As you are no doubt aware by now, yesterday, on May 20th 2013 an EF4 tornado ripped through the town of Moore, Oklahoma. As of right now the death toll has been revised down from 51 to 24, however there are still a number of people still missing, many of who are children.
It is important to keep not only the victims in your thoughts, but also the rescue and recovery workers. These brave citizens have worked tirelessly since yesterday afternoon to save as many lives as they can. The Red Cross is now on the ground in Moore, providing food, shelter, health, and mental health services to those impacted as well as providing food and supplies to emergency workers of other agencies. In addition to this they also supply 2/3 of the donated blood in the county, which is sold directly to medical facilities in need.
Today, May 21, marks the 132nd birthday of the American Red Cross which was founded in 1881 by Clara Barton. Ms. Barton’s legacy and misson lives on today through the Red Cross. However, the Red Cross relies on the donations of the American public to be able to continue their misson. To give an idea about the amount of money that is needed in an event such as this, the May 3rd, 1999 tornado that hit almost the exact same location cost $1.5 billion in damages.
In the spirit of this, the team at Historic Natural Disasters has decided to donate $100 to the American Red Cross as part of our picture matching contest. We also urge you to make a donation of any size to the American Red Cross to help their efforts in Moore, Oklahoma.
Thanks,
The HND Team
