  • Hurricane Ida assets are now live on the PSA Download Center: 

To get help: 

Red Cross and partner shelters are currently closed.

In coordination with government and community partners, the Red Cross is working to help bring Hurricane Ida evacuees closer to home. Families currently in emergency lodging in Texas are working with Red Cross caseworkers to identify if they are safely able to return home and what barriers may exist to prevent that return. For residents who need continuing emergency shelter, the Red Cross and community partners have multiple shelters available in Louisiana enabling them to be closer to home as they begin their next steps. 

Anyone affected by Hurricane Ida that needs a safe place to stay should call Louisiana 211 (800-755-5175), text ‘LASHELTER’ to 898-211 or ‘NOLAREADY’ to 77295 for a list of current shelters available. 

For evacuees:

➡️ Red Cross disaster app for Apple and Android, with weather updates and shelter information: https://rdcrss.org/2OsfTNq

➡️ Red Cross website with updated shelter information: https://rdcrss.org/3iTfjKZ

➡️ Louisiana Red Cross social media: American Red Cross of Louisiana

➡️ Texas Gulf Coast Red Cross social media: FB | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram. 

To become a volunteer:

  • With over 30 disaster relief operations happening now, we urgently need volunteers. Please click here to sign up and a volunteer services representative will contact you.

To make a donation:

  • We are very grateful to members of the public who have reached out about in-kind donations. At this time, we have very limited ability to accept in-kind donations due to COVID-19 restrictions. The best way to contribute is to visit redcross.org/donate to make a financial contribution or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
American Red Cross Texas Gulf Coast volunteer David Holmes coordinates with other volunteers about Hurricane Ida response and work locations on 8/27. (Photo credit: David Holmes/American Red Cross)
  • August 29, 2021. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Wendy Halsey of the American Red Cross visits Moriah Killingsworth of Baton Rouge, with her extended family in background at a Red Cross evacuation center on Sunday August 29, 2021. The family is among those seeking refuge from Hurricane Ida. As they prepare to wait out the storm, the family chats and laughs together and remains upbeat. Across Louisiana and Mississippi, the Red Cross and other organizations have opened dozens of evacuation shelters, offering safe refuge for hundreds of people. The number of open shelters and people staying in them is changing hourly. Photo by Scott Dalton/American Red Cross
  • August 28, 2021. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Red Cross volunteers Joe Apicelli of Groton, CT, and Kathleen Rook of Ashford, CT, load supplies that will be shipped to emergency shelters in preparation for Hurricane Ida. Hurricane Ida is expected to be an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm as it makes landfall along the Gulf Coast on Sunday. By Saturday afternoon, some 450 Red Cross volunteers were on the ground ready to open shelters and support people who need a safe place to stay. Hundreds more volunteers are also being mobilized to support relief efforts after landfall. In addition to pre-positioned supplies, the Red Cross is moving additional truckloads of cots, blankets, comfort kits, and ready-to-eat meals. Photo by Scott Dalton/American Red Cross
  • August 29, 2021. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Ednisha Collins,14, holds brother Ethan Jordan, 1, while her family gets settled at a Red Cross evacuation shelter in Baton Rouge on Sunday August 29, 2021. Ednisha and Ethan’s family are among those seeking refuge from Hurricane Ida, making landfall along the Louisiana coast today as a dangerous Category 4 storm. Ednisha is looking forward to getting back to ninth grade, and activities such as cheerleading and archery. In the meantime, she provides a comforting presence to her baby brother as the family waits for the storm to pass. Some 600 Red Cross volunteers are either on the ground or staged to support relief efforts after Ida makes landfall. Across Louisiana and Mississippi, the Red Cross and other organizations have opened dozens of evacuation shelters, offering safe refuge for hundreds of people. The number of open shelters and people staying in them is changing hourly. Photo by Scott Dalton/American Red Cross
  • August 29, 2021. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Trevon Murray of Baton Rouge talks with Wendy Halsey of the American Red Cross, as his extended family settles in at a Red Cross evacuation center on Sunday August 29, 2021. The family is among those seeking refuge from the approach of Hurricane Ida, an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, bringing likely catastrophic wind damage, as much as two feet of rain, dangerous tornadoes and a life-threatening storm surge to the same region still recovering from last year’s devastating storms. While waiting out the storm, Trevon keeps an eye on siblings and cousins, and chats about two of his interests, basketball, and video games. Photo by Scott Dalton/American Red Cross
Photos taken in a Red Cross shelter for Hurricane Ida evacuees in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Copyright/ American Red Cross)
9/1: Red Cross staff and volunteers work out of the Houston Red Cross office to coordinate relief efforts for Hurricane Ida evacuees. (Photo credit: Obed Garcia/American Red Cross)