(Radio Iowa) – A region already battered by severe storms this season is preparing for another major hurricane to hit tomorrow (Wednesday), and American Red Cross volunteers from Iowa are in place to help evacuees take shelter from the anticipated powerful winds, heavy rains and flooding. Josh Murray, spokesman for the agency’s Nebraska-Iowa Region, says a few dozen Iowans left more than a week ago to help in the recovery from the first big storm. “There’s over 2,000 Red Cross volunteers in that area, all throughout the southeast following Hurricane Helene, including close to 30 from Iowa that are down there,” Murray says, “and yes, especially those in the Florida area where Milton is headed, they’re preparing for the next wave and what might come with that.”

It’s been more than a century since a Category 5 hurricane hit Tampa Bay, which is one of the nation’s fastest-growing metro areas with more than three million residents. “This is going to be a large evacuation. We’re going to have a large number of people looking for places to stay. So we have been working, that’s been really the focus the last several days, getting more shelters,” Murray says. “We already have several open in the area from Hurricane Helene. Those that remain open, those can hopefully welcome more people, but we know we’re going to need more.”

Milton is a very large storm system and as Florida interstates clog up with evacuees, hotels to the north and south are booking up, and Red Cross shelters will likely be in high demand. Murray says it’s a delicate guessing game as to where to open shelters so fleeing Floridians don’t have to travel too far, versus being too close to the storm’s fury for safety’s sake.  “We’ll watch the forecast really close. If there’s a little bit north, a little bit south, how far inland do we think it’s safe. We know it’ll still be a little dangerous inland, but maybe it’ll be safe enough that we can still house people there if you’re far enough inland,” Murray says. “We want to make sure it’s safe, definitely for our folks who are there, but also, obviously, the residents who are evacuating, we want to make sure we provide a safe location for them to go.”

Hurricane Helene survivors in a South Carolina shelter (Red Cross photo)

Iowans who would like to help the Red Cross to help others can call 1-800-Red Cross, or visit RedCross-dot-org. You can also text the word “Helene” to 90999 to make a donation.