Local organizations participate in recovery efforts for victims of Hurricane Idalia

A Houston organization is helping with recovery efforts for victims of Hurricane Idalia after more than 100,000 people have been left without power.

Hurricane Idalia made landfall on Wednesday morning in Taylor County, Florida, according to the American Red Cross. They say the hurricane has since moved northeast through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

CrowdSource Rescue is a non-profit that has helped organize civilian water rescues since Hurricane Harvey. Co-founder Matthew Marchetti said on Houston Matters that back in 2017, he had worked on a website for his church to help those who needed to be rescued.

“The idea was to organize 50 rescues,” he said. “…[The website] went viral, and a couple of hours later, it had 3,000 people who needed to be rescued. And we had two boats.”

Marchetti said his team has been working on relief efforts in Steinhatchee, Florida since Wednesday. Steinhatchee is located in Taylor County in the northern part of Florida.

“As the search and recovery wraps up, it’s mostly been debris clean-up,” he said. “A lot of chainsaws, a lot of Bobcat, a lot of down trees, trying to clear driveways and roads to allow residents to leave and really, organizations to come in.”

CrowdSource Rescue went door-to-door in Steinhatchee on Wednesday and found 43 people who stayed in the city. One was transported to the hospital.

Charles Blake is the CEO of the American Red Cross Texas Gulf Coast region. He said on Houston Matters that Idalia forced the cancellation of dozens of blood drives, which will be an immediate need for hospitals.

“Financial contributions are the most effective way to support this,” he said. “People can text the word, ‘Idalia’ to 90999 and make a donation of $10. That money is going to help people prepare, respond, and recover from this.”

The Texas Gulf Coast Red Cross also plans to send two volunteers from this region to Tallahassee on Thursday and Friday to help those in need.